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Guys (male persons) of the Village, take heed.
I'm putting together a Veteran's Day weekend event: a six-mile (one-way) backpacking trip in the Saguaro National Park - Rincon District...and I'm looking for Village guys to come along! The trek will be starting on Friday morning, Nov 11, at the "Douglas Springs Trail" trailhead (the very east end of Speedway at the base of the Rincon Mtns) and we'll end up at Douglas Springs Campground.
Spud Rock (upper left) and upper ridge of Rincons from Douglas Spring Campground.
If we get enough participation, Eric says we would just cancel November's SmackDown (which was going to be scheduled Nov 11).
I NEED A FIRM COUNT NO LATER THAN END OF VESPERS, NOV 6, SO I CAN FINALIZE PREPARATIONS.
I know I spoke with some guys at Vespers tonight about staying out there two nights. However, I just realized I can only stay one overnight due to a Sunday engagement I have with my barbershop quartet (that's another blog...soon to come!). So I will be coming back Saturday late afternoon. However, anybody that wants to stay an extra night, feel free!
The plan is to be at the trailhead Friday morning, Nov 11, so that we can hit the trail at 8:00am. If anybody wants to carpool with me in my van, please EMAIL me to coordinate it and then be at the Seneca House Nov 11 no later than 7:30am b/c that's when I'll be leaving. Otherwise, get yourself to the trailhead before 8:00am.
This trip requires you to have a permit for camping in the National Park overnight. The National Park's website (listed below) says it's $6.00 per night, but they may have gone up some...$10 comes to mind, but I'll figure that out and update it here later. Once that's established, I'll collect $$$ from you guys at Vespers and get the permits all at once prior to the trip. Check out the website for interesting facts about the Park:
http://www.nps.gov/sagu/pphtml/camping.html
THE REALLY IMPORTANT PART: If you want to go, EMAIL me at keithbrunson03@yahoo.com to let me know. Include in that email:
- how many nights you want to camp
- whether you want to carpool from Seneca House
- whether you will have a vehicle parked at the trailhead; if so, what kind of vehicle, and what is the license plate
- whether you have a two-man tent you can bring
- a list of other items you have extra that others may borrow (sleeping bag, foam pad, underwear, whatever)
You will need to come up with your own (or borrowed) backpack; enough water for all your own personal needs (drinking, cooking, cleaning) for the duration of your stay -- 2 gallons per day is a good number to go with; your own tp!!!; a (small/lightweight!) flashlight; toiletries as desired; layered clothing -- and make sure you're prepared for a cold night; all-purpose camping cup.
We'll figure the food out later once we know how many are coming and how long everybody is staying up there. More to come on that... Also, last time I was there, it was fire season and you were not allowed ANY fires -- even stoves! Hopefully that's eased up some, but I'll find that out too. The standing policy will obviously effect what our meals are gonna look like...
There will be no water at the campsite...bone dry this time of year. This hike is at the "easy-to-moderate" difficulty level all the way up to the campsite. Just beyond the campsite it becomes a "difficult" hike as it rises from just under 5000' at Douglas Spring Campground to over 8000' toward the top strata of the Rincons. The 2.5 miles from the campsite up to Cow Head Saddle (6500') is a sort of steep, but fun, day hike. Beyond the saddle is a very steep 4-mile climb to Spud Rock (8600') that I doubt I'll manage, but you younger whippersnappers may want to tackle... As I remember it, from any place on these trails, you'll never be more than two steps from a glorious view...so it doesn't matter how far up you go -- you can't lose!
I'll create an email list to get additional info out to all of you as needed. MORE LATER. LET'S GO, GUYS!!!!!! (pic2 = sunset from campsite at Douglas Springs in March 2005) | 
