June 2024 was an exciting time for the Anza Trail Union in Arizona (ATCA) as it completed its placement of quarter mile trail markers in Santa Cruz County on the Anza Trail. It all began in 2020, and ATCA board member Keith Brown raised concerns with the board about the dangers of a fire. Keith has been worried about the trimming produced by the ATCA trail crew as he has made the Santa Cruz County Anza Trail section open and accessible for the past 20 years. The board recommended that Keith work with the Tubac Fire District (TFD) to see what he felt was needed to be careful.

At the Zoom Town Hall meeting in July 2021, the Tubac Fire District, ATCA Board Members, and ANZA NHT representatives worked together to establish a solution. TFD reported identifying areas of Tubac and Tumacacori, which prioritized removal of debris accumulation, but is more concerned about some calls they received for assistance from injured hikers I did. TFD had no access points or methods to determine the distance to the suffering and injured hikers, making it difficult to easily find anyone who called.

After investigating the trail from Ruby Road to Chubuck Golf Resort, Keith set up a committee with his wife Judy, representatives from TFD, and other ATCA members, using existing cursoritic trail markers to mileage Identifiers have been placed. Mileage decals were printed, posts and hardware were purchased, old cursorite signs were cleaned, cut and excavated to provide backing of the decals. From July 2022 to March 2023, volunteers set up signed posts. However, completing this project during the pandemic has resulted in many challenges, including the need to replace plastic flags for well-intentioned citizens who removed them during the river cleaning project. Despite the challenges, with determination and perseverance, Keith, Judy and other ATCA members continued.

When the project was partially completed, ATCA tried to place a quarter mile distance marker because it discovered that the half mile marker was too far away to notice. At this point, the price of metal posts had risen significantly, so it was decided to use wood as backing whenever possible. About four years later, the sign was completed on June 4th with the help of a mobile app led by Connie Williams and four dedicated volunteers. TFD and ATCA trail crews will be given a spreadsheet with GPS coordinates, access points, trail distance numbers and area descriptions, and are listed on the ATCA website. https://www.anzatrail.org/trail-status/where-am-i/.

I would like to credit Keith and Judy Brown for being dedicated to this project from start to finish. Thank you Connie Williams for helping to formalise the sign, and Jerry Ben and Kurt Martin for driving along the trail along the trail, across thick brushes and tight spots to place the signs. I would like to do it. The project is a phenomenal example of a nonprofit organization that worked humbly and enthusiastically to do its best with the community along the ANZA trail.