PCTA Lyons' Pride

I wear a double hat and use one to support the other. First and foremost, I am a Back Country Horsemen member and use that organization to promote trail work by providing packing support for our trail projects. Our BCHC unit is responsible for over 250 miles of the PCT. We work under several grants to remove trees, rocks and obstructions from the trail. Each year we identify the areas which will need brushing, tread work or other repairs. Wearing my PCTA hat I lead 3 projects per season, each lasting 1 week to take care of the tread and brushing needs. One of these trips is a car camp outing and the other 2 are pack trips. We have tried to make each of these trips a continuation of one of the previous year's projects.

 In the early years (1998) we did list the projects on the PCTA web site and in a couple of hiking magazines to recruit our volunteers. I kept records with addresses and phone numbers and as the years went by the will-call list grew to the point where I could not handle the numbers wanting to sign up for these fun filled projects. I now have a large e-mail list of volunteers who have worked with me here in Northern California over the past 10 years. Each year at the end of December, I submit to the PCTA website our project list for the upcoming year including the dates, locations, the number of workers needed for each of the projects. For car camping trips, I ask for 12 volunteers and for the pack trips we allow 10. These trips fill quickly and have a waiting list soon after being released. Our best recruiting comes from within when past workers recommend a friend. This way each new recruit comes with a recommendation and already has a buddy in the group, a "win-win" situation for both of us.

 All trip proposals are sent to the F/S rep and also to Ian Nelson and Mike Dawson for approval. Funding for the PCTA trips is through the PCTA. Funding for the packing is split with BCHC and the PCTA. The reporting is done on PCTA forms. In addition BCHC has its own forms, which are also part of our grant funding. Paper work is always a pain.