[pct-l] Trail Maintenance Idea

[Trekker4 at aol.com]

I've always done some trail maintenance on the fly,  so to speak; I don't 
say this to praise myself, just to get others thinking: 1.  Some rocks and 
branches can be kicked off the trail without hardly breaking  stride.  I 
personally slow or stop many times a day to remove larger items  from the trail, 
up to small trees even; there were hundreds of trees &   thousands of pieces 
of tree debris in many of the sections I hiked this summer,  and I probably 
moved 10 small trees simply my rotating the upper part of the  downed tree 
off the trail. I probably picked up over a hundred branches  or  chunks of 
trees enough to toss or push them off. I rolled and pushed one tree  piece a 
foot in diameter off, and I pushed or rolled many, many rocks up to a  foot 
in diameter off.  2. Some overgrowth can be broken down or off  without 
hardly breaking stride; even if it won't easily break off, breaking  it down by 
reaching way off the trail gets it out of the way and makes it easier  to 
break off after some drying time has passed.  3. Pick up other people's  
trash, and pack it out if at all possible; it won't hurt you. The only things I  
don't pack out are items too big or heavy, and broken glass.
    If every hiker did the above, there would be less  minor work for the 
maintenance people to do, and they'd have more time to work  on major stuff. 
It's obvious that most hikers don't do the little things, as  I've never 
seen another hiker do any of the above, on any trail. They walk  around or step 
over stuff they could easily kick  or move off; and it's  always puzzled me 
as to why they don't; so, I guess it's the drive to get in the  miles. I'm 
not suggesting one do maintenance all day, and get no miles in;  I probably 
spend 10 minutes a day, and get a hundred somethings off   the trail. Let's 
see, 10 hikers, times a hundred, equals 1,000 pieces of  debris off the 
trail... 
 
 
Bob  "Trekker"
Big Bend Desert Denizen, and...
Naturalized Citizen - Republic  of Texas  

 
In a message dated 8/25/2009 11:08:34 A.M. Central Daylight Time,  
dsaufley at sprynet.com writes:

Seeing  the thread on this topic, I thought it best to ask the head of  
trail
operations for the PCTA, Mike Dawson, what his thoughts were on  the
suggestion below.  Here's his response:

Donna, I received  the proposal that you picked up on PCT-L.  I am always
glad to hear  that thru-hikers and section hikers want to give of themselves
to keep the  trail in shape for other hikers.  There is so much that hikers
can do  to help keep the trail in good shape including throwing fallen 
debris
and  rocks off the trail tread, staying on the tread and not creating
damaging  bootleg trails just to keep one's feet dry and mud free, doing a
good job  of reporting problems on the trail (which is more easy these days
for folks  carrying GPS units).  We are always happy to have hikers offer to
join  in on PCTA sponsored crews that they might run into.  There might  
even
be a free meal involved!  We rarely have much luck interrupting  hiker's
experiences with this kind of impromptu opportunity.  I have  always been
surprised that there aren't requests for work projects  specifically set up
for thru hikers.  I know that they enjoy having  the opportunity to get out
in the woods with fellow long distance hikers,  and on the PCT we really 
have
a need for crews with the capability to be  out on the trail for several 
days
at a time and willing to hike into the  more remote portions of the Trail to
work on sections in need of  rehabilitation.  Now that we will have almost
the entire trail covered  with regional PCTA offices as of November, there
are more opportunities  than ever to set up long distance hiker projects all
along the PCT.   Anyone interested in such an endeavor can drop me a line  
at
mdawson at pcta.org.  Of course we have dozens of trail work  opportunities for
which we are currently trying to fill crews.  If you  are interested you can
contact Jennifer at jtripp at pcta.org or go to PCTA's  web site at 
www.pcta.org

Mike Dawson
PCTA

* * * * * *  *

I hope this message inspires folks out there to join a volunteer  trail 
crew!

L-Rod

-----Original Message-----
From:  pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
On  Behalf Of Matthew Edwards
Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 10:31 AM
To:  pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: [pct-l] Trail Maintenance Idea

Hey  Gang!
I had an idea a ways back on the PCT and after passing it along to  other
thru's, I thought it worth mentioning here.
How about a pair of  Brush Clippers be left at the edge of the overgrown
sections of the trail.  They could be painted brightly and perhaps a note
attatched explaining the  concept:  "PCT shears.. Donate your time as you
hike along and leave  them for the next hiker." 
All the thru's and section hikers I mentioned  this to agreed they would
gladly donate some time towards this goal. An  area such as the overgrown
section above Belden, for instance, could be  cleared as hikers pass through
by the hikers themselves.
I am not  talking about a machete here.. Just some garden loppers.
Of course somebody  is going to bring up the liability issue.. So I think it
would sorta have  to be a "pirate" program..(Get it, Pirate instead  of
Pilot?!)
Anyhow,  it is just a thought.
Hey, Does Golite make  a pair of Lopping Shears?
Cheers-Iceaxe
Sent from the Trail on my  Peek
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