aztrail-build.org

Greeting AZ Trail Builders!

We’re down to the last few little nits from the State Land Department
and should be ready to start construction when our season begins in
mid October. The schedule of events is now online here:

http://aztrail-build.org/event-schedule/

I’m looking forward to another season, and seeing you all at our
events.

Before I give you the details on what we’re doing where, I’d like to
ask you to commit to going online every day this month to help the
ATA win a $50,000 grant from the Redwood Creek Winery. Online votes
determine the winner, and we were narrowly defeated last year by a
project in New Orleans. This year we’re trailing and need a strong
surge to get ahead and stay ahead. Last day to vote is Aug. 31. This
is crunch time.

To vote go to:

http://www.blazethetrail.com/greatoutdoors/vote/

It takes two or three mouse clicks. I bookmarked the site, and have
it at the top of my bookmarks list. I set up my scheduler to remind
me every morning on account of I am old and forgetful.

You do need to register the first time, but the process is simple,
and should take you no more than a minute. I was able to do it, which
means that if you have the mental acuity of a potted plant you can
manage this process with ease.

Please help us with this if you can. It’s easy and takes just a few
seconds out of your day.

OK, the trail, and what we need to do.

We have four segments to complete. The first is a reroute to utilize
an undercrossing at SR 83 about a half mile north of Sahuarita Road.
This should take 2-3 work events.

The second is the connector from the Lakes Road to existing trail in
the Coronado National Forest. Lee’s Thursday Crazies will do the
upper section of this, because it’s hard to get to and they are crazy
enough to work all day to get more bang out of their travel time. We
are estimating 6-8 work events to join up with the Crazies’ section.

The third is a reroute into and through Cienega Creek, as well as an
equestrian bypass through Davidson Canyon. Union Pacific decided that
they would rather have the trail cross the tracks at grade level
(near Zoo Station Road) than come under the trestle at Three Bridges.
This reroute also resolves the not insignificant safety issues of
crossing the Marsh Station Road bridge adjacent to the trestle. The
trail will swing east after crossing the gas line road and contour
over to the railroad crossing. Then it will cross Marsh Station Road
and drop into Cienega Creek, utilizing old abandoned roads to a fair
extent. It will rejoin the existing trail at the trailhead parking
lot.

The final piece will be to complete the trail from Rincon Creek to
Hope Camp. The Saguaro National Park folks have told us they expect
to be ready for that to happen in late spring, so it will be our last
project. It should take 1-2 work events, max.

Take care,

–Mark

We have a schedule for the 2010 season, and the first date is posted on the event page.

http://aztrail-build.org/event-schedule/

All dates are subject to getting the green light from the state land department, which we still have not yet received. Edit: no permission this season. All events except the REI one are canceled.

However, the REI event on April 3rd will happen no matter what. Stay tuned for more detailed info on that event.

Thanks!

The 2009-1010 trail building season is almost here. We’re awaiting
the go-ahead to begin work, possibly in November, at Saguaro National
Park. We also expect to hear within a month or two when we can start
building trail to connect across state land from Rincon Creek to the
park, south to the Coronado National Forest Boundary, and a bypass
near SR 83.

Watch here for updates, or register and you will receive email
updates.

That’s a wrap for the abbreviated 2008/2009 season here at aztrail-build.org. We’ve built everything that is currently approved, and even touched up a few unfinished spots along the way.

We’d like to thank all our sponsors and everyone that came out to volunteer at one of the events. With the lack of events for the rest of the winter/spring, it seems like an ideal time to get out and enjoy the trail that has been a labor of love for the past 4+ years. See the How to access the trail and GPS data to get on the trail.

But wait! There’s still opportunity to join the “Thursday Crazies” who are always up to something on the trail. There’s no regular schedule, and events are less formal. But they meet about twice a month, always on Thursday, and always work hard. Contact trail hero Lee Allen at janlee AT dakotacom DOT net for more information.

Thanks to Brian Vance and Leif Abrell for their photos from SDMB day. Now posted in the events area.

Also, a new logo for the main page of the site — we are, after all, working on the Las Colinas passage, not Cienega Corridor these days!

The season is underway, with one successful event in the books.

Photos from the event are available on the Event Schedule Page, or direct link here:

http://www.aztrail-build.org/EV_PAGES/2008_10_19/

(photos by Richard Grodzicki, our prolific AZT-build photographer)

After working hard for half a day, volunteers enjoyed a free lunch from Beyond Bread. Special thanks to this event’s sponsor, the Peace Corps!

Welcome to the newly redesigned aztrail-build.org site. We hope you like it.

We’re excited to start another great year of trail building on the AZT.

Check out the new calendar here.

After 13 highly successful events, the season is officially over. Volunteers outdid themselves this year, with a strong core group showing up for nearly every event. The trail is now punched through from the Lakes Road all the way to Saguaro National Park. That’s 27 miles of continuous singletrack! Great job everyone, and thanks to all our volunteers and sponsors!

We are fortunate to have some of the best trail designers and builders working on our trail. Mark Flint has distilled much of this collective knowledge into a handy 16 page manual. Check it out here:

Desert Trails by Mark Flint [1mb, PDF]

See you out on the trail!