Grand Canyon National Park is proposing a change to the procedure for reserving backcountry permits for overnight wilderness camping in the Canyon.

Under the current system users who are able to show up in person at the Backcountry Information Center on the South Rim when permits first become available get first shot at reservations, ahead of those who mail or fax their requests to the office. Reservations are made available on the first day of the month, four months before a user’s proposed trip start month.

For example, October is one of the two most popular months for wilderness outings in the Canyon, and permit reservations first become available four months earlier on June 1st. A couple of years ago I drove to the South Rim on a June 1st to get an October trip reservation, and was very surprised to find myself in line with well over a hundred people jockeying for the opportunity to get the permit they desired. There were plenty of locals in line but I talked to others who had come from as far away as Seattle! Permits requests that were arriving in the office on that June 1st via fax and mail were ignored by the reservation staff until all of the people present in person had an opportunity to place their requests.

The Park Service thinks this is unfair (I do too, even though I currently have the “local advantage”), and is proposing a change that will put all users on a more equal footing for getting the permit they desire. The Park wants to eliminate in-person requests during the first month of the four month early reservation period. So, in the first of the four months prior to a trip start, virtually all users would have to apply via fax or mail, and all such applications would be processed in the order received by the reservation office. In months two, three and four, walk-up users would again have an opportunity to be “first in line” on days they might show up in person at the office.

Commercial users and locals probably won’t like the proposed change, but I think its a good way to go. The Park is considering implementing this system or something like it as early as February, 2010.

You can read  more about this in an Arizona Daily Sun article.  More information about the current reservation system is available on the Park’s Backcountry Permit web page.

Since 2003, public access to High Creek, one of the nicest trail heads in the Galiuro Mountains northeast of Tucson, has been blocked by private land owners. The Forest Service is seeking public comment on a proposed plan to restore public access to the High Creek area.

Public access to High Creek will provide a central gateway to key portions of Galiuro Wilderness including Holdout Spring, Basset Peak, Kennedy Peak, the headwaters of Rattlesnake Canyon, and the Powers Garden area. Beneficiaries include hikers, backpackers, naturalists, campers, equestrians and hunters. Furthermore, opening High Creek will reduce recreational pressure on two other trail heads on the east side of the Galiuros: Ash Creek and Deer Creek.

Your support for the public access plan to High Creek is needed! Please write or email your support for the proposal as soon as possible; the deadline for submitting comments is October 28.  Include name, full address, a subject name of “High Creek EA”, and your specific comments with supporting reasons you believe the Forest Service should consider in reaching a decision. Note that this information becomes a matter of public record. Find more information on your Opportunity to Comment, here.

Owners of Garmin GPS units will be interested to know about two web sites offering free map and trail software created by “community mappers”.

GPS File Depot is a rich resource worth checking out. Dozens of free topo maps and some street maps are available for download; with maps for Arizona, California, New Mexico, to name just a very few. I downloaded the Arizona Topo Map onto my PC and used Garmin MapSource® software to install the map onto the micro-SD card in my eTrex Vista® HCx. The 24k topo map software came up and displayed as expected. It will be interesting to put it to use in the field.

In addition to the map downloads at GPS File Depot, you will also find several interesting tutorials, including a series describing how to create your own Garmin compatible maps.

MapSource® screen shot of Arizona Topo Map

Also worth a visit is the web page for Southwest Trails, a fascinating project devoted to creating transparent trail overlays for Garmin GPS units. Quoting from the web site: “In short, Southwest Trails is a transparent map overlay that you can put on your map-enabled Garmin GPS receiver. This allows you to see, and follow, trails using whatever maps you normally would on your GPS...be it topo maps, City Navigator, or any other sort of map that you have on your GPS.”

Both sites hint at a tantalizing future in which users and enthusiasts not only create GPS-ready topo maps, but also fill them in with up-to-date trail detail that is otherwise very difficult to come by. Looks like this future has already arrived!

One of the quiet success stories in the history of the Arizona Trail is the way that three distinct groups of outdoor enthusiasts came together and pooled their efforts to make the Trail the wonderful reality it is today. Those three main groups are hikers and backpackers, trail bikers and equestrians. Dave Hicks, Executive Director of the Arizona Trail Association, has told me that without this energetic collaboration, the Arizona Trail may never have come into existence.

During my walk of the Trail I came into contact with trail users from all these groups, and enjoyed hearing their perspectives on what the Trail meant to them. I ran into a man attempting an equestrian thru-trip and was very impressed when I learned how challenging it is to handle the problem of re-supply on long horse trips. Apparently, horses require a lot of water, food, and surprising to me, rest. I was told that a fit human thru-hiker generally requires far fewer rest days to complete the trip than horses do. Figuring out how to accommodate these needs, especially at remote and hard to reach trailheads can be a logistical nightmare. Another significant challenge for horses is navigating those sections of the Trail where deadfall from large forest fires can be stacked like giant pick-up-sticks, greatly impeding progress.

This fall there are plans afoot at Prescott College to traverse the Arizona Trail using horses and mules. Read about it here. This will be an interesting expedition to follow.

This weekend, August 15 - 16 is the final of three entry-fee-free weekends offered by the government in all national parks and monuments this summer. Though entrance fees will be waived, other fees such as campground fees remain in place. Hit the road and enjoy. Here is a sampling of a some parks and monuments to consider:

Chiricahua National Monument

nps.gov

Grand Canyon National Park

Montezuma Castle National Monument

nps.gov

Saguaro National Park

Sunset Crater National Monument

nps.gov

Walnut Canyon National Monument

Wupatki National Monument

Canyonlands National Park

nps.gov

Hovenweep National Monument

Natural Bridges National Monument

nps.gov

Zion National Park

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks

nps.gov

Looking for people to hike and backpack with in Southern Arizona? Check these groups out:

Southern Arizona Hiking Club

Green Valley Hiking Club

The Ramblers (University of Arizona's Hiking Club)

Tucson Hikers

The Tucson Hiking Meetup Group 

Tucson Backpackers

The X Hiking Club

Tucson Alt Hikers

What is your favorite hiking group?

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.

We are so fortunate to be able to live and play in the magnificent Southwest! Our love and passion for our precious wild lands runs deep, so early this year the Summit Hut launched its “100 Days of Service” program to benefit non-profit outdoor, conservation, and environmental advocacy organizations in southern Arizona.

It’s a simple idea: each year the Summit Hut pays up to 100 days worth of regular wages to our 60 employees when they volunteer to provide services to a non-profit group partner. We are thrilled to help with any number of tasks: trail building, restoration projects, native species protection, invasive species control, office and clerical chores, and so on. 100 Days of Service has been enthusiastically embraced by our staff and the Summit Hut is genuinely gratified to be giving back to some great organizations that have worked so hard for years to preserve and protect our precious environmental heritage.

Moving boulders off the Arizona Trail

The Summit Hut currently has 100 Days of Service partnerships with Sky Island Alliance, Arizona Trail Association, Tucson Audubon Society, Rincon Group of the Sierra Club; and we are in the process of finalizing partnerships with several other groups.

We kicked this program off this past March, and Summit Hut volunteers have already given nearly twenty days of service; building trail and helping with a bullfrog control and inventory project. Eighty more days to give, we can hardly wait!