[pct-l] RE.Trail Maintenance

[cmkudija at ca.rr.com]

I've forwarded this post to Mike Dawson, PCTA Trail Operations Manager, to
see if he is willing to provide the PCT-L with an update.   In the PCTA's
defense, much, much more than lifting fingers has been accomplished to date
with respect to re-establishing the PCT route through the Glacier Peak
Wilderness.  However, the trail and bridge damage was considerable, and
unfortunately, the federal budget's not accommodated trail needs for a very
long time.     If you haven't contacted your U.S. Senator or representative
about this, you should.   As far as I know, no one is accepting (the word I
think you meant, not "excepting") the re-route as the official PCNST.

For what it's worth, you need to understand that the PCTA is not "in charge
of the trail" but is the non-profit partner to the USFS (and other federal
agencies whose jurisdictions the trail passes through).   Please know that
the PCTA can only _partner_ with the US Forest Service, the formal PCNST
trail management agency.  If the USFS doesn't have the budget for trail
repair, it can't do the work, buy the materials, etc. - or even supervise
volunteer trail crews.     As it is, the PCTA works with numerous volunteer
organizations to coordinate trail repair and maintenance over the 2650 miles
of trail.

The PCTA could always do more - but as with any organization, even
volunteers need managing, and there's only so many staff people to manage
the dedicated volunteers.   And believe me, there's only a few folks like
Pete Fish in soCal who can - or will - take on essentially a full-time job
without any compensation.   But please don't go bashing the PCTA for false
promises.   It may not be a perfect organization, but it's the one we have.
Dedicated members and volunteers can only make it better.

And I didn't really mean to sound like a former Defense Secretary - I really
didn't.  Just in case anyone picked up the parallel....

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


-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]On
Behalf Of barney rubble
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2007 1:18 PM
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: [pct-l] RE.Trail Maintenance

It seems to me that just as many people are hiking the old route around
Glacier Peak, and far more people would rather hike this route, and even
more important than this, the old route needs more work. Also take it in to
consideration we are now excepting the reroute, as the PCT. I say to try to
pressure the PCTA in to helping us save one of the best stretches of trail
on its entire length.Ask any person who has hiked both stretches, which side
of Glacier Peak they prefer, and you will get the same answer, the west side
of coarse. I myself feel sorry for all the hikers who missed this stretch. I
have heard from others, the forest service, is only preventing future
expenses by not fixing or maintaining the original route. Eventually the
detour will become the PCT. The PCTA knows this. When the bridges first were
washed out the PCTA acted like they were going to work on it. I have been
through the section 3 times since, and nobody has lifted a finger. So lets
do not ask for det
 our maintenance, lets fix the PCT. If I am wrong about the facts, I would
appreciate the truth and the peoples names who stand behind this. I have
only heard this from others so I appologize if I am wrong. The main thing is
we should get to the bottom of this. It is important.
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