August
2009 Newsletter
July TRACKS
Meeting: About 48 people
attended the meeting this month at
Woodland
Lake
Park
which included a potluck breakfast. There
were several guests in attendance: Sarah Frye, here from
Phoenix
; Fred and Judy Beck, from
Mesa
and here for the summer; Larry Ethelbah brought and introduced several of his
friends. 12 folks hiked
the trails at
Woodland
Lake
Park
, from the fishing docks, to Big Springs, to the
Nature
Center
and back.
Lynn
led the hike and Don Wise was the sweep. Nick led a mountain bike ride for 5
people.
Thanks to all the great cooks for a delicious brunch.
Medical Reserve
Corps: Our TRACKS speaker at
the July meeting was John Zimmerman,
Navajo
County
, Coordinator for the Medical Reserve Corps. One of the points he made is
that they need 7 supporting volunteers for each medical professional. He
also mentioned that training is available depending on the talents and
tasks of the volunteers. They ask that volunteers "promise" to
be
available...if at all possible...when there are major disasters or events that
MRC needs
to support. This is an extremely important and valuable program for
Navajo
County
.
Please let me know within the next week if you would like to volunteer for this
and perhaps we can get a TRACKS group of volunteers. Let me know what roles you
feel you could play in a major event (transporting supplies, counseling victims,
providing medical services, etc) I would contact John and let him know our
list of volunteers and their talents.
Nick
Lund
928-532-0405
Trail Care Program: The
Trail Crew has been doing maintenance and sign replacement on Los Burros. The
new trail steward for that trail, Kathleen Norton, has started replacing the
old, disintegrating diamonds and it should be easier to stay on track
now. The Forest Service gave the go-ahead on the reroutes of the upper part
of the
Ice
Cave
trail and that will be the next project. It will take about a month or
more and will leave the trail in better shape for the Tour of the
White Mountains
in October.
Nick Lund emails all trail crew members with details, so if
you wish to add your name to this list contact Nick at lundaz@cableone.net
– or call Liz at 537-1978
Black
Mesa
Ranch Tour: Twenty people
went to Black Mesa Ranch, east of
Taylor
, for a tour of their goat dairy and cheese making operation. Quite
an interesting experience visiting the nubian goats (who are very friendly and
social), learning about how the ranch was started and is operated, watching a
milking, and learning about how they make goat's milk cheese. We were
served plain, provencial herb, jalapeno coated, and chipotle coated goat
cheeses, which were fresh and delicious. A really worthwhile trip.
Many thanks to Kay Alderton for organizing this excursion!
Bioethnic
Plant Tour: On
Saturday, August 15, Phyllis Hogan from
Flagstaff
will lead a Bioethnic Plant Tour along the river by Greer. She will talk
with the group about edible, medicinal and ceremonial plants. A $24 tax
deductible check made out to ABRA (Arizona Botanical Research Association)
can be given to her at the time of the tour. Meet in the east
side parking lot at HonDah at
7AM
; leave by
7:15
. Wear good hiking boots, sunscreen, and bug repellant. Bring
water, a sack lunch and a pen/notepad to record data.
Cudos to TRACKS members!!!
As part of its 25th year celebration, the town of
Pinetop/Lakeside
set a goal of 25,000 volunteer hours from Jan 01 through
Dec 31, 2009
. As of the end of June, approximately 10,000 hours have been recorded,
and TRACKS members contributed 1624 of that total. Excellent work!!!
We will keep reporting our volunteer hours to the Town through the end of
December. Liz records all trail crew hours. Please report all other
volunteer hours spent as a TRACKS member to Nick
Lund after you finish the activity.
Nature
Center
25th Anniversary Hike:
Join TRACKS members and
Nature
Center
enthusiasts for a hike to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Town
of Pinetop-Lakeside. The hike will
begin at the
Nature
Center
parking lot,
425 South Woodland Road
, at
10:00 AM
on
Saturday, August 22, 2009
. Choose from one of three guided
hikes: a 2 mile (one hour) hike across the Nature Center, to the Big Springs
Environmental Study Area, and back; a 4 mile (2 hour) hike from the Nature
Center, through Big Springs, up the Walnut Creek riparian corridor, and back; or
a 6 mile (three hour) hike from the Nature Center, through Big Springs, up the
Walnut Creek corridor, around Woodland Lake, and back.
Your guides are experienced hikers who are pleased to share their
knowledge of the history and environment along these beautiful trails.
Be sure to wear comfortable hiking shoes, bring water, a snack, and
sunscreen. This event is a joint
venture of TRACKS and the
White Mountain
Nature
Center
.
While we won't be peering into the water, we will explore the Nature Center, Big
Springs, the Walnut Creek Riparian Corridor and hike around Woodland Lake.
Home Tour in
Snowflake and Wind Farm: If
you would like to go on the Home Tour in Snowflake, Oct 24th.....and this
includes a tour of the new wind farm.....limit is 50 people...mail your check
for $25 to:
Val-U-Solar
13 N Main St
Snowflake
,
AZ
85937
call Kay Alderton 367-7003 for details.
Along The Trail: The featured trail for last
month was the Blue Ridge Trail that can be accessed from Trailhead #2 located
on FR 182 along Sky Hi Road in Pinetop, or Trailhead #1, by continuing 5 miles
past Trailhead #2 on FR 182. TRACKS
recently completed a reroute of the first mile of this trail from Trailhead #2
that used to follow an old rocky Forest Service Road.
The reroute takes you through the forest along a scenic route.
If you haven’t been on the
Blue Ridge
this year, it would be a nice hike to
experience.
If anyone would
like to be on record identifying the featured trail for August, photos below,
email me at sherril3@citlink.net