[pct-l] The trail will provide

[hiker97 at aol.com]

Golden Boy Reinhold writes: Yes Switchback,.....I remember.  However, it was not bricks I was hauling....it was granite blocks that I cut by hand at, what is now known as the ''GOLDEN  STAIRCASE'',  one of the most brutal sections on the JMT, at the northern approach to ''Mather Pass''  and then hauled them all the way to ''Muir Pass''....that is how I got so wiry.  Next time you struggle up the ''GOLDEN   STAIRCASE''  you will have the satisfaction of knowing  it was build by JMT Reinhold.  They should install a brass plate stating  ''Golden Staircase''  build by JMT Reinhold.
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Switchback replies: Actually, Golden Boy brings up a good point.  I wonder how much illegal gold panning is going on in the Sierras.  You know there are lots of gold mining going in the Sierras on small claims or secret spots.  People say it is just a hobby, etc.  I wonder.  I think that most of the PCT in the Sierras is off limits for gold mining.  But I wonder how much really goes on.  All those fishermen that go into the Sierras cannot all be fishing except to feed themselves as they pan.  

I think I will open up a gold panning booth at the April Kickoff and sell supplies.  There is going to be a gold panning boom along the PCT and I want to get in on the golf fever ground floor.  I need a juicy grubstake.