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| Volunteer | 3.00 Miles |
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| | Volunteer | 3.00 Miles | | | |
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| no partners | | Passage 8, Rincon Valley
October 12, 2015
A crew of hardy volunteers, NPS Staff and the ATA Executive Director installed two super gates along this passage. The project was funded by the Friends of Saguaro National Park and the Arizona Trail Association.
The first one went in at the Loma Alta TH, a popular, and close, access point to the AZT in this area. Soils here proved quite difficult—two jack hammers were used to break through incredibly hard caliche soils. One volunteer exclaimed, “We’ve hit a soft spot, it’s a rock!” Perseverance paid off however and in time the holes were deep enough and the crew cemented the gate in place. Dan Green, NPS Saguaro National Park Maintenance & Trails Supervisor, was duly impressed.
Difficult soils aside, the next gate was seen as the challenge for the day since it is three-quarter mile from the nearest vehicle access point. This location received a new wire gate at a work event over a year ago, but someone cut the gate soon afterward, so it was a candidate for a more substantial structure.
The Park Service brought two power haulers—rubber tracked machines that can carry quite a load over narrow trails—which made it possible to haul the heavy steel gate and a bicycle ride-over ramp, 17 sixty-pound bags of cement mix, and 14 gallons of water, not to mention the necessary tools, to the site. While these machines are a god-send, they are no small chore to muscle along the trail, especially with the 7-foot wide gate strapped on top. Jeff, of the NPS trail crew, and Rob managed the two machines.
A digging crew went ahead of the haulers to get started on the 5 post holes necessary for this site. Maybe karma had accumulated on the first gate, maybe it was just luck, but the soil for gate number two was soft sand, probably the easiest encountered in the 20+ gates installed so far. The holes were dug, the gate was set and leveled, the cement was mixed and poured, the bike ramp bolted on, an additional post set for that and the site smoothed and groomed. The crew posed for the requisite group photos and then everyone began the slow trip behind the haulers back to the vehicles. The soft sand in the wash gave Rob’s heavy truck momentary pause but the crew added a little muscle power and he was on his way.
Thanks to Rob, Matt, Jeff, Dan, Lee, Bill, and Tom for all the hard work and for dealing with the “unknowns” of a remote installation.
Water Report: Rincon Creek was flowing a nice steady flow of clear water--not common this time of year. |
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Shawn
The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see. |
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