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| no partners | | All Highline All the Time
The FS Payson Ranger District is targeting the Highline Trail for development into a major outdoor recreation facility. Towards that end, we’ve been working on the AZT/Highline Passage 26 over the last couple months.
Brush Cutting—Six days of socially-distanced solo brush cutting with a power tool cleared 1.1 miles near Pine Spring. We found a handy path off the Control Road, up FR1138 and then an animal trail to get up there without the torturous Red Rock Spring trail, and have been up and down that way many times. Trails look quite different with a fresh haircut.
Deadfall—Three of us stretched the rules just a little and met up at Geronimo TH to walk in a mile and a half to cut 5 deadfall and restore a short section of trail that was rerouted around some ancient large deadfall. The tread was there under the trees and through the brush. We cleared it and it’s all open now. A trio of thru-hikers were the first customers as we worked it.
Geronimo Spring Washout—The trail is on an ancient road where it crosses a perennial drainage just below Geronimo Spring. The culvert was plugged and the drainage was head cutting up alongside it. ATA found funding to do the repair up right, which happened this past week.
The old road to the site through Camp Geronimo was completely blown out into a deeply incised ditch and had to be reshaped in several places. Then tons of very heavy rock, moved from Washington Park (why they were dumped there a couple years ago remains a mystery) were hauled to the Camp maintenance yard and ferried in via a large skid steer loader. Watching Rob, ATA’s omnipotent machine operator-metal fabricator place these 150+-pound boulders with a mini-excavator is mesmerizing. The excavator is like a fifth limb! An ACE conservation corps crew was on hand to help with the handwork and to rebuild the drainage structures up the switchbacks above the trailhead. We’ll know after the coming heavy rains how it works.
Routing and Scouting—Several days of scouting between Pine and Washington Park has identified the areas for rerouting and maintenance-some of which will be significant. The FS plan is to group these efforts into one large project and do the clearance and archeology work for the Highline and some trails around Pine all at once. While the Arizona Trail Association is focused on the portion from Pine TH to Washington Park, other folks are continuing the effort east. Then we have to find the funding and get it done. Whether volunteer construction will be an option depends on how the COVID-19 issues play out. It’s pretty hard to keep your social distance on a group trail construction project.
Many fun days on the AZT! |
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Shawn
The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see. |
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Route Editor
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