On The Road Again

It has been a while, but we have finally found time to get back to traveling. We left home on Friday for our eventual destination, San Diego, where we will attend a reunion of my USAF pilot training class. We scheduled our first day to be our longest day, but still felt compelled to stop for a few minutes in Hobbs, New Mexico, where I spent six years working as a pilot for Mesa Airlines. Time, as well  as the oil and gas economy, has been kind to the Eastern New Mexico area, and the entire downtown area of Hobbs appears to have been rebuilt since I was last there in 1997. Things have changed enough around town that I had to rely on my GPS to find the apartment where I kept a crash pad for those six years, and the old airport now had an all new terminal building and control tower. What really shocked me however, is that the nineteen passenger turbo-prop aircraft in which I once provided government subsidized Essential Air Service from Hobbs, through Clovis, Carlsbad, or Roswell  into Albuquerque, has given way to a regional jet aircraft serving only Houston’s Intercontinental Airport. I suppose that connection shouldn’t be a surprise given the huge growth in the oil & gas industry in Eastern New Mexico, but I was really shocked. The other sad, but not unexpected fact in this entire turn of events is that the air service to Hobbs is no longer being provided by Mesa Air.

Leaving Hobbs, we found our way through the oil & gas fields between there and Artesia, NM. Where once there were hundreds of gas and oil wells, now there are thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of them. I couldn’t resist stopping to photograph the silhouette of a well against the late evening sun. While I would love to share the smell associated with this particular location, that technology is still a few years away. Sorry!

Eastern New Mexico Oil Well

After stopping for a night’s rest in Artesia, we were on our way west again, stopping long enough to admire the scenery from an overlook as we descended out of the Sacramento Mountains above Alamogordo, New Mexico.

View westward from the Sacramento Mountains. White Sands National Monument is visible in the distance.

Our next intended stop was Las Cruces, NM, where we planned lunch with a couple from Kathy’s college days. Earlene and Glenn have a fantastic southwestern-styled home overlooking a beautiful golf course, the city of Las Cruces, and the Organ Mountains. Over lunch on their back porch we watched the birds come and go from their feeders and enjoyed some nice conversation. Following lunch, Glenn had a few questions about photography, so I retrieved my camera and a telephoto lens from the truck to help provide an answer. While there, I snapped a few shots of the house finches and doves that are both prevalent around the feeders, and managed to get my first ever look at and picture of a Pyrrhuloxia, aka Desert Cardinal, a bird that has been high on my bucket list for a while.

Pyrrhuloxia (aka Desert Cardinal) male

Pyrrhuloxia (aka Desert Cardinal) male

After saying farewell to our friends, we continued westward into Arizona to rest for the night before continuing on into California on Sunday.

Up next – Joshua Tree National Park

Skiing Beaver Creek

This week finds us enjoying our traditional winter vacation in the mountains of Colorado. What is untraditional about this vacation is our location. This year, for the first time, we are exercising some options we hold in the Starwood Vacation Ownership Program, and staying at the upscale Westin Riverfront Mountain Villas in Avon. “Where?”, you say!  Avon, Colorado sits along Interstate 70 and provides access to Beaver Creek and it’s satellite ski areas, Bachelor Gulch, and Arrowhead. The Westin Riverfront Resort and Spa (an expensive hotel with wonderful amenities shared with the Mountain Villas) sits a few steps across the courtyard from us. On-site ski rental? Check!  Groceries and restaurants? Absolutely!  Lounge with live music? You bet!  Full service spa with massage, hot tubs and a heated, salt water lap pool?  Yep, that too!  Heated, underground parking?  Of course!  And the predominate feature of the courtyard between the Villas and the Resort/Spa is a gondola which docks there to whisk guests up the hill to join the ski lifts (and back down at day’s end). Their motto at Beaver Creek is “Not Exactly Roughing It” and it’s easy to see how the Westin facilities here fit right in.

Gondola to/from the Westin Riverfront Complex, as seen from our balcony.

On the slopes, Beaver Creek continues to live up to their motto. The ski area is advertised as a family friendly area, and indeed there is an abundance of families with youngsters on the slopes. In order to make the skiing attractive to families, ski area management grooms most of the slopes extensively, starting a 4:00 PM when the lifts close, and continuing, if necessary until 9:00 AM the next morning.

Grooming begins at twilight on the slopes along the Centennial Express Lift. Photo from our balcony.

For those of us who get up on the hill early, it is easy to see the results of their grooming, as the machines sometimes leave a texture in the snow knows as corduroy.

Corduroy left by groomers on Larkspur.

Another thing that makes this a family friendly ski area is the amount of beginner and intermediate terrain. Sixty two percent (1136 acres) of the total 1832 acres at Beaver Creek falls into these two categories. At the same time, the ski area designers did not forget the more accomplished skiers. In fact, 312 total acres (17%) of the ski area falls into the expert and extreme categories. Their expert terrain is considered good enough to have hosted the World Ski Championships twice, and Beaver Creek hosts the Birds of Prey World Cup Downhill annually.

Many of the intermediate ski slopes are wide and undulating. For those wishing to explore beyond the snow in front of them, there is an extensive, but time consuming array of trails that provide migration to other parts of this expansive ski area. The slopes are also reasonably well marked, but there is a certain necessity associated with knowing the name of where you want to go if you plan to use the aforementioned signs.

If there is a downside to our vacation, it would be the lack of snow. Colorado is in a widespread draught right now. Many farmers and ranchers cannot provide enough food for their livestock and horses. The conditions prevailing here are similar to what we had in Texas a year-and-a-half ago, including much warmer than normal temperatures. This translates into rather poor skiing conditions on the slopes. The last snow was over a week ago, and the total snowfall this season at Beaver Creek is 98 inches to date, compared with an average annual snowfall of 325 inches. Snow depth at the base is a paltry 27 inches, which translates to some exposed rocks and bare areas on the slopes. While Beaver Creek, like other ski areas, is equipped to make snow on the slopes, that also takes water, and there just isn’t enough to go around. With that being said, I think the grooming crews are doing an outstanding job each night to keep the runs acceptably skiable. It would just be so much more fun if I could turn without sliding on all the icy spots!

View downhill from Larkspur. Beaver Creek Village is visible at the base.

Expert terrain named for various birds of prey, accessible from Grouse Mountain and Birds of Prey lifts.

The Ritz Carleton, seen from ski runs off the Bachelor Gulch Express Lift. Ski-in/ski-out convenience/opulence.

Who would believe that we are harvesting vegetables from our garden the first week in December.

Cherry Tomatos and Banana Peppers.

The warm weather has me wondering if Al Gore is right!

Naw! Just kidding! Who would believe that creep anyway?!  But the fact is that the weather here in North Texas has been unusually warm, and I am very surprised to be picking cherry tomatoes and peppers from our back yard in December.

 

No significant travels to report on, but we are into migration season for the birds. I have spent some time watching the robins, juncos, goldfinches and house finches come and go from our feeders and watering stations. About two weeks ago I had my first ever backyard sighting (and photo) of a Cedar Waxwing.

Cedar Waxwing

Cooler weather should bring on the Pine Siskins, and of course we are enjoying our year-round plethora of Cardinals. There seems to be an overabundance of males this year.

Male Cardinal

 

Since the Photography at the Summit workshop in the Tetons a couple of months ago, I have been considering updating/upgrading my camera, and eventually my lenses. Well, then last weekend Kathy and I attended the DFW Photo Expo. Saturday we sat through a two hour presentation by Will Crockett, and were impressed by what we heard. We are seriously talking about a bit of a change of direction in my/our photography, and the direction we head may surprise you. Check back after the first of the year for more information.

Hawk’s Happy Meal

During our recent visit to Colorado, we had the occasion to visit the REI store near downtown Denver. As we entered the store, workmen were cutting the high grass (some would say weeds) near the entry using “weed eaters”. After wandering the store for awhile, we noticed a few customers and staff gathering at the windows. Looking to see what was so interesting, we saw that a hawk was perched on a post in the area where the grass had been cut.

It didn’t take us long to realize that the “mowing” was uncovering rodents living in the tall grass, without “mulching” them like traditional mowers would have. REI management was happy, and so was the hawk!  While we watched, the hawk chowed down on two mice, and there were lots more running free in the newly mown tall grass.

A mouse is trapped under the right claw!

The mouse has seen better days, but there is no remorse in nature!

We eventually had to leave, but the hawk was still there, and for as long has he or she wanted, there was plenty of prey remaining.

Naturalist’s Note: I have worked to positively identify the species of this bird, and the only conclusion that I can make is that this is an immature red-tailed hawk. I made this determination mostly by process of elimination, and without having a decent view of the bird’s upper tail, which would potentially have been a certain clue.

Colorado Fall Foliage & The Crystal Mill

One of the reasons we are in Colorado now is to enjoy the beautiful fall foliage, and a trip to the McClure Pass area filled our desire wonderfully. While the aspens have lost their leaves in many locations, there are pockets that are still shimmering and colorful. The narrowleaf cottonwoods are still beautiful as well, and contribute a great color palate to the landscape, especially along the river and stream banks.

Aspens on the hillside!

Speaks for itself!

We have been making regular/frequent trips to Colorado for the last ten years, and during that time there has been one historic location that has continually eluded my attempts to get a photograph. I may not have been in the right vehicle, or the weather wasn’t cooperating, or maybe I was running behind schedule and couldn’t take the time. This week I finally put all that behind me and made the trip to Crystal Mill.

Old structure now known as Crystal Mill.

Aspens in the Crystal Mill area.

 

The old mining town of Crystal, Colorado, and the mill that shares it’s name, sit just west of Schofield Pass, on the single track “road” from Crested Butte to Marble. Information I have gleaned from reading and from talking to locals say that Schofield Pass should only be attempted by experienced off-road drivers in just the right 4X4 vehicle. However, if one was to avoid Schofield Pass, and proceed east from the town of Marble, all that is required is a 4X4 vehicle with high clearance, steady nerves, and a strong desire to see the mill. Oh yeah, if your spouse is planning on riding along, better take a change of underwear for your rider. From the city limit sign/end of pavement in Marble it is just over 5 miles of ROUGH and frequently narrow road to the mill. The trip took us right at one hour!

A moderate to easy stretch of the road.

Sheep Mountain Powerhouse, a.k.a. Crystal Mill.

Built in 1892-93, the structure has been known by various names including Lost Horse Mill, Dead Horse Mill, and Sheep Mountain Powerhouse. The latter is perhaps the most historically accurate, since the structure actually was not a mill. A horizontal water wheel in the river drove a vertical shaft that operated air compressors in the building above. The compressed air was used to operate air driven drills for the Sheep Mountain Mine, and perhaps other mines in the immediate area. The Sheep Mountain Mine closed in 1917, and the powerhouse fell into a state of disuse. The rubble littering the adjacent riverbank is from a stamp mill that was used to process silver ore, and may have also been powered by the waterwheel. The mill was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, and is reputed to be one of the two most widely photographed locations in Colorado, along with Maroon Lake/Maroon Bells, just northwest of Aspen.

The Maroon Bells

The town of Marble is also an interesting (?) stop. For some reason, I find myself humming the tune from the movie Deliverance whenever I get around the town of Marble, but the town’s history is interesting and the museum in town is worth the time to walk through.

Scenery just north of Marble.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breckenridge Blondie – A Red Fox

This morning finds us enjoying the cool temperatures and wonderful autumn foliage in Breckenridge, Colorado, following a wonderful week in Jackson, Wyoming and the Grand Tetons (more on that later). We are settled into a spacious ground floor unit at our favorite mountain lodge, awaiting other family members who will join us in a few days.

Arriving back at our lodge from a trip to the grocery store a couple of days ago, Kathy spied a red fox on the hill outside our living room. My camera was handy and I eased out the back door immediately to see if I could get a suitable photo. Following the fox up the hill, I knelt  down to make my profile smaller and to get a good shot, and was surprised when the the fox somehow took that as a gesture of friendliness, and walked toward me. As it turned out, the fox was actually quite friendly and very willing to pose for my camera.

Blondie let me get close enough for a “head shot”.

Blondie, rummaging around out back.

Checking with the staff at the lodge, I found that “Blondie” was a regular visitor, and that she was frequently being fed by other occupants, despite instructions not to do so.

Blondie yawns and stretches frequently.

That evening she hung around outside for a good long time, and allowed me quite an opportunity to photograph her. She left a couple of times, but then as we were putting our evening meal on the table, she appeared again, right outside our door. It was then that it occurred to me that Blondie could smell the soup Kathy had been cooking in the crock pot all afternoon, and was, for good reason, very attracted to our back door. At one point, I think if I had left the door open and stepped aside, she would have come right inside to search for the smell that was attracting her.

Blondie on the snow retaining wall, contemplating whoever or whatever is inside.

Blondie – Day 2. Much if what I assumed yesterday about Blondie may not be true. She is back at our door begging, and we have nothing cooking. Even more to our surprise, Blondie is not alone, and her accomplice  is not quite as trusting as Blondie. I am hoping to get a better look, as I suspect that the second fox could be a male suitor.

Blondie on the snow retaining wall outside our back door, while her “friend” warily keeps his/her distance.

Blondie – Day 3. She is back again this morning. Odd, since this is the first we have seen her in the morning. I can only guess that she is hungry. I would like very much to go to the grocery store and bring her back a raw chicken leg, and only my knowledge that feeding her would definitely not be in the animal’s best interest is keeping me from doing so.

Since we will be here for another ten days or so, and the other lodge occupants insist on feeding the foxes, I expect that there will be more to this story, and will update as necessary.

Just chillin’.

Added  October 16, 2012:

We have been watching “Blondie” for almost two weeks now, and our conclusion is that there are only two foxes, both vixens. One is a little larger and has slightly different markings. The larger fox is also a bit more wary of approaching humans, but still friendly. Their behavior leads me to believe that they are related, and the staff here at the lodge tell me that a skulk was born in the spring/summer of 2011, and that these two are quite possibly the remaining offspring.

Feed me something! I insist!!

 

Posing beautifully.

 

Regardless of who they are, or what they are called, we have totally enjoy our daily visits with these wonderful animals of friendly demeanor. We hope they enjoyed us as well.

Blondie visits with Beth and Sara.

After an overnight snow.

 

 

Fort Pickens in HDR

We are finally traveling again, having left the Dallas area a couple of days ago, and will arrive in Jackson, Wyoming later today, where I will participate in the week long “Fall at the Summit” photo workshop. Hopefully, as the week progresses, I’ll have some great landscape and maybe a few wildlife photos to share.

Meanwhile, I have a subject I have been wanting to write about and some photos from our trip to Florida last spring that I have been wanting to share. If you read the blogs from that trip, you may recall a strong emphasis on wildlife. There was one stop on that trip, however that didn’t involve wildlife at all. I had seen some interesting photos of this location, and being a military history buff, I scheduled time to visit Fort Pickens while on our trip.

Heavy canon within a ground level casement.

Positioned on the western end of Santa Rosa Island in Mobile Bay, Fort Pickens was built by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and hundreds of slave workers who were skilled in masonry and carpentry. Construction of the fort began in 1816 and took five years. Along with three other fortified locations, Fort Pickens formed a second line of defense for Mobile and the surrounding waters.  During the Civil War, Pickens was the only fort in the area that never fell into Confederate control.

Under the Northwest Wall.

Still under the Northwest Wall, but the end is in sight!

Fort Pickens was abandoned and slipped into disuse after World War II, and today it is a national historical site located within the Gulf Islands National Seashore.  In addition to the fort’s unusual military history, I found it an extremely interesting site to photograph. The fascinating elements of the fort’s construction were all “indoors”, seemingly underground if you will, and I knew from the size of the subject that flash photography would not be effective. I had seen some photos of the fort that used High Dynamic Range (HDR) techniques and knew that was what I wanted to try.

Under the Southwest Wall.

Inside the Southwest Wall of the Fort.

Using my trusty Nikon on a tripod, I set the camera to take five shots each time I hit the shutter release. Two of the images would be at various stages of underexposure, two at various stages of over exposure, and one correctly metered for the dark lighting conditions. After some minor edits in Adobe Camera Raw, I allowed my software to combine all five of the images from each shot into one image which contained the darkest as well as the lightest elements from each shot of the camera, hence the label HDR. I completed the editing of one photo in the HDR module of Photoshop, then switched to nik HDR Efex Pro to combine and edit the remaining images, with the exception of the last image shown. I use nik software for editing on a daily basis, and find HDR Efex Pro to be a very full featured, easy to understand method of creating HDR photos.

Inside the Southeast Wall. Three Casements.

Three Casements, Southeast Wall.

Northeast Three Casements in B&W, done in nik Silver Efex Pro.

For the final image, I took the correctly exposed frame from that shot and manipulated it in the Classic and Vibrant modes of the new Topaz Adjust 5, and was also happy with the results there.

Northeast Three Casements (Topaz).

Thanks for viewing and stay tuned for some excellent scenics and (hopefully) good wildlife photos.

Block Creek Natural Area – For The Birds

Earlier this summer I  took the opportunity to attend a nature photography workshop in the Texas Hill Country. On the selected afternoon, I met with five other photographers from around Texas, as well as fellow Dallas area professional nature photographer Sean Fitzgerald. Our location was the Block Creek Natural Area, situated between Fredericksburg and Comfort, Texas. Consisting of two adjacent privately owned ranches, Turkey Hollow and The Laurels Ranch, Block Creek features unique flora and fauna of specific interest to photographers, yet sure to satisfy non-photographers as well. Award winning western/cowboy photographer David K Langford and his wife Myrna own the ranch originally founded in 1887 and now known as The Laurels Ranch. Adjacent to The Laurels, Turkey Hollow is a thirty acre ranch that was personally renovated by owners Larry and Sharon Jay, and is well managed for wildlife production. In addition to excellent photographic opportunities, Larry and Sharon also operate a superb bed and breakfast.

We all understood that the thrust of our workshop was to be bird photography, and we spent a few hours each morning and afternoon in the bird blinds, with generally excellent results. Turkey Hollow features some great “permanent” blinds, and Larry works hard to insure that birds are suitably attracted to those sites.

Black-crested Titmouse

Carolina Chickadee

Carolina Wren

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Black-chinned Hummingbird (female)

Black-chinned Hummingbird (female)

Black-chinned Hummingbird (male)

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Painted Bunting (male)

Painted Bunting (female)

We also managed to find a little time to do some “walk about” photography, which yeilded some excellent bird photos as well as some surprises.

Whitetail Deer (spike buck)

Jackrabbit

Rat Snake

Rat Snake

Summer Tanager (immature male)

Vermillion Flycatcher

Vermillion Flycatcher

Fresh off their season finale at Scarborough Faire near Waxahachie, Texas, Last Chance Forever founder John Karger showed up with several of his birds of prey for us to photograph. I have photographed rescue birds before, but John and his staff gave us some unique opportunities to observe and photograph their natural behavior, including in flight.

Great Horned Owl

John with a hybrid-bred falcon

Hybrid-bred falcon in-flight over the prairie.

Red-tailed Hawk

Harris Hawk

It was a busy four days, but very rewarding. I was really satisfied with the number and quality of the photos I shot. Great Painted Bunting photos were one of my objectives as were good hummingbird photos, and I was really happy with the diversity of created by the raptors , flycatcher, woodpeckers, and the rat snake. I will be editing photos from this event for quite some time to come.

Family Time on the Guadalupe

Our family is working to establish a tradition of summertime family get-togethers, with our preferred location, for now anyway, being the Texas Hill Country. Summertime on the Guadalupe River is a  deep rooted tradition for us. I vacationed here every summer as a teen, Kathy and I spent our honeymoon here, and have visited several times since. Last summer we got most of the family together for a retreat along one of our favorite sections of the river, and it was a big hit with everyone. Having the river just a short walk away meant everyone could do whatever they wished, from high energy rope swinging to just floatin’ along.

Kathy’s favorite way to enjoy the river.

This year, however our favorite retreat couldn’t accommodate all of us on our selected dates, so Kathy went looking for someplace that could. She found the answer just a mile or two down river at Roddy Tree.   Not only did Roddy Tree offer a wide variety of accommodations, they promised evening entertainment, horseshoes, fishing, playgrounds, and most importantly, private riverfront access. The accommodations came in the form of a spacious cabin, built in Missouri in 1852, and brought to Roddy Tree and rebuilt with a unique section added on. The cabin offered plenty of room for sleeping, three baths, a large kitchen, and dining table large enough for ten adults and three small-frys. A spacious front porch made visiting pleasant for all, including the early risers as well as  those up late.

Our Cabin.

Our Cabin.

Sara seemed to like the horses, just not quite as well as this one liked her.

Beth, Sara, and the horse that loved her.

But we were not there for the cabin or the horses. We were there for the river! And with the possible exception that we never found a rope swing that wasn’t on private property, we enjoyed the river immensely.

The Guadalupe as it flows past Roddy Tree.

Betty & Kevin

Sara & Beth

Dana L. enjoys floating with a cool one.

Kathy, deep in thought?

Dana P., Beth, and Sara

Alyce, Summer, Kevin

Sara and Beth

Jeff & Mason

With all this fun, there was little time to seek out the wildlife, but I would not have considered it a complete trip without a few wildlife photos.

Whitetail doe behind the cabin, early one morning.

Fallow deer.

Juvenile Green Heron at the fishing pond.

I once again have some decent video from this trip, and will edit this post to include a movie when/if I get the footage edited.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wilderness Volunteers – Breaking Trail Through Rocks and Stumps at 9000 Feet!

We met at 4:00 PM at the appointed location, the Apache Creek campground, located in the Gila National Forest in far Western New Mexico. We were nine members of the Wilderness Volunteers, an organization that promotes volunteer service to the wild lands in America, and we were there to help build a portion of the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) within the national forest. After making acquaintances, we set up our individual campsites and had dinner, after which I retired to the sound of a light evening sprinkle on the rain fly of my tent.

After striking camp and having breakfast the next morning, a few of us exercised an opportunity to view some primitive Mogollon rock art, not quite up to the standards of the Anasazi art panels that I have photographed, despite the fact that they were more recently inscribed.

Mogollon rock art. Appears to show the likeness of a human being, otherwise, your guess is as good as mine.

 

Some of the rock art was being careful guarded by a nice sized Arizona Black-Tailed Rattlesnake.

Rattlesnake guarding a small cave.

On the way back to camp we passed an unfortunate cow that had apparently succumbed to predators.

Fortunately, the cow didn’t smell as bad as it looked.

By mid morning we were making our way up a rugged Forest Service road to make camp near our work site. The location our Forest Service liaison had chosen for us was in a beautiful open stand of large, mature Ponderosa Pines in the heart of elk country just above 8300 feet. I realized I was here to work, but this felt more like a vacation dream. I was rudely awakened out of this dream by the announcement that it was time to go to work. Wait, isn’t this still Sunday afternoon?

We hiked a short distance and were shown a well designed and well constructed section of trail that was to be our model for the week. I was instantly relieved that the Forest Service standards were so high, and conformed so well to the model that I had learned in an extensive trail building seminar last winter.

Our “starter” trail.

A couple of hours of practice proved that the model could be difficult  to duplicate on un-level ground and in rapidly changing forest soil types. Taking that whole process to a steep, rocky mountainside environment over the next two days proved even more demanding.

Freshly cut trail!

When Wednesday rolled around we took the traditional Wilderness Volunteers “day off’ while the Forest Service folks continued to work. A hike starting with that section of the CDT that we finished on Sunday put us at the road accessing John Kerr Peak, coincidentally the same 8800 foot peak which dominated the southern view from our campsite. Our hike provided some stunning vistas of forested mountains including some of the forest that burned in the 300,000 acre Whitewater Baldy fire in May and June of this year.

Forested ridge lines as far as the eye can see.

Maidie and Joe pause on the way up John Kerr Peak.

Bill on top of John Kerr Peak.

View from John Kerr Peak, showing a hill burned by at least two fires in the last few years.

Forest service liaison helps pry a large rock from the intended trail surface.

 

By Thursday afternoon we had roughly completed our planned section of trail, which met up at both ends with sections of trail completed earlier by other volunteer organizations. We then began the process of fine tuning what we had built, including removal of some large  boulders and stumps that we had passed over, either in haste or because they needed additional consultation or help. By quitting time on Friday we had essentially finished all but a single switchback in our estimated four-tenths of a mile section of the CDT. If that doesn’t sound like much, let me say that you’re right, it isn’t, especially if you consider the estimated 3100 miles of the CDT  from our Canadian to our Mexican border.  Perhaps even more mind boggling, our Forest Service liaison person, Annette Smits supervises four workers, two of which are temporary hires, and together her crew is responsible for maintaining approximately 650 miles of trail within the northern district of the Gila National Forest. While the CDT’s designation as a National Scenic Trail gives it some priority, it is easy to see that the that the CDT will never be completed without significant help from volunteer organizations like Wilderness Volunteers.

This year’s volunteer group was made up of a great bunch of folks, who coincidentally forged a strong relationship with our Forest Service counterparts. I haven’t  cleaned up or put away all my gear from this trip yet, but by the time I get that all done, you can bet I’ll be starting to think about and plan for next year’s volunteer trip.

Our group, nine volunteers & three Forest Service employees.