On December 8th, a group of four Summit Hut volunteers joined two community volunteers and two Park Services employees on a Saguaro Census. We met at the Saguaro East visitors center and made our way to the Mica View Picnic Area. Our fearless leader, Irene, gave a brief overview of the history of Saguaros in the park, and of Section 17, a section within the park that was first inventoried back in 1941. Just after the establishment of Saguaro National Monument, there was a tremendous decline in Saguaro population that could not be explained. There were many theories and attempted remedies but none proved successful. Because Section 17 was well established and has been counted previously, it makes for a great study in the current population and how it compared to that of 1941. To learn more about the plot’s history check out Irene’s webpage.

After the history lesson, we made our way to the plot we would be measuring, Plot D5. We were given a quick clinometer lesson and paired up with a Saguaro measuring veteran.

 
Summit Hut Assistant Manager, Meaghan, setting up the clinometer.

We split into two groups that would work along the plot side by side. Once we reached the end of the plot, we swapped sides and double checked the other group's inventory to ensure no Saguaro went unmeasured. We then swept back a third time retrieving the flags marking which saguaros had been measured.

 
The largest saguaro our team measured.

We worked for about four hours and measured a total of 139 saguaros ranging in size from .4 meters up to 9.4 meters! The largest saguaro we measured also had 24 arms!

Summit Hut Merchandiser, Carolyn, measuring a saguaro.

The next day, a group of 8th graders from Paulo Freire Freedom School completed the second half of plot D5. The results of our inventory can be seen here.

The general trend is the number of tall saguaros has diminished tremendously but there are far more small saguaros than there were during the 1941 census. Irene explained that much of this is due to the fact that there are far more trees in the park than there were in 1941 which provide shelter and protection to the young saguaros.

This census is an ongoing project and just about anyone can volunteer simply by emailing Irene. We had a great time and truly felt that we were participating in historic research. Who knows, maybe 70 years from now a group of volunteers will be counting the same plot and comparing their results to ours!

On October 21st, Saguaro National Park hosted visitors, scientists, researchers, volunteers and students from across the country in an effort to inventory as many species as possible inside the park. I was able to participate in the event as a “Photo Ambassador” – which was fancy BioBlitz-speak for “guy with a camera”. As I made my way to BioBlitz on Friday morning, I was incredibly excited and inspired by the number of children participating in the event. There was bus-load after bus-load of kids enjoying displays of gila monsters, bugs and other desert creatures!

Basecamp, which is known as the Saguaro National Park Visitor Center the other 51-weeks of the year, was an amazing arena of science, discovery, festivities and camaraderie. At 11:30am they had an opening ceremony featuring Billy B – the “Natural Science Song and Dance Man” – singing and dancing with the kids. The ceremony also had speeches from the director of Saguaro National Park, a VP from National Geographic, and other dignitaries.

After the ceremony I made my way to the Science Tent to check in with the photo team. I skimmed the schedule for the next inventory and saw an insect team was heading out at 12:30pm. Now, I’ll be the first to admit, I was not all that excited about going on a quest for tiny insects – it wasn’t as glamorous-sounding as tracking large mammals. However, I ended up having an amazing time – thanks, almost entirely, to the scientists on our team. Our crew consisted of 13 people. Four children, three volunteer adults, a writer from National Parks Magazine, two professional photographers, myself and two scientists from the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago – Doug Taron and Celeste Troon.

As we set out through a wash behind Basecamp, Doug and Celeste’s passion was quite apparent – as was the exuberance of the children! The kids had a great time running up and down the wash pointing out every little creature they could find. We came across some spiders, grasshoppers, ants, butterflies and more – all of which Doug was spouting off fancy-sounding names for as Celeste jotted them down on the list.

Throughout the day the scientists used several techniques to identify each specimen. Some were kept in jars for further research, some were photographed, and some were sufficiently identified in the field. When they were placed into containers, they were passed around the group so everyone could get a better look. Doug and Celeste were incredibly patient with those of us who know nothing about bugs and were more than happy to answer questions about everything from bugs to what they do in their jobs back in Chicago.

After about 3 hours of wandering the desert in search of bugs, we made our way back to Basecamp. There, we indulged in an incredibly tasty Prickly Pear Eegee (for those of you not from Tucson, it’s a delicious frozen fruit drink that doesn’t usually come in Prickly Pear flavor). I checked back in at the Photo Ambassadors table and uploaded my photos and made my way back to town.

The results of the inventory are still being finalized but at this point there were over 800 species inventoried, over 400 of which were new to the Saguaro National Park species list, and a few of those were potentially never-before documented. It was incredibly special to be a part of this great event. It was put on by an exceptionally passionate and dedicated team of hundreds from National Geographic, the National Parks Service, Friends of Saguaro National Park, and other supporters. Then there was the huge number of scientists and an impressive number of volunteers. Thanks to everyone who was part of this effort and I hope those of you that participated had as great of an experience as I did!

First off, I want to offer a big thank you to everyone who came out to this year’s Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour at the historic Fox Theatre. I hope you all enjoyed the evening and left feeling inspired to get out there and enjoy your own adventure.

Sold out crowd of 1150 at the beautiful Fox Theatre

The evening of films was filled with some incredible characters, Ueli Steck is just an incredible climber and his speed ascent of the Eiger made for possibly the most amazing moment of the night. And we can probably all agree that we now know more about paragliding than we ever thought we would - but what an incredible ordeal!

As the result of a sold-out crowd we were able to donate $5,500 to local non-profit groups as part of a grant program. We here at Summit Hut are incredibly grateful for all the amazing work our five finalists do in our community, and incredibly thankful for your support of this year’s grant. Each and every one of the five finalists, and the other 15 applicants, do wonderful things for the Tucson area. Everything from trail maintenance to getting our area’s youth outside. I’d like to take this opportunity to highlight, in a little more detail, our three runners-up and our two winners.

 
Our finalists on stage with Summit Hut owner Dana Davis.

Each of our three runners-up were awarded $250 in partnership with Patagonia as well as a $250 Summit Hut gift card.

Inner City Outings: The folks at ICO do an amazing job getting kids outside, most of whom would otherwise have no chance to do so. As a subsidiary of the Sierra Club, they partner with local schools and youth agencies to lead hiking, camping, kayaking, caving, mountain biking and many other adventures.

Friends of Kartchner Caverns State Park: Kartchner Caverns State Park is definitely a gem of our region. Friends of Kartchner is dedicated to advocating preservation of the caverns through research, education and public awareness. They are also responsible for docent training and scientific research at the caverns.

Sonoran Desert Weedwackers: The Weedwackers started in 2000 as a small group committed to remove non-native grasses in Tucson Mountain Park. Now, they are the hosts of the incredibly well known Beat Back Bufflegrass Day and have been incredibly productive in removing tons of invasive grasses.

The two winners of this year’s grant were each awarded checks for $2,000.

 
Our winners, Southern Arizona Rescue Association and Tucson Wildlife Center.

Southern Arizona Rescue Association: SARA is an incredible group of men and women who all volunteer their time to provide a vital service to our outdoor community. Members go through extensive training to be able to perform rescues under just about any conditions Southern Arizona could throw at them. This team of dedicated volunteers responds to over 100 search and rescue missions each year which results in over 4,400 hours of their time at absolutely no expense to taxpayers. Just about every one of us who has been enjoying the outdoors around Tucson for any amount of time has had some sort of interaction with this team. I know I’ve run into members of the SARA team out on the trail and here in the store and every single one of them is excited about the opportunity to do what they do, and on top of that, they are all genuinely nice people. They are all great people and obviously dedicated to providing a great service to those in need. They also have some wonderful outreach programs including the nationally acclaimed Hug-A-Tree system for educating children about outdoor safety. If you are interested in learning more about SARA, they host a monthly meeting at 7:30 pm the first Friday of each month at their SARA House near Sabino Canyon.

Tucson Wildlife Center: The team over at Tucson Wildlife Center was established in 1998 and is dedicated to rescue, rehabilitation and release of injured and orphaned wild animals. Specializing in birds of prey and javelina, this team of specially trained and passionate people is able to handle large and potentially dangerous animals. Since the first year, the center has rehabilitated between 250 and 300 animals per year. TWC also has a 24/7 emergency help line and a 24-hour emergency room. All services are provided free to the public. They also conduct wonderful educational programs out in the community which include live animals and provide wonderful information to children and adults alike. In working with Lisa and her team for a couple events, it has become incredibly evident that they are as dedicated as it comes. They are committed to the care, rescue and rehabilitation of the majestic wildlife of the Tucson area and love to share their passion with the community. And as an aside, they also have some of the cutest animal pictures in the world!

Chris tries to tell me what to expect on the fourth pitch: when my quads will start to burn in the layback, the point where I won't be able to see my gear placements, and when I'll be far enough above my last piece that I'll just have to gun it to better ground.

I ask him to please shut up. My palms are sweating and I just want to go before I think too much about it. I've lead gear routes harder than this, but not so far off the deck. We're a few hundred feet up on Mystery of the Desert, a 5.9, 5-pitch trad route that wanders up the side of the Muttonhead, one of the prominent domes in Cochise Stronghold.

Looking toward the Muttonhead from Sheepshead Summit

It's the first climb of Cochise season, a stunning sunny Sunday that still promises to keep the temps in the low 80s: perfect conditions for spending a few hours on a sun-baked rock face. Catching the first glimpse of the Sheepshead, the largest dome on the west side of Cochise Stronghold, was like seeing a loved one get off a flight at the airport. I love it out here. It's my favorite place in the world. The hikes are long, the routes are longer, the granite is a solid rich orange with alien-green lichen. It's a place that always feels sacred and familiar at the same time. The Apache chief Cochise hid his people among these domes and they evaded the U.S. Cavalry for fifteen years. Running through the maze of domes, it's easy to see how. These days it's climbers that venture into the depths for adventure.

The climbing is so fantastic that the start of the season out here is cause for celebration, and the climbing community is more than happy to put on the party. At the start of climbing season each fall and the end of the season each spring, climbers come out for Beanfest, a potluck style dinner (traditionally seasoned with some raucous, ankle-twisting games later in the night) sandwiched between two awesome days of climbing. This year my friend Tanya is the "Bean Queen" hosting the party, and just to give you a preview of how great it's going to be: Tanya got married earlier this year to the wonderful Scott Ayers, and at the post-wedding party she cut off the bottom half of her wedding dress and jumped in the pool, pulling a few best-dressed guests with her. In short, it's going to rock. (No pun intended.)

Getting Ready to Belay at Zappa Dome, East Stronghold

But we're not there yet. We're still leashed onto a rock face with our palms sweating.

Mystery of the Desert is strange and beautiful, starting in a slick shallow  corner, then slanting left along a crack to a beautiful roof which it surmounts through the path of least resistance, up to a big slot: main face of the dome on the right, huge sloping boulder on the left, where you can opt to squeeze through or stem over (stemming is easier, in my opinion; a climber in a party ahead of us admitted he had to take all the gear off his harness and shove it in front of him to get through). After that it's a short piece of slab up to a garden ledge, and this is where we are, about to begin pitch four. Time to go.

It begins easily enough on slab, and I get a nice piece in the bottom of the layback. It's a perfect overlap and I get get my hands firmly under the lip, feet pressing just under my hands. Climbing a powerful layback is like trying to pick up a refrigerator; you have to push with your feet as much as you pull with your hands, and the action balanced between the two keeps you in there. I try to feel the size of the pieces I need, get them in the crack, then clipped, and then I hazard a peek around the lip to see if I did it right. The layback feels great, actually. I feel strong. I get to the top of the layback when I realize it's been about ten feet since I've put a piece of protection in, meaning I'm looking at a 20 foot fall. I start to look for a place to put a piece, but I'm too late: I should have put something a foot below where my feet are now, because the crack has vanished into slab. The fear seeps in a little bit, and my foot slips. An involuntary shriek slips out of my mouth before I catch a handhold and coax my quaking knees onto better footing. Close one.

There's a little climbing left still, but the belay at the top of the fourth pitch is a nice closer to the climb: you can watch your friends come powerfully up the layback with the backdrop of granite domes and Chihuahuan desert spreading out behind them. There's a lot of solitude out here, and there's something about climbing in this environment, something about trusting your life to a friend on the other end of the rope, so far out in the middle of the desert, that makes every climbing day an adventure and an accomplishment.

What better than to celebrate with a party. This year, Beanfest is November 13th and 14th in the East Stronghold, and burrito fixin's are needed. Check out "Beanfest 2010" on Facebook for directions, t-shirts, and to see what you can contribute.

Arizona congressional representatives Gabrielle Giffords and Raul Grijalva have turned up the heat on the Forest Service in an effort to stop the disastrous Rosemont Copper mining project south of Tucson in the Santa Rita Mountains.

Read about their recent efforts in an article in The Green Valley News.

View the approximate location of the proposed project on Google Maps at http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=31.833333,-110.75&z=13&t=h&hl=en.

Check out these links to learn more:

Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, a volunteer-based, non-profit organization fighting the proposed mine.

The Forest Service Environmental Impact Statement home page for the Rosemont Copper Project.

The Rosemont Copper public relations site.

This past Friday evening, March 27, the Summit Hut hosted the Banff Mountain Film Festival for the 11th consecutive year in Tucson. Nearly 1,000 people filled the historic Fox Theatre to watch 7 films which ranged in length from 3 to 55 minutes.

My favorite film of the night was Patagonian Winter, the story of a failed attempt by two British mountaineers to make the first winter ascent of Torre Egger. The scenery was spectacular and the conditions truly daunting, but what set the film apart for me was the delightful humor expressed throughout by the two climbers, Andy Kirkpatrick and Ian Parnell.

I was also surprised at my own reaction to Journey to the Center, a film documenting the first BASE jump into an incredibly deep limestone cavity in the middle of China known as the Heavenly Pit. As each jumper committed to releasing himself into the misty void, I couldn’t help but get anxious.

Without a doubt however, the most lasting impact of the evening came courtesy of all the attendees through their ticket purchases. The Summit Hut was pleased and proud to donate $1,000 of the proceeds to Pima Trails Association, a volunteer advocacy group that has worked hard for the past twenty years to protect trails and to insure public access to public wild lands all through Pima County.

Thousands of us enjoy the fruits of their effort every year. For example, Pima Trails Association was involved in preserving access to Ventana Canyon, Finger Rock Canyon, Agua Caliente Hill, and Fantasy Island to name just a very few.

This organization merits your support; their work is an immeasurably valuable gift for all outdoor enthusiasts who enjoy the wild lands of southern Arizona. Pima Trails Association has a number of projects in progress. Learn about these projects and how you help on their website.