Old People in the high mountains of Arizona

Lugging a chainsaw up a brushy trail cutting trees three and four feet in diameter is not a job for people in their mid seventies, but who else is going to do it? Jim, two Mikes, and Cissie are up in the Sierra Ancha mountains by 8:30 and the game is on. The problem is the wind blows very large pine onto the trail. Someone has to clear the trail. Where are the young people? Our gang is volunteers. One day a week for the summer we have been opening the trails in the high mountains. The area is a rare part of Arizona most people will never see. The bear got to see the sights. Mr. Bear left a huge pile of his previous meals right on the middle of the trail. He must have been a big fellow. 

Jim had Kadizzle thinking a half mile of trail was all we had to do for the day. Later Kadizzle figured what Jim meant was we had to hike a half mile to the start of the logging operation. Big horizontal logs on the ground bind when you cut them and trap the saw. This problem haunted us more than once. 

Small cuts and scratches bloodied us from the thorn bushes, and we looked like we had been in a battle with the blood stains on our clothes. Old people move at a slow pace, but get things done. 

What do the hikers think? When a hiker sees a huge log cut through so he can keep moving does he realize four old goats cut that log? There is no pay. In fact it is our money for the equipment, the gas, and the lunches. Where are the rest of the old goats? When you get old you realize you move, or you quit moving for good. 

A good cold drink of water is so good deep in the forest. Kadizzle froze two bottles of water solid and put them in his pack. It worked fine, but three would have been better. 

Most people think of Arizona as nothing but miserable desert. That is far from the reality. Kadizzle has learned Arizona has vast lush forest, and many areas most people never get to see. On the trail high in the mountains looking to the east the view was stunning. The streams, the water falls, and the ancient sites of the native Americans keep it interesting. 

To get to work we have been using  Jim's old Ford Bronco with over 500,000 miles on it. There has never been a vehicle that could shake and rattle any better. How this thing has held together is a miracle. You can hear the glass in the doors rattle, and every bolt must be half worn through, but it gets us there. For some reason Jim like to drive like a NASCAR racer on the mountain roads. These roads are on the edge of cliffs with drops of a thousand feet. Jim pointed out one curve that had the worst accident in Arizona for a single vehicle. 11 people were killed. If you saw the location you could see it was not place to loose control. Kadizzle had to tell Jim he was scaring the hell out of us. Jim tamed down.  When Kadizzle mentioned Jim's insane driving to his usual helper the other Mike, Mike said " I thought he drove kinda fast".  When the pilot is failing, Kadizzle pointed out, you don't just sit there quietly, you mention to him you are flying into a mountain. 

Kadizzle does not scare easily, but setting speed records on cliff edges does do the trick. 

Since we started hiking in Arizona more than fifteen years ago we have covered hundreds of miles of trails. So much of the work on these trails is done by volunteers. If you want a taste of the work and the wonder get hold of use and we will let you carry a chainsaw for three or four miles in the woods.