[pct-l] Trail Maintenance

[goforth at cio.net (Joanne Lennox)]

I have spent most of my adult hiking life on Way trails and doing cross
country.  My normal trip was to go out for 10 days and only be on a trail
the first and last day.  These trips were mostly in Washington and
California.  I am very familiar with the trails you champion.

As far as the  " sheer power of unregulated boots to not only create and
establish,", This is true only in unbrushy areas or at high elevations, and
usually  in fairly deep forest or alpine areas.  And these trails were
often initially created as animal trail.  Many of them that get enough use
to stay open are very poor trails, and have erosion and eyesores that I
find to be worse in pristine country than brush cut along a well engineered
trail. 

The Leave No Trace program, and the NPS, and the USFS are trying to do
everything they can to prevent the primitive "way trails" that you espouse,
and which can so damage fragile areas.

 It is an effort and in time, it will all grow back, hopefully. Until then
> 
> I think we agree, it is not a pretty site/sight.

I think that that nice broad swath  that you so abhor, is beautiful.  There
was a time that I would have agreed with you. You need to do a couple 
weeks of trail maintenence.  I notice that the fellow that thinks that
boots alone will maintain a trail also has not done any trail maintenence.

In Brush areas, one person cuts brush and two people "throw brush". 
Throwing brush is the worse job on the trail, cutting it is hard enough. 
But the constant bending and picking up brush and heaving it for hours on
end will clear all obstacles to a constant remainder of your connection to
your body.  The brush is often long and springy, with prickers, and it
doesn't necessarily go where you want it to go, and you may be trying to
get it over a wall of brush that is taller than you are.

Have you ever walked a trail were somebody cleared the brush and then just
left it there?? It can be a lot worse than blowdown and almost impassable.

Now when I see the wide swath of recent maintnenence, It gives me a warm
fuzzy feeling.  I thank God and the PCTA and Pete Fish, that there are
still people out there doing the hard work.  When I went through Swarthout
Canyon and started the big climb up to the San Gabriel Crest, I thought
that the poison oak was going to be bad, because it was starting to intrude
on the trail the first time I went through three years previous.  With
recent maintenance, it had been cleared.  I know some of the faces that
were probably throwing brush on that trail and I thought of them off and on
all the way along that long climb. They support me as I walk.

 And one becomes subtly attuned to the nuances of maintenence: where one
person left off and another started, where there is a particular problem,
or difficulty, where the trail has a berm or doesn't, where the drainage is
changing, where it is poor engineered or require more work, etc.  

Pete Fish can make a "Trail Gorilla" out of you, but it will require at
least 10 days hard work.  And you will never regret a minute of it.  You
will remember each of those miles more than a hundred trail miles that you
have walked.

But Maybe you are just "Playing Thru"

Trail Gorilla
Goforth

----------
> From: Playing Thru <playing.thru@verizon.net>
> To: pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
> Subject: [pct-l] Trail Maintenance 
> Date: Wednesday, July 02, 2003 9:23 PM
> 
> Thank you. I find the attached post expressed very nicely. I could not
agree more. 
> 
> For those who don't agree with these thoughts, here are some suggestions
to ponder:
> 
> 
> 
> If getting to the next resupply point as quick as possible is a prime
objective when 
> 
> hiking a trail, might I suggest Hwy 395 or its equivalent on your next
outing. You
> 
> will find the shoulder wide and level with no blow downs or sharp
branches to 
> 
> negotiate. It is accessible to just about everyone, the resupply points
will be plentiful, 
> 
> and you will make much better time than you might on some rustic trail.
> 
> 
> 
> I have heard arguments and comments about the effort to get crews into an
area, 
> 
> the work involved with clearing an area, and the speed at which things
grow back from 
> 
> Georgia-Pacific and Boise Cascade when justifying the practice of clear
cutting. And 
> 
> they are correct, as are those who have posted and sent me e-mail about
the effort of
> 
> trail maintenance. It is an effort and in time, it will all grow back,
hopefully. Until then
> 
> I think we agree, it is not a pretty site/sight.
> 
> 
> 
> I will leave, as is, the comparison of the National Scenic Trails to an
Interstate Hwy.
> 
> The statement makes its own points.
> 
> 
> 
> Keep those cards and letters coming.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Just Playing Thru
> 
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------
> 
> Sticking my nose in the trail maintenance thread:
> 
> Admittedly, I know next to nothing about trail construction and
> 
> maintenance--I figure I'll learn all about them when I start my
> 
> "too-old-to-do-much-serious-hiking-so-I-guess-it's-time-to-volunteer"
phase
> 
> of life. But one thing that has never ceased to leave me totally
gobsmacked
> 
> is the sheer power of unregulated boots to not only create and establish,
> 
> but thoroughly maintain some really kewl trails. Some of the most
> 
> challenging and interesting routes in my part of the world [Pacific
> 
> Northwest] are those that, according to guide books and Old-Timers'
> 
> descriptions, have simply been beaten into existence by generations of
> 
> thick-soled nature lovers who apparently had neither the patience nor the
> 
> inclination to wait for someone else to build a nice, gentle, G-rated,
"take
> 
> grandma and the kids" kinda trail to the irresistable lakes, peaks, and
> 
> other natural goodies that lay in store for anyone with the gumption to
> 
> reach out and take them. Interestingly, it's these same hiker-made trails
> 
> that, because of their intrinsic usefulness and aesthetic appeal, seem to
> 
> insinuate themselves into the established order of things; they have a
kind
> 
> of inevitability that makes you wonder if we really need the level of
> 
> official regulation that currently exists. There's something uniquely
> 
> thrilling about a wilderness path unsullied by Forest Service chainsaws,
> 
> Power Bar wrappers, poodle crap, and the unworthy steps of ten thousand
> 
> weekend warriors.
> 
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