Help on the trail--literally

balzaccom

balzaccom

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Sep 30, 2014
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I spent Saturday with a trail crew outside of Yosemite, working to remove trees and maintain trails in the Sierra National Forest. Just wondering how many here do anything similar....and if anyone else would like to join the crews around Mariposa?

A short summary of the crew here: https://www.backpackthesierra.com/post/more-mariposa-trail-crew-action
 
When I was a grad student in Boulder I helped the FS build a bridge in the backcountry, but that's all I've ever done. Maybe it's time to get busy.
 
I've not done anything like this since being a boy scout, I should do it, the Forest Service seems pretty seriously understaffed...
 
Until the last couple years, I regularly joined Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado projects. I'm hoping to get back out there a few times this year. Anyone else in CO should consider participating - they are generally well organized, productive, and a lot of fun.
 
Trailwork can be a rewarding experience. I enjoy working with local groups as it is neat to work on something in "my backyard." If you mountain bike at all in Moab and go on the newer "Falcon Flow" trail, you can ride a few of the 10' stretches I worked on. :)

I try to get in a day or two a year along with other outdoor-focused volunteer work currently. You often get fed for trail work! In the past, I tried to get in the equivalent of one workweek a year on trail work.

My wife and I also volunteer as archeological site stewards currently. Though not trail work directly, with so many arc sites in Utah and so few archeologists and technicians to administer the many sites, some eyes and feet on the ground help quite a bit. We take photos, make notes of any changes, do some occasional outreach, and reach out to the authorities if anything terrible happens to a site. (Knock on wood - this has not happened yet!)
 
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When I lived in the Front Range I volunteered at the Eldorado Canyon entrance kiosk, and did invasive plant removal and trail maintenance on the climbers' access trails there an in the Flatirons. It's more ad hoc now. When I hike/run I end up picking up trash, and removing pallets and illegal fire rings on the public lands around my house, partly out of selfish interest in not having our neighborhood torched by some idiot leaving an unattended campfire/bonfire. My neighbors and I removed ~50 pallets last fire season.
 
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