Butterfly Trail 5.7/11.4 mi Well it was another beautiful day in paradise. The start was cool
(almost jacket weather) and the trail was green and wet at the creeks.
There were lots of flowers along the trail, especially the yellow
columbines and the purple, high elevation mallow. Out and Back on Road Trail One Way Mt. Hopkins Ascent 11.8/23.6 mi After I had to dodge a carabid beetle, and Eleodes beetle, and a
Jerusalem Cricket, I figured I’d reached my weird creature quota. A
Jerusalem Cricket is a truly strange-looking insect, and darn big (http://kaweahoaks.com/html/jerusalem_cricket.html).
This was our second Hopkins Ascent, with 8 runners and 1 mountain biker
(me). My plan was to juggle riding up the mountain with getting down in
time to drive my Trooper up to the gate at 7.8 miles up the 11.8 climb.
As it turned out, this was a very bad plan, since I’m not fast enough
to accomplish that before the first runners were well below the gate.
The lead group of Julius Martinez, Chris Fall, Tom Gormley, and Jorg
Hader were getting hot and tired by the time I met them with my Trooper.
I had given them as much water from my camelback as they wanted when I
passed them on my way up and down, but that was hardly sufficient. Next
year I’ll need to either forgo riding up or get some aid station help. I
apologize for my poor judgement. Despite this the runners did well and
seemed to have fun. Runner Ascent Roudtrip Sabino Basin 13.2 mi We had a total of 11 runners that ran varying distances Sunday and a
few others that ran on Saturday. The course was pretty overgrown about a
mile past the turn above the tram road and was that way all the way to
the turnaround at Sabino Basin. I saw 4-5 white tail deer Saturday about
a mile from the turn around point at Sabino Basin. I also saw a young
deer trot across the road just before the last hill, a mile from the
finish on Saturday. The weather was great. Here are the results. cf Bear Canyon Loop 16.8 mi The fall edition of the Bear Canyon Loop is typically overgrown due
to the summer rains, this year was no exception. But for people like
Gene Joseph that have been running it for many years it was not the
worst shape it has ever been in. Everyone finishing showed signs of a
trail that wanted to take blood samples from everyone. Everyone finished
in good spirits and seemed to have had a good experience. bc Romero Pass 13.2 mi 8 people showed up at the start and the run started promptly at 7:02 am on Sunday Oct 30. It was a beautify day to run temperatures ranged from the high 50′s to the mid 70′s. This trail is still very overgrown near the top – much like last year. I would suggest we either do this run in the spring after the winter snow has flattened some of the shrubbery or finding a substitute. Joyce and I did laps of the Canyon Loop because dogs are not allowed on the Romero trail. Only Joel Woppert made it all the way to the pass and only 1 came back bloody. guess who. –Paul Tony Celentano: 3:20 – turned around at ??? Agua Caliente Ascent 15 mi We had 16 humans and 3 dogs affiliated with this year’s Agua Caliente
Loop. The run direction was a joint effort by Laura Beer, Tom Gormley,
Pam Golden, and Ross Zimmerman. Tom had intended to show up early and
sweep the trail for skunks and other rabid creatures, but he overslept
badly (Something to do with a birthday weekend. Seems to be a lot of
that going around.). Tonja Chagaris turned up without him and started at
6:15, since she needed to go up to Phoenix later in the day. To atone,
Tom needs to say a few words about the actual run, since he’s the only
one of the 4 of us who actually ran.The rest of the field and the
birthday boy showed up in time for the 7:00AM start. Most were planning
the full 15 loop with the climb to Agua Caliente Hill. Laura and I got
people started, then rode our bikes to the Rincon Valley store and back
(25+ miles). It was mostly easy-paced social riding, but in a couple of
stretches I got object Full 15 mile loop with ascent Mt. Lemmon Ascent 18.6 mi 1. Julius Martinez 4:41:15 Top to somewhat below the Wilderness of Rocks trail and back to the top: A. Angie 3:09:05 Top to just below the granite boulders: Bruce time unknown To say it was a lovely day for a run would be an understatement, even by Tucson standards. An energetic crew of 15 runners—about twice what I expected—arrived at the Sabino Canyon parking lot for the 7:00 AM start. There was still a sharp nip to the air at that hour, but the sky was cloudless and the sun was rising. After numerous admonitions from Ross and Bruce about the poor quality of the trail and the need for extra vigilance over the section between Hutch’s Pool and Romero Pass, we hustled over to the starting rock on the Sabino road, quickly checked in a couple of late arrivals and sent the runners off at 7:07 AM. Peter and Paul, who had brought bikes rather than running shoes, headed off for a ride to the top (in Paul’s case) and to 7 Cataracts (in Pete’s case). Ross, Bruce and Angie hooked up on top of Lemmon some 2 ½ hours later, and ran down & ups. A couple of miles below the top we met up with Dwayne and Julie Arter. Dwayne had set out at 10 PM the night before and was at the end of his power hike. He’d lost the trail 4 times which had us concerned for the other runners, although it had been in the dark, of course, and he’d managed to relocate it each time. Bruce turned around where the trail runs through a series of large granite boulders, perhaps 3 or at most 4 miles from the top, while Ross and Angie continued down until they met Johnny, somewhere below the Wilderness of Rocks Trail junction, which they estimated to be at least 5 miles (10 RT). Back on top, Bruce, Joyce, Mary Alice and Julie hauled 2 coolers, a table, 3 or 4 chairs and 5 or 6 bags of food from the Lemmon Summit parking lot to the run finish at the iron gate just below the summit. A series of downed logs and cut stumps provided us with a wide range of seating and make-shift tables, and in short time an impressive schmorgasboard of trail runner nutrition was assembled. Ten minutes later we had our first customer, Julius, with the top time for the day of 4:41:15. He and Chase and Johnny had run together for a good part of the day, but after Romero they had spread out somewhat—Chase “turtling” up the steep stuff to the top, and Johnny a bit behind that. Chase and Julius were the only folks to break 5 hours on this not always runnable trail. Johnny was the first of the long string of 5-6 hour runners, about 25 minutes behind Julius. Bob “I’m never running another 100” Redwanc along with Jerry “Sure you’re not” Riddick rolled in 10 minutes behind Johnny at 5:15: forty-something. Smiling Joe Plassman came in 10 minutes later. He was a minute ahead of his buddy Matt Chamberlain, who I believe was out for his inaugural TTR run and put in a sturdy performance. While the runners continued to trickle in, those who had finished and those who had come up the mountain by more conventional means to greet them were able to enjoy temps in the high 60’s, plenty of sun (or shade, as preferred), and lots of food and drink. Chatter punctuated with laughter filled the forest under story, and Mary Alice had a couple of dozen birthday hats at the ready as it was Bob B.’s 50th birthday. But where was Bob? Back to the action: Around this time, Ross & Angie reappeared, both having had a good run with a solid 10 miles of distance on a stellar blue-sky morning. First female runner was Tonja at 5:35:20 alongside ever-steady Gene Joseph under his omnipresent agribusiness hat. Tony rolled in 10 minutes later and quickly disappeared—you did get home OK, didn’t you? And Gene has your black sweatpants. Deanna Lewis, another TTR neophyte, turned in a solid performance, trotting through the gate just 27 seconds behind Tony. Tom “I’m gonna teach this camelback a lesson” Gormley came across looking like an ambulatory salt lick in 5:51:22 and proceeded to drink more water in one sitting than a black & tan coonhound. Pam Golden, who I believe was also in the birthday department this past week, rounded out the sub-6:00 hour group. And that leaves us to wait for just the birthday boy, Bob Bachani, who had clearly indicated at the bottom of the hill, while still on the pavement, for that matter, that it was his birthday run and he was going to take his time and enjoy it. And honoring the buddy system as requested, Tom Knutson stayed with him right to the top. They were greeted by about 15 or 20 of us wearing pointy purple birthday hats and a whole lot of cheering. Folks, it was a great time, one of the best I’ve had at a run, and I didn’t even run it. I hope everyone else enjoyed the day as much as I did. And those of you who didn’t turn out, you missed one heck of a nice time. –Your humble servant, Bruce (RD) Post Script: Of interest to at least Gene if not one or two others, I wrote this summary while sitting in a hotel in Sierra Vista, eating kung pou chicken from the Golden Dragon, whose dumpster is the center piece of the Buffalo Soldier 24 Hour Race. Sabino 50K At Sabino 50K I was busy coming down with something. Between that and the demands of getting up to speed on Civilizaton IV to stand up to my sons (not there yet), I managed to malinger on the write up until I got a lot sicker and Soldier/La Milagrosa happened. I recovered enough to direct (Alli has a conflict on Sundays at the moment.). So here’s Sabino. Hopefully the various participants won’t pick up my influenza… This running festival kicked off with Pam Golden (my spouse), Angie Lyons (Johnny’s spouse and Ash’s mom), and I scouting on the weekend of Dec. 4th. More fun than the Tucson Marathon. We went up the road, then took the trail to Sabino Basin, then followed all the trails labelled Arizona Trail to Molino Basin. By my calculations that came to 14.3 miles. I don’t remember the time, but the pace was leisurely, mostly set by me. Angie picked it up near the end. As you may remember I was pleasantly surprised by the condition of the trail. All we did was set up a couple of cairns. I noticed that the cutoff from Sycamore to the Bear Canyon Loop trail had gotten more obvious, but I decided not to say anything–no one else would notice and take it by accident. Wrong! 18 people turned up for variations of the 50K course on Dec. 11. I started the runners off and drove my friend and co-worker Scott Ferguson to Molino Basin. Scott is kicking off his training for the Canyon expedition at the end of March. Scott headed west and I headed east at Molino. I wanted to get a new GPS track of the last little climb up to the turnaround. While I was gone, Angie and 3-year-old Ash came to help at the aid station. We soon determined that my bike tool box had many objects of interest to a curious three-year-old. I had not realized my GPS bike mount was actually a robot. Ash was a real pleasure. He got a big kick out of getting water out of the water jug for the runners. I tried to figure out the distance variations people ended up doing. I’m pretty sure the basic trip out via Phone Line, up to the turn around, and back down via the road at Sabino is an honest 50K. Here’s a table of various distances. The third column is some climb estimates. The Basic 50K– Bob Redwanc, Jerry Riddick had planned to go up Bear, then join the normal route at Headsplitter, They managed to recruit Johnny Lyons. The three of them were first into the aid station,right at 10 AM. As was typical, they just dropped their packs and trotted up to the turn around before coming back and using the aid station. Other people started turning up quickly. Pete Chagaris turned up on his bike to see how Tonja was doing. Patricia Wiercinski cmae to help with Wayne Coates specific aid (Old guys need a little extra care…). Most people showed up by a bit after 10:30. Garrett and Lisa Ford had left a vehicle there, as they planned to stop at Molino. The Wrublicks were about 30 minutes later, and Barbara Leinweber brought up the rear. Barbara decided to hitch a ride back. Since James Wrublick looked like death warmed over, I encouraged him to ride back, but he actually looked better after going to the turn around, so he and his dad Rodge continued. One of the stranger variations on this run was Joe Plassman’s exploits. He felt guilty for missing the trail at Molino and running on the road through the campground, so he did the trail out and back to make it honest. Then he ran up to the turn around and back. THEN he hopped on his bike (which I brought in his drop bag) and rode up to Prison Camp and back. Then he rode the bike back to Sabino Canyon. We adjourned to Sabino. Johnny showed up first, having broken with the B&J R pack to come down the road. Joe showed up seconds later. B & J R turned up after a bit–they and Scott came down Phone Line. They said he was flying for a hiker. Others started to appear. An anonymous GPS expert turned up to discuss dithering with Wayne. I’ll try to list all the variations in route–if I miss yours, feel free to note it to the group. The variation I hadn’t allowed for was the Sycamore Cutoff. Apparently Tom Gormley and Austin Lenhart managed to notice the junction I thought they would ignore and go up to Bear Canyon Loop trail, then down to Headsplitter and on back. Tom went down Phone Line, too, to help make up for turning at the aid station instead of going up to the saddle. I think that gets him close to 50K (but not quite..:)..). I came to believe in resurrection when James Wrublick showed up a few steps ahead of his dad looking gret. This is a hard course, and everone should be pleased with their efforts. I think the 50K has over 8000 feet of total climb. So in more-or-less descending distances: Standard Sabino 50K (Dec. 11 2005)– Soldier/ La Milagrosa Loop 15.2mi Well this one’s a little easier to recount. Many of you have probably read Johnny’s tale. It’s a route Pam and I put together using some of the trails we (mostly Pam) train near our house that’s very scenic. It starts at the top of Suzenu north of Synder. People take the road east to Soldier Trail road, then run up to Mt. Lemmon Highway. Then they take the actual Soldier Trail up to Gordon Hirabayashi Campground (Prison Camp). They turn east on the Arizona past Molino to an unmarked junction 2.5 miles east of the highway. Then they come out La Milagrosa Trail, which is also the original route into Bellota Ranch, predating Reddington Pass Road. Personally, I think the unmarked turnoff Johnny referred to is really obvious, but I’ve been there a few times… On Sunday morning we had 10 runners. I got people started, then went up to the Soldier Trail trailhead and took a few photos as people came by. Then I went to GH/Prison Camp and walked down the trail a bit to high point with a nice view of the runners as they came over the ridge and took a few more photos. This turned out to be good, because Jeff Balmat had some knee problems and decided to bag it. I ran him down to the Start/Finish and got a finish refreshments station going. The gang of three that led throughout, Bob # Jerry R and Dean Lueck came tearing in with Bob first among equals by a few seconds. They were trying to break 3 hours, missing by seconds. The rest of the field was more leisurely. There were more comments about the unmarked turns. We had a very nice post-run chat session. I’ll post a few pictures in a few days. See you next year! It’s been a good season so far. Thanks, Ross Z Friday Soldier/La Milagrosa (12/16/2005) 15 miles Sunday (12/18/2005) Wasson Peak 15 mi While most people were sound asleep in their comfortable beds following a night of drink and debauchery, a select few arrived at 7:00 AM for a jog in the park. Saguaro National park West to be exact. This years Wasson peak figure eight had the finest weather in recent memory and none seemed to reget starting the New Year with a few hills and stairs. Patricia Weircinski made her first run with the group with a fast short loop. Johnny Lyons, not to be outdone, was seen pushing a stroller up the dirt roads.I went for a casual run with Ross up the Norris trail figuring I had all the time in the world to get back ahead of the group. Imagine my dismay when the front runners ( Julius, Joe and Wayne) popped out at the saddle just below the peak. That gave me about a 5-10 minute head start to get back before these three speedsters. With Julius breathing down my neck , my jog became a tempo run and I barely made it back, but not before Johnny and Patricia who were patiently waiting for me to get the goodies out. Sorry Guys. Final results-no lost no blood- good time. I almost forgot- Chris and Tom ,wanting the best of both worlds ,showed up a day later, and ran the full course in good time. Thanks for showing up all- I didn’t know if I would be alone at the trailhead on New Years day.See you next year. jr Full Loop:(14.4 miles 3400′ ascent) Short Loop: Winter Bear Canyon Loop 16.8 mi Beautiful day, beautiful weather, and a great BIG group of people. I think we set a record on attendance yesterday, but some of the older (oops I mean more long timers) might set me straight on that. We had a total of 27 souls show up for the 7:06 (late start) because some people, not to mention names (Laura) were a little tardy. Anyway, after trying to get the massive group organized, trying to figure out who was going to do what (in case of rescues) the group was off. This took place about 45 minutes after three other crazies (Chris, Matt and Tom) had taken an early start. Bear Loopers were: Other Routes……………………. Cowhead Saddle 17 mi Jennifer and Enrique Aviles did their usual capable job of directing
this run. Then Jennifer gave me the results and between work projects,
dissembled computers, and sheer forgetfulness, I’ve been slow to post
them to the group. We had a decent turnout. Someone’s car thermometer
claimed it was 26, so people wanted to get moving. I did Doug Springs,
and that part of the trail is about like always. No one reported
anything odd higher up and there were no rabid wildlife encounters this
year. Joel Woppert was the only person to break three hours on the full
Cow. Full Cow Tanque Verde Loop 28.5 mi Fifteen runners started out on a cool morning with good light from a
full moon and were soon treated to the setting moon and the first light
hitting the Santa Cats. The moon was bright enough that Bob and Bob who
started at 6, could see well without flashlights. It soon warmed up and
by Johnny Lyons 32 5:37 (Last 8 miles on trails) Ventana Loop 18 mi Three hardy souls turned up for Ventana Loop Sunday. Bob Bachani and
Geno Foushee started at 6AM. Julius Martinez turned up for the 7AM
regular start. I trotted up the trail a ways, then went back down and
drove over to Sabino to give people a bit of aid on the road. I was
reminded what an interesting canyon Ventana is. Well up into the oaks, I
was still seeing saguaros. There’s also a veritable forest of coral
bean plants along the way, more than on any other trail I’m familiar
with in these mountains. The rock formations in the lower canyon are
pretty striking, too. Geno turned up just as I got to Sabino, with Bob
close behind, both much sooner than I expected. They got some fluids and
reported the trail was dramatically easier to follow than last year.
Someone has been doing some good trail work. This isn’t to say it’s
perfect, since Julius 2006 Ventana Loop 18 miles Esperero Canyon Loop 21.3 mi You would need to be a Rogaine champion to successfully navigate the snowy back side of Esperero today. Fortunately, Matt Chamberlain IS a Rogaine champion. When he and Bob Bachani had trouble following the trail down through the calf-deep snow, he whipped out his map. They went where the trail should have gone and managed a speedy descent. At Sabino Basin, Matt pulled away and finished a few minutes ahead of Bob. Geno Foushee had gone to the top out (breaking trail actually), then decided he needed to turn around to get back home when he had said he would. As usual, I trudged behind. I went as far as the junction with Cathedral Rock Trail (about 900 feet and a couple of miles below topout) and decided I was too tired and the snow was getting too deep. My feet were cold and wet, and the incident years ago where I picked up some frostbite on the back side of Esperero kept coming to mind. What I saw was spectacular. The snow started at the little notch you cross before dropping into Esperero Canyon itself, somewhat over 4 miles up. The sun had come out and I was surrounded by white slopes. Bridal Veil Falls was trickling. Things had already melted visibly on the way back down. Matt and Bob, it would be nice if you said a few words about the top and back side. Matt took pictures and will be posting them. It was a pretty magical trail day. Ross Z Matt Chamberlin 33 6:30 Top out and back Cathedral Tr Junction Mica Mountain Marathon 26.8 mi As we assembled at the end of Speedway this morning a spectacular
sunrise complemented by the thin crescent moon greeted us. What a grand
way to start the run to Mica. But no one had the treat that Steve Kanoza and I had on Friday when we did the run! On our way back down about 1.5 miles above Cowhead we were treated to the sight of about 15 Ring-tailed Cats. They were lounging in the sun on a pile of rocks about120 meters across a small canyon! Yes I have a picture, I’ll try to attach. Joe Dana Mica Cowhead Douglas Springs 26 March 2006 Mt. Bigelow Ascent & Descent 13.5/17.3/30.8 mi With all the talk of massive turnouts in the old days, 20 people for
Bigelow doesn’t sound like much. But since this is a tough run with 4
different options, drop bags to ferry, and an aid station to see to, I
figured I’d have my hands full. Fortunately, Maryalice Bachani came up
to help me again. Her worthless spouse Bob was on his way back from
doing a Grand Canyon Double, instead of getting back in time to run
Bigelow and the Double in the same weekend. At the start I saw most of
the people who had said they were coming. Joe Dana started way early,
while Carmen Fleet and Bev Rogers took off at 5:49. I got the crowd
going at 6:01, then walked back to my vehicle as Matt Chamberlain, Raoul
Erickson, and Sarah Moesker turned up. I got them off, bought more ice,
went home and picked up more ice, and headed up to Palisades trailhead
on Organization Ridge Road. Maryalice turned up as I was setting up the
station and added her table and chairs, turkey wraps and munchies, and
MORE ice (see a theme here? 84 pounds of ice…). She brought Molly, the
miniature Schnauzer, who got along with everyone. Julius Martinez
appeared soon, a few steps ahead of Chase Duarte. Chris Fall was close
behind, and they all trotted up to the summit of Bigelow together. We
had a steady stream of runners after that. Tonja Chagaris was the first
woman up. There was lots of complaining about climbing over fallen
trees. It could have been even worse. Fred Grizzly turned up–he had come
up the night before and gone down quite most of the way to the basin,
clearing smaller trees off the trail and branches off the big ones. Then
he came back up, and did Butterfly out and back doing the same thing.
He said Butterfly is worse, so be ready on Santa Catalina Ascent.Matt
Chamberlain was the only one to actually climb the tower on Bigelow, so
some argued he was the only person to complete the ascent. All our
newcomers seemed to enjoy themselves, although Halle Rogers Full Bigelow 28.9 miles Multiple Whrightson Massacre 10.4 mi The 2006 Multiple Wrightson Massacre was bloodless this year with
four runners making the climb to the top and back down for one trip
each. Three other runners chose shorter trips, two turning at Baldy
Saddle and one turning at Josephine Saddle. Raoul Erickson started late
and came flying past me as I headed up to Josephine. We stopped and
introduced ourselves, recalling that we met 5 or so years ago when I was
still actively training and competing. At the time he was hiking
Wrightson and I was running some repeats. I told him about the TTR and
the trail series. I am glad to see he followed through and is now
involved with the runs. Nate Polaske went up to the top then went back
down to Baldy Saddle and met Laura Vogel and Kandi Karuza. The trio
headed up to the top, meeting Raoul as he came down on his way to
finishing up on the Super Trail. Nate headed down the Super Trail as
Laura and Kandi headed down Old Baldy. Nate evidently missed the Super
Trail Jct at Josephine Saddle as he finished on Old Baldy minutes before
Laura and Kandi. Dr Wayne Coates and his lovely bride of two weeks,
Patricia Wiercinski, were short on time and turned at Baldy Saddle. Dr
Coates finished on the Super Trail a few minutes after Raoul while
Patricia came down Old Baldy. Congratulations and best wishes to the
newlyweds!! I hope the Grand Slam this Summer turns out well. I took a
trip up Baldy to Josephine Saddle and then down .2 miles to Sprung
Spring. I was disappointed to see that only drops are coming from the
pipe and that the water level in the tub is down. Bellows Spring which
is now dry and Sprung Spring have always been quite reliable water
sources and very nice places to hang out. Wrightson (1 trip each) Chase Duarte sent me this report to pass on to the group. While they Mt. Wrightson Massacre, part 2 Santa Catalina Ascent 25+ mi Eight hearty souls lined up at 6:00 am sharp this past Sunday for one
of the best runs in the Tucson trail series. { my opinion } The Santa
Catalina Ascent. Three nut cases said they were going to attempt the
loop, which was pioneered last year by Bob Redwanc. Only a real nut job
would think that up. The weather was not as hot as last year but still
warm for the runners. As the run progressed the clouds started to roll
in and became quite welcome. Everyone coming through Palisades looked a
bit worn from the sun exposure. Gene almost had his very first blister
ever, but we fixed it. After fueling up and with a few words like “ get
out of here already ”, they moved on to the Butterfly Trail which last
year was known as the meat grinder. It wasn’t as bad this time but it
still had a lot of downed trees.. Matt got off trail or should I say
got off of the correct trail and on to the wrong trail some where on
Sunset. He ended up down in the creek bed and had to climb out. He is
still young and strong and always ready for an adventure. Mean while the
3 loopies cut through Summerhaven in order to get aid from the finish
line for the next half of their adventure. Chris left the Ascent finish
line thinking that this whole nut job idea was not such a good idea and
decided to come back and join the party. Raoul, who is just one Mean
Mother Machine and Wayne, who can walk faster than I can run, just kept
motoring up and up and up. Both of them unstoppable. Mr. Joseph was
just happier than a P.I.S to be out on the trails and Tonja looking
fresh as a daisy all day finished with a big smile as always.. Hats off
to Angie who says that she is planning on doing OP next year. You go
girl. We’ll see you at the 40. Raoul Erickson 38 7:36 Palisades Loop 16.7 mi Well, 8 hearty soles showed up yesterday morning. Joe came a little
early and had already left the parking lot when the others started
showing up. At the late hour of 7:02 AM we were off, with the old fart
leading the group up the trail to Bigelow. This was done, I think, to
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