[pct-l] trail maintenance

["Joanne Lennox" <goforth@cio.net>]

Well I had hoped to combine my hike of the Southernmost 500 miles of the
PCT this Spring with about 2 weeks of trail mainteneance.  It turns out
that it just would not have been very easy to combine them because of the
location and dates of the different projects.  I had projected a March 20
start (March 21 was my start last year) so that I could take in a project
at Lake Moreno and one in the burn near Big Bear.  I was very uneasy about
starting so early because of the 5 big snow storms last year in the
subsequent 3 weeks following that start.

So I have decided to separate my intent to do trail maintenance with my
actual PCT hike, and make two trips out of it.  Once I made that decision I
saw that there were two maintenance projects almost back to back and in the
same area (Barrel Springs North, Feb 10-13, and Agua Caliente Creek, Feb.
18-27).  This leaves me five days in between.  Gosh, that means that I
could just redo the 24 miles of the waterless San Felipe Traverse if I
wanted!.  I think I will save that one.  But two of my favorite places on
the PCT are the creek bed coming down to the school at Warner Springs and
Barrels Springs.  Barrel Springs was my favorite campsite on the PCT
despite the fact that I never saw it in full daylight ( I arrived well
after dark, and left at dawn).  But the night I was there ,it was truely
magical - a full moon, lots of active and vocal flying squirrels, and water
and frogs, a glen of big live oak trees, with deep oak duff under the
trees, and with a deep primordial silence.

Well, at any rate, I have never done any trail maintenance at all, and am
definitely a little insecure about my abiltiy to grub, and muck, and cut
and dig for very long.  I am not a complete pansy having help dig and move
rocks here for our house, and continuing on earth moving projects here
abouts, but I do it in little fits and starts.  And wonder about how to do
this in such a way that I am still able to do it the next day.

Any advice from you older hands?

Goforth
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