[pct-l] Feet make the trail

[cmkudija at earthlink.net]

Marion wrote:

<< Furthermore, it wasn't just feet that made the trail.  If it were not for
the work crews in the 30's building the passes on the John Muir Trail, there
might be no PCT today.  And then there are all the other trail crews, paid
or volunteer, that have built and maintain the trail to this day.>>

Extremely well said, Marion.  Couldn't have said it better myself (and I was
mentally composing a response, but was reluctant to flame the fire...).

I will add, however - and I don't have that much ego to build up here - that
the PCTA's efforts to maintain a budget line item for the PCT in the Forest
Service's budget are part of what keeps the trail alive and underfoot.  Even
the federal agencies need private individuals - the constituents of the
trail - to advocate to Congress for annual PCT spending.  And we still have
nearly 300 linear miles of unprotected trail, and subdivisions encroaching
on the trail corridor.  Worried about webcams?  The greater worry is about
houses and condos and concrete-block walls abutting the trail.   While the
PCTA can always improve its response to individual hikers, its efforts in
advocacy for the trail itself are crucial.

IMHO, those who just want to be left alone to hike the trail in peace and
quiet have my sympathy - all things being equal, I could spend all my days
walking the PCT or other trails.  (Gardening is a close second...)  But all
things aren't equal - and the trail would not continue to exist but for the
efforts of many individuals in this "man-made" community.   Since I'm able
to contribute some of my time and talents to preserve the trail, I do.  I
might not always be able to do so.  Watching my mother-in-law slide into
dementia, and another friend and mountaineer pass away from amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis, I know my own days are numbered and I have to act while I
can - even though I'd rather be hiking or climbing.

Christine "Ceanothus" Kudija
PCT partially '94

www.pcta.org
Join Now!

Ceanothus (see-ah-no-thus) or California lilac:  Shrubs or small trees,
often with divaricate, sometimes spiny, twigs...[flowers] small but showy,
white to blue or purplish, sometimes lavender or pinkish, borne in terminal
or lateral panicles or umbellike cymes.
                                                               Philip A.
Munz
                                                               A California
Flora, U.C. Press, 1973