Catalina Mts: Prison Camp to Sycamore Reservoir

DEPART Le Buzz at 8:30. Hike STARTS at 9:00
If you wish to car pool meet at Le Buzz.
I will meet you in front of Le Buzz. Look for the pink baseball cap.

• 5.25 mile round trip
• Total Elevation Gain: 1,000'
• Rating: Intermediate
(See "What we're about" at https://www.meetup.com/Hiking-Tucson/)

**RESTRICTIONS: No guests, dogs, firearms or tobacco
• Cell phones SILENT during hike

You can download GPS tracks and other hiking info here: https://tinyurl.com/y5lyhx27

You can carpool or meet us at the trail head location at the Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Site: https://tinyurl.com/y67e4m8o (GHRS).
This is the very first parking area. LIMITED parking! Please car pool if possible. There is NO water or restrooms.
There is a Google map with the route from Le Buzz to the GHRS here: https://tinyurl.com/y4vuacty.

The hike starts at the AZ Trail parking area near the Catalina Hwy and follows the road through the campground and main parking lot and then intersects the Soldier Trail. We will continue on the AZ trail and steadily climb up to Shreve Saddle following and old road bed.
The featured photo above is taken at Shreve Saddle which is named for Forrest Shreve – a botanist who moved to Tucson in 1908 and worked at the Carnegie Institution’s Desert Laboratory.
See" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forrest_Shreve

We will then decend into Sycamore canyon on switch backed single track.
The Sycamore reservoir is now filled in but there is a lush riparian area near the old dam which makes a pleasant place for a break.

This hike is on part of the Arizona Trail which passes through areas burned by the Aspen Fire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspen_Fire) in 2003. It burned 84,750 acres of land, and destroyed 340 homes and businesses of the town of Summerhaven. Although it is in a state of recovery the area still provides some really nice views of the basin and surrounding mountains. Some nearby ruins of the historic Prison Camp are now more visible.

• • • •
Background information on the Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Site:

The "Catalina Federal Honor Camp (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalina_Federal_Honor_Camp)" (AKA: prison) was established in 1939 to provide prison labor to build the Catalina Highway. During World War II many of the prisoners at the Honor Camp were draft resisters and conscientious objectors. Some of the prisoners were Japanese Americans protesting the "Japanese American Relocation," the largest forced removal and incarceration in U.S. history. In 1999, the recreation area was renamed for its most famous prisoner, Gordon Kiyoshi Hirabayashi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Hirabayashi), who served 90 days there for challenging the constitutionality of internment of Japanese American citizens.

In 1942, Gordon Hirabayashi was a senior at the University of Washington in Seattle. Instead of reporting for relocation, Hirabayashi turned himself in to the FBI. He challenged the constitutionality of internment and a curfew imposed on Japanese American Citizens, since both were based solely on race or ancestry.

Sycamore Reservoir was originally built to supply water to the Japanese internment camp. This small lake has been made even smaller by flash floods which have washed huge amounts of rock and sand into the lake. Stands of alder, willow and sycamore at the dam site make it a nice spot for a break and snack stop.

Be sure to bring adequate water and snacks.
As always - Hike at Your Own Risk

If you have questions message me via MeetUP or call/txt me at 304.290.8066
WV-Mike
https://www.meetup.com/members/13110160/

Have you read the important information here? https://www.meetup.com/Hiking-Tucson/messages/boards/thread/52507980