National Trails Day Work Party

I just spent the weekend with volunteers from the Mt. Hood Chapter of the Pacific Crest Trail Association, where we worked on a section of trail between Rock Creek and Sedum Ridge.  The work was done in conjunction with National Trails Day, promoted by the American Hiking Society.  Below is a video of the work we did, repairing tread, removing slough, and doing some brushing.  The work was strenuous, but a lot of fun.  Enjoy!

Trail Maintenance: Report from the PCT - Part II

Freefall maintaining trail in Section O

The “O” in Section O means “OPEN!” After working two more hitches with members of the Northwest Service Academy on a three mile section of the Pacific Crest Trail from Peavine Creek to Red Mountain, and after hiking from Interstate 5 (Castella) back to Burney Falls State Park with a pair of hand clippers, I can with certainty say that Section O has never been in better shape - seriously.  That said, there are still brushy sections on the trail (Red Mountain to the PCT crossing at Grizzly Peak Road), and blowdowns between Mushroom Rock and Alder Creek Trail.  However, one Forest Service employee mentioned that he would be clearing the rest of the blowdowns soon, so there’s reason to be ever more optimistic on trail conditions through the section.

My volunteer service on the PCT is over for the meantime, but I sure wish that I could stay out here.  Seriously, I have thoroughly enjoyed sleeping out in a tent every night, getting my hands (and the rest of me!) dirty every day, hanging out and eating supper with the trail crew in the evenings, and hiking the trail in my off time.  I also got to make a big contribution to a trail that I so dearly love and enjoy, and I leave here knowing that users of the PCT will have a more enjoyable experience.

As I mentioned earlier, I got to hike Section O during one of my breaks, and the hike was so different than my 2003 thru-hike experience.  In 2003, I was suffering from an in-grown toenail, the heat was terrible, and the “O” in Section O stood for “Overgrown.” I remember manzanita, deer brush, vine maple, and tree branches growing in either side of the trail, and interlaced, which made the hiking a frustrating adventure.  Now, the corridor through Section O is very agreeable.

Trail Maintainer John Lyons

Another huge reason why the trail is in good shape is due to the Lyons' Pride, a trail crew headed up by John Lyons, who is also a backcountry horseman.  He has led a crew in May, June, and July, clearing brush and cutting trail near Ah-Di-Na Campground, Centipede Gulch to Butcherknife Creek, and from Deer Creek to Grizzly Peak.

When I ran into his crew, there were about 15-volunteers there, and among those volunteers was Warner Springs Monty. Monty was hiking the trail, but got off because his foot was giving him problems.  Instead of heading back home, he decided to help the Lyon’s Pride with cooking duties, since he is after all the stellar head chef for ADZPCTKO.

Monty was sure surprised to see me hike into the basecamp.  He introduced me to everyone who was doing trail crew, and I was kindly offered a soda to drink.  I introduced myself as a trail maintainer to the crew, and I told them about the section that I was maintaining.  I was offered supper, and I enjoyed some incredible barbeque chicken, salad, macaroni salad, and potatoes.  I rested at that campsite for about two hours, said my goodbyes, and I moved on to the summit of Grizzly Peak.

Vandalized fire tower on top of Grizzly Peak

One of my memorable experiences from my 2003 hike was camping out on top of Grizzly Peak, so I went for a repeat performance.  Again, I had wonderful sweeping views of Section O as I viewed Mushroom Rock to the east-northeast, Bald Mountain and Red Mountain to the East, 14,000-foot Mount Shasta to the northwest, and Castle Crags to the West.  The view was breathtaking.

One disappointment I experienced was the seeing the vandalism of Grizzly Peak fire tower, which was built in 1953.  In 2003, the windows were still in place, but now the glass is broken and scattered all over the top.  The bedspring that was in the tower in 2003, now sits near a newer, but ugly solar-powered weather station.  The peak is a mess, and I hope someone from the Forest Service or a volunteer group can get up there and clean it up.  Nonetheless, I found a spot for camping, and I enjoyed another stunning, memorable sunset and sunrise on the peak.

Chris Pyper of the Northwest Service Academy

There's a ton of work to do out on the trail, and each year, following winter's storms, the trail is littered with blow downs, the tread is eroded, or the brush creeps in yet another foot.  It's a never ending process.  Props to all those trail maintainers out there who give their time and talents to keep the PCT open for hikers and equestrians.  It's awesome!  Finally, I want to give a shout out to Northwest Service Academy's PCT II crew: Kate, Vyper, Shaughn, Sam, Max, and Libby.  Thank you for a memorable July 2010, and thanks for choosing to work on the PCT. Also, thanks to the PCTA's staff (Technical Advisor, Greg Baxter; Regional Representative, Ian Nelson; and Assistant Regional Representative, Val Sokolowski) for your guidance with all trail projects.  You are making a difference!

Trail Maintenance: Report from the PCT - Part I

Tamping dirt on rock water bar

Damn it's hot up here in Northern California.  For the last six days, I have worked with volunteers from the Northwest Service Academy's PCT II crew to clear three miles of trail from Peavine Creek to Red Mountain in the infamous Section O, and let me tell you, IT IS HOT! Every day temperatures surge into the mid 90's, and from what I've seen in the weather reports, it is supposed to get warmer.  Ugh.

Nonetheless, I am having a great time doing the much needed work on the trail.  I get to work with seven twenty-somethings, who are all keeping me on my toes, but I am keeping up with them.  I get to live in my tent at Headwaters Camp in McArthur-Burney Falls State Park.  I get to work and sweat every day.  I get to do a lot of reading - something I don't do enough of back in San Francisco! Finally, I get to experience the whole trail crew culture, which has intrigued me ever since I ran into trail crews back on the Appalachian Trail.

Northwest Service Academy PCT II and Freefall

The first two days of our hitch (that's what trail maintainers call their trail maintaining sessions) I helped install a rock water bar, which helps divert water off the trail and prevent erosion, and I assisted with doing some rock work to help repair/rebuild tread.  Kate and Vyper, the two leaders on this trail crew, told me that the first mile following Peavine Creek needs this tread work, because the tread had eroded into a U-shape.  They told me that the main culprit of this erosion are cattle, which freely graze in the mountains.

I did brushwork on the last four days of the hitch.  I ran a Stihl four stroke brush cutter, which has this awesome three-pronged blade on it, for two days, and on the other two days, I lopped and swamped. Swamping means that I picked up brush that was cut by the cutter, gathered it into stacks, and dumped it as far off the trail as I could.  If I wasn't swamping or lopping branches, then I was removing staubs, which are the those small stumps from bushes that are left over after clearing with a brush cutter. Many of the staubs are from vine maples, which seem to grow crazily on the PCT in Northern California.  The work is tedious, time consuming, and when done during the heat of the day, kind of gnarly.

Morning view of Mount Shasta from the Hat Creek Rim

I am currently staying at the home of Georgi (Firefly) and Dennis (Fire Walker) Heitman in the Hat Creek Resort area near Old Station.  I have never been here before, and now I can understand why hikers really enjoy coming here to the Heitman's.  There's a lot of room to spread out here, and Firefly does a great job of making hiker's feel welcomed.  Her hospitality has been much appreciated, especially after hiking 46-miles from Burney Falls and over the blistering hot Hat Creek Rim to get here.  I got to see Weather Carrot and Squatch while I've been here, and tonight I get to visit with Brenda Murray from the PCTA, and I looking forward to telling her about my latest adventure here.

I have two more hitches out here, each of which will be four days long.  After the next hitch, I plan to hike all of Section O to Dunsmuir, and then hitch (another use of the word!) a ride back for the final hitch (original use for the word).  After that, I will come back here to the Heitman's on the 27th, and from here I will hike to Belden to complete my hike of Section N. What a way to spend a July!  I only hope I don't melt by the time I finish my work and hiking.  Let's hope for cooler weather.