[pct-l] We need you...

[abiegen at cox.net]

SNIP:
"Not much to say other than today was without a doubt the most consistently
miserable day of hiking in my entire life. "
"The trail: muddy, slippery scree, pools of water, a flowing creek, take your
pic. Huge portions of the trail are overgrown with huckleberry, ferns or other
shrubs guaranteeing that in spite of your umbrella, your clothes and shoes will
stay perfectly soaked. There was a section about 50 yards wide on either side of
a logging road, as well as close to Snoqualmie, where brush had been cut aside
perhaps for window dressing."
END SNIP

As someone who has done extensive trail work in the back country of Santa Barbara (oh, you don't realize how well groomed those Washington trails are) I understand what is going on with this. I'd go out and cut the worse overgrown parts of the trail. A lot of work when you have miles and miles that are not good. My goal was that people could get through without crawling on their bellies and not get lost. I would work my butt off and on the walk back I would cut a little more.

Some time later I would run into someone who hiked the trail and they would tell me how terrible it was. Well, what happens is that the worst part is gone because I cut it and now what used to be the bad part is the worst part. The hiker coming later didn't get to see how bad it really was. What had looked nominally okay to me, looked horrible in his frame of reference.

I have hiked part of the PCT in Washington and I know what he is talking about. I got a "brush bath" too. But I also know that there is little value in spending a great deal of time cutting annuals that will just grow back next year. You have widen the trail quite a bit to make it last for more than one season. Our motto used to be, "If everyone would carry loppers and cut every time they went out, it would all grow back next year." That's meant as a joke not as resignation.

Hopefully everyone will realize that the short section that was cut was not just "window dressing" or some kind of joke. Trail Maintenance is a labor of love. You know that you are helping people. You hope that some will appreciate it. You know that those who never worked a trail will probably be underwhelmed. But you still do it because you know it is for the greater good and some will be amazed that people working with only hand tools and limited equipment are able to keep four feet clear through over 2600 miles. It is really an achievement and the heroes who plan it and carry it out deserve our thanks.

Charlie Hyde has gotten pretty damn far based upon the work of those heroes.

Best,

TrailHacker

"I can't think when my feet hurt."
Abraham Lincoln