[pct-l] are there any trail crews like the AT's Hard Core along the PCT?

[Barry Teschlog]

As a follow up on Jim's post about the North 350 Blades and thru hikers joining volunteer trail crews:

Last year we had a recently finished thru hiker come join our crew for a day.  How cool is that?  On his way back home, he paused long enough to put in a day to make the trail better for those a bit further back in the herd (and for the 2013 and beyond hikers).  On most of our projects, especially from mid August on into early October, we see hikers since our work season and prime hiking season are one and the same.

Our work season up here in Washington generally will extend later than the thru hiking season.  We "save" some projects at lower elevations with easy access for later in the season - we've worked late into October and did a project on November 1 in 2011.  Even if there is several feet of snow up around Hart's Pass, it might only be rain down south of Snoqualmie (or just overcast if we're lucky).  So consider that even if you can't join a crew during the hike, you CAN join one immediately after.  You might consider making it part of your reentry process.  And chances are the crew will be addressing an issue you were griping about when you hiked through that section.

For thru's thinking of joining a crew for a day, do take into consideration that boots or boot like footwear is generally required (as Chuck mentioned).  Boots (or footwear that is more substantial than running shoes) are a must when swinging heavy tools in the dirt - a pulaski or pick-mattock glancing off your intended target will ruin your day (and foot) if all you have is a thin layer of mesh / fabric of a lightly built running shoe between that moving steel and your flesh.  Heavily constructed footwear will provide a greater level of protection.  Long sleeves and long pants are also required (as a crew leader, I'd be ok with rain pants over shorts if that's all you had).  These are part of the personal protective equipment (PPE) - there needs to be a layer between you and everything else. 

On our day or car camp crews, we'll always have a few spare helmets and some one will have a loaner pair of work gloves as well to complete the thru hiker turned trail crew volunteer PPE ensemble.  

With safety being THE top priority, having proper PPE is one of the non negotiable's.  

If you don't have boots and wanted to join our crew after the hike, some one might be able to come up with an older but still serviceable pair if we knew you'd be coming.  We could probably also arrange a car pool to and from the trail as well - many of our volunteers come from Seattle.

Another way thru hikers can help us trail crew volunteers:  If you see maintenance issues with the trail, provide a DETAILED report of what you saw to the PCTA or the local trail crew in a TIMELY manner.  What the issue was, how much of it there is, where it's at, etc.  Pictures are a plus.  If you have GPS coordinates of the issue, that's a plus. With smart phones, typing up a 5 minute e-mail when you get to town and hitting the send button is something you can do to help the trail.  The crew's can't fix it if they don't know about it.  Put the PCTA contact in your phone.  Put the Postholer trail reports link in your phone.  Send it here to the PCT-L if you don't know where else to send it - some one will get it to the right person.

See pages 5-6 on the instructor guide for concrete examples of what to report and how:
http://www.pcta.org/pdf/trail-skills-college/curriculum/101_Brushing_and_Scouting_v0311.pdf


Saying "there's brush a few miles south of Harts Pass" or "yeah, there were a couple of trees down a bit north of Stevens Pass" isn't enough detail for the crew to take action.  How many miles south of Hart's pass?  How far does the brush extend?  What type of brush - slide alder / vine maple, huckleberries or small woody brush or grassy annual type growth (we would bring different tools depending on the brush type)?  How many downed trees exactly?  How big and how many of each size? (20 trees between 10" and 36" is nice to know, but if 19 of them are 10" trees and one is 36",that would be a different animal than if 1 tree was 10" and the other 19 were 36", especially if its Wilderness and we're using cross cut saws)  What's the exact location (so we can bring chain saws if outside Wilderness, or cross cut's if inside Wilderness).  Are they on a steep hill side?  Can stock go around safely?  Are there obvious complicating factors?

"5 trees down, 3 in the 12" to 18" diameter range across the trail, with one 36" in diameter range with one 18" log fallen on top of it, which fell along the trail, estimate tree along trail is 100' long, most of which is on the trail.  Blow down extends over a 1 mile section, starting 3 miles north of the Smithbrook trail junction and continuing north from there (approximate trail mile such and such per Halfmile Maps, GPS coordinates such and such latitude and longitude).  Stock can go around all of these as the ground is only gently sloped in this area." is something that will allow the right sized crew to go straight to the problem with the right tools for the job.