FOOTPATHS

Walking and Working Vacations
Give Back to Trails by Volunteering

By Angela Ballard

This article is the third and final in a series about the unique opportunities available on the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail for walkers, hikers, backpackers, trail runners, and volunteers of all abilities.

Looking for a way to get out on a trail, give something back to sport that gives you so much, and meet people with similar interests? Join a volunteer trail maintenance crew!

Whether you walk on a trail in a neighborhood park or enjoy driving to more remote locations to hike along wilderness paths, chances are that the tread you travel has been worked on by a volunteer. Take for instance the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail. As readers of the past two issues of Walk About® know, the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail (PCT) stretches from Mexico to Canada for 2,650 miles along the crests of magnificent mountain ranges including the Sierra Nevada and Cascades. From California to Oregon to Washington, the PCT could not be kept passable without the dedication of volunteer trail maintainers.

“The labor of hundreds of people enables me to enjoy the PCT,” says former Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA) president, Barbara Hodgin of Sacramento, CA. In fact, PCTA volunteers maintain and repair hundreds of trail miles each year — helping to ensure that the PCT is open and accessible each new season. In 2005 alone, PCTA volunteers completed 37,000 hours of volunteer labor. And this is labor with a capital “L” – backbreaking, dirty, and sweaty work such as cutting gnarly brush, sawing downed trees, digging out boulders, rebuilding water bars, and leveling tread.

“It’s a tough and necessary job,” says Bob Ballou of Truckee, CA, former PCTA Executive Director. “It’s also a way to give back for the enjoyment gained from using trails.”

“The tasks of heaving rocks, digging trenches, carrying logs, and setting stakes for long water bars are performed with gusto and love of work and effort that is truly enjoyable,” says one PCT volunteer John Bradford, of Lancaster, OH.

After a hard day’s work on the trail, volunteers often gather around a campfire to share their favorite trail stories, eat a hearty meal prepared by a volunteer camp cook, and bask in the glow of a job well done.

“Trail maintenance is the hardest work I ever enjoyed,” says PCT volunteer Dean Young of Tujunga, CA. “And there is no other group in the world that I feel prouder to be associated with than trail volunteers.”

But don’t let the hard work intimidate you. If you love trails and walking, you can volunteer to help! Many trail organizations have volunteer programs that you can become involved with and the PCTA is no exception. You don’t have to be a forester, experienced landscaper, or true manual laborer to provide valuable assistance. For its projects, the PCTA provides tools, training, safety instructions, and even delicious, hearty food! Beginners are always welcome and indeed encouraged to join in. “Just come with an open mind and a desire to work hard physically, mentally,“ says Katie Steinhauer, a volunteer crew leader based in Washington State. “Enjoy the people. Enjoy the surroundings, and don’t be afraid to help clean the dishes.”

For more information about how to work and play on the PCT, visit the PCTA online at www.pcta.org. Links are provided to the PCTA’s “Project Database” that lists upcoming trail maintenance events and how you can get involved.

“And when you next set foot on a trail,” says Hodgin, “I hope you’ll remember that it’s not just your personal planning, commitment, and foot power that makes your hiking adventure a reality. Please also remember that you are walking in the footsteps of those who have gone, and dreamed, and worked before you.”

Portions of this article have been previously published by Pacific Crest Trail Association’s Communicator magazine. Angela Ballard is Editor of the Communicator and author of an award-winning book about the Pacific Crest Trail titled A Blistered Kind of Love, One Couple’s Trial by Trail. For more information about the Pacific Crest Trail and how you can help protect and maintain this national treasure, or to join the PCTA, visit the Association online at www.PCTA.or.