[pct-l] some stats on a few trail non-profits

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

I would suggest to anyone who thinks the PCTA wastes too much money  
on staff, salaries and offices, to please come out to the Los Padres  
forest and hike some of our trails. I'd suggest some of our local  
favorites, such as Hurricane Deck Trail or how about the Upper  
Sisquoc or why not try something like the Don Victor Trail if you're  
really wanting to get away from it all.

I used to be in love with my backcountry until I hiked the PCT. Now  
it just makes me cry. We have no trails. Just bear tracks and old  
cuts you can find while crawling on your belly in the chaparral.

I do a lot more hiking in the Sespe now because the stupid PCT has  
made me want to hike standing upright without blood dripping down my  
arms, and to go ultralight without a pair of loppers, heavy leather  
gloves and a saw.

I only wish the Los Padres had a real trails association that  
actually took the money in for trail work, real trail work with  
professionals who can use power tools and dynamite, not just mountain  
bikers with clippers and cameras and one solitary guy with a cross- 
cut saw certificate.

Be grateful for what the PCT has. It's the most awesome trail I have  
ever hiked on, not just because of the views, but because of the  
engineering that went into it. A national treasure like this deserves  
well-payed employees to protect it. Or perhaps it's the other way  
around, that they've earned their pay because of what they've built,  
preserved and maintained.