[pct-l] trail maintenance

[Eskie user <sfox@eskimo.com>]

> 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.

I don't know how the PCTA (which I assume is sponsoring this project?)
works. But I did a week-long maintenance project on the PCT in Washington
with the Washington Trails Association. It was a lot of fun! WTA does not
expect you to work yourself to the bone. Their rules go in this order: 1)
be safe; 2) have fun; 3) get some trail work done.

We had a horse association bring in the heavy stuff, and we brought in
various handtools. Then we did lopping, treadwork, and lots of bridge
repair. Please admire the nice decking on three bridges just south of
Lemah Meadows (north of Spectacle Lake)! I was dismayed to see that our
great railing work was damaged by the heavy winter we had last year
though.

Anyway, we worked as hard as we wanted to. For some, it was quite hard.
For others it was what they wanted to offer. Nobody wanted us to get sore,
blistered, or overly tired. Because as volunteers we wouldn't want to do
another trip. And we wouldn't get much work done the next day. To be quite
honest, I hoped to get more work done and tended to be over eager compared
to the folks running the show. An attitude of having fun and also fixing
up the trail is best. They tailored assignments depending on experience,
desire, or just randomness. OK, get out the Pulaski, shovel, loppers, etc.
and have some fun!

There is an online "howto" for maintenance somewhere on
http://www.wta.org.

Steve

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