SaddleBrooke Hiking Club not just about hiking

Chuck and Shirley Kaltenbach won the recent SaddleBrooke Hiking Club Geocache Competition and were presented with a Summit Hut gift certificate by GPS Workshop organizer Roy Carter; photo by Karen Carter.

Front: Rudy Sterner; Middle: Susan Hollis, Bob and Kathy Keasling, Roseanne Beraznik, Jennifer Harris with guest Sara Swanberg, Diana Budic, Mark Liefke; Top row: Karen Schickedanz and Hyman Beraznik (Photo by Jack Jeffery)

Enjoying the change of scenery on Oracle State Park’s West Loop are from left: Susan Hollis, Jack Jeffery, Karen Wendlandt, Jerry McAllister, hiking guide Marv Rossof, Bob Giesen and Litch Litchfield and kneeling, Tim Butler; photo by Karen Schickedanz.

An early March hike to Dripping Springs in Catalina State Park provided hikers with views of several holes where Hohokam Indians used to grind grains, a crested saguaro, numerous wildflowers and a tranquil canyon stream. Left to right: Roger Hove, Neil Christenson, Hyman Beraznik, Barbara Rosenthal, Frank Hartley, Roseanne Beraznik, Bob Giesen, Jack Rosenthal, Catherine Giesen, Gail and Mike Wagner and Bob Keasling; photo by hiking guide Litch Litchfield.

Karen Schickedanz

The SaddleBrooke Hiking Club is well known for the many hikes it offers throughout the year. But members can participate in other activities as well.

For example, 22 members recently completed three half-day GPS workshops. The workshops were organized by club members Roy Carter along with Tim Butler, Ron Franklin, Walt Shields, Maureen Spence and Cheryl Werstler.

Later workshop participants and other club members practiced their navigational skills in a Geocache Competition set up along a course on Catalina Hills Drive in SaddleBrooke. Competitors were allowed to use only their handheld GPS and geographic coordinates provided by the club to find six separate caches. Winners of the competition were Chuck and Shirley Kaltenbach of 12S 511379E, 3600305N (more typically known as 36989 S. Foxglen Lane).

Of course hiking club members also had their choice of a variety of hikes during the past month. These included nearby outings to places such as Honey Bee Canyon, Catalina State Park and Oracle State Park as well as locales a little farther away like Picacho Peak, Aravaipa Canyon, Cochise Stronghold and Madera Canyon.