Hitch # 4 & 5 – Tumacacori and Tonto National Forest

Hitch #4 was destined from the beginning to be different from any of our other hitches. Crew members were shuffled around a bit, we were camping in the middle of a courtyard with access to many amenities, and we were doing a saw project. There was a general feeling of elation on the crew the entire two weeks that led to really good games of kickball and camouflage.

Tumacacori National Historical Park is located in Southern Arizona and contains a mission founded by the famous Father Kino. The Santa Cruz River runs from south to north through the property. Because of its location near the US-Mexico border, Tumacocori deals with a lot issues most other national parks do not. The Santa Cruz brings with it pollution and trash. Undocumented immigrants pass through the property daily trying to make their way to Tucson to make a better life for themselves and their families. Drug trafficking is also an issue. Arizona is a free range state so the park is constantly attempting to remove cattle from their property. We were there to cut down Tamarisk (salt cedar, an invasive species from China) and do some fire mitigation.

When we arrived at Tumacacori the cottonwood forest we were working in was just beginning to leaf out. Two weeks later when we left, the forest was in full bloom. It was hard to realize that only last April, the entire forest had burned. We were quickly reminded daily as we were covered head to toe with soot. Once we had cut down all the Tamarisk on the property, we moved on with our chainsaws to cutting fire breaks in order to reduce the spread of wildfire from private property to park property. On our last day, as we were eating lunch, we heard the loud crackle then saw the smoke of a wildfire. We of course decided to go for a walk and check it out. It was a windy day assisting the fire to leap from tree to tree and b laze through the grass. Needless to say we didn't check it out for long. Once it spread on to park land, we had to quit working and return to the safety of camp.

After the hitch was over, my fellow technical trails crew members had a paid week off while I drove directly to Yuma, AZ, the land of retirees and RVs, to start my 5th hitch with another SCC crew. After a day in Yuma, we headed to Tonto National Forest to build trail in the Superstition Mountains. We spent each day swinging picks carving trail out of the mountain with the beautiful view of southern Phoenix smog. It was a great experience working with a new crew, and I will miss their excellent cooking skills.