Backpacking in the Galiuros

IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE A BACKPACK WITH SKY ISLAND ALLIANCE PREVIOUSLY, PLEASE CHECK WITH SAMI (CONTACT INFO BELOW) BEFORE REGISTERING!!!

As part of Sky Island Alliance’s work to collect water rights validations for the Forest, we are doing a long weekend backpack to reach several old dams.

This will be a rugged backpack. Trails in this wilderness are not often maintained. Portions may be washed away by high flows in the canyons or overgrown with cat claw, and we will not even be on trails all the time. We may have to deal with some steep terrain.

Trip Leaders: Sami and Bryon

Trip Itinerary:

Day 1 – Drive out to Fourmile Canyon Campground near Klondyke, AZ. Car camp.
Day 2 – Drive 4WD road to Rattlesnake Mesa. Backpack ~7.5 mi to Power’s Garden, 3 of which are on an old 4WD road. Check for old diversions near camp.
Day 3 – Split into 2 teams. One team will dayhike 3.5 mi, mostly on trail (condition unknown) to Coffee Dam, ~1600′ elevation gain. The other team will dayhike 2 mi to Douglas Tank, return to camp, and then dayhike 1 mi to South Field Canyon Dam, with only a bit of elevation gain.
Day 4 – Backpack back out to the vehicles and drive home.

Elevation ranges from 4500′ – 6600′.

Drivers: We will drive our SIA trucks that can carry 3-4 others. Let me know if anyone else has a 4WD vehicle you can bring along!

Weather: Here’s a 7-day forecast you can keep and eye on. My guess is that we will likely see highs in the 70s, and lows in the upper 20s or 30s.

Food: Bring your own, but you can coordinate with others ahead of time. Should be 3 lunches, 3 dinners, and 3 breakfasts, plus snacks.

Safety: Bryon and Sami have Wilderness First Responder training. Let us know if you have WFA or WFR. We will also have a satellite communicator that we can use to text each other, any phone or email, or call search and rescue. BRING BEAR SPRAY IF YOU HAVE IT. SIA will bring a couple cans, too.

Water: We should be able to find water to filter in a few places.

Gear : Your usual backpacking gear!

Springs gear: Make sure to save some room in your pack for some springs gear (1-2 liters of space).

Questions: Email sami@skyislandalliance.org (or call me 624 7080 x16)