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The 2009 trail season has proved excellent for the PCT (TR2000). There was a moderately early snow melt in most sections leading to rapid blow down removal and a clear path for the through-hiker community. The accumulation of blow down from previous seasons was completely eliminated and approximately 40% of the trail was surveyed for signing, tread and drainage issues. Areas with a late snow melt or other access difficulty were identified for planning purposes in future seasons.
The revised Stewardship program, involving trail division into smaller sections and the training of eight new Stewards has proved a resounding success. The new Stewards have proven equal to the task and provided excellent quality effort. Some minor revisions of section allocations and boundaries will be considered before the '10 season and Stewards will again be formally asked to accept their seasonal assignments. Currently, a number of Stewards have double sections and efforts continue to recruit and train new Stewards. The advancing age of the volunteer force remains a concern and efforts are underway to recruit younger members from the community by outreach to groups such as the scouting movement. Equestrian groups such as Oregon Equestrian Trails (OET) and the Back Country Horsemen of Oregon (BCHO) continue to provide us with pack services and are the backbone of our Steward community. However, six of the new Stewards are from non-equestrian interests reflecting the increasing costs of maintaining and transporting stock.
Some Stewards are still providing poor feedback on their activities and expanded, more structured education is required in this area to ensure trail problem data are available early in the season for planning purposes.
Groups of Stewards formed themselves into "tiger teams" to provide mutual assistance and backup section coverage. This technique proved invaluable when two Stewards were put out of action by non-trail related injuries. Stewards working on each other’s section share the leadership responsibility provide for comradeship and gives extra attention to tread and drainage issues. Other Stewards continue to work alone or with a small group of friends or an affiliated organization.
Steward activities were hampered by the extended Hwy242 closure and the deteriorated condition of FR6010. Smoke from late season fires in the Diamond Peak area caused a survey there to be cancelled and early snow prevented a work party reaching McKenzie Pass; although they persevered, rescheduled and completed some last minute tread repairs on the day the highway was closed for the winter.
Reports from through and section hikers have proved invaluable in locating problem blow downs and areas of bad signing. An increase in the number of North-South hikers as been observed, leading to more issues with south bound signing. Generally, an increase in hiker activity and a decrease in equestrian traffic were observed, reflecting the current economic situation. Additional interactions with hikers, including some basic training in observation would be helpful in improving trail intelligence. However, the culture gap between trail users and trail maintainers continues to be a frustration. Volunteer recruitment has slowed slightly but the percentage of volunteers who participate in multiple work parties has increased, indicating an improved selection process and higher level of enthusiasm. Steward attitude is a major contribution to retaining volunteer workers. The main recruitment tools continue to be the 'tri-fold' leaflets and cards handed out to passing hikers and Steward personal contact. Work trip posting on the PCTA web site attracted a number of recruits but these were all volunteers from other segments.
During the winter break, community informational lectures on Wilderness areas, National Scenic Trails and the PCT are planned as recruiting efforts. In addition, a challenge style competition between various sporting goods stores is planned to increase their staff participation in volunteer work and the same concept may be extended to two local police forces that already have a competitive spirit. Efforts continue to improve relationships with fellow trail organizations such as the Of Oregon and the Sierra Club as a method of recruiting volunteers. It is important for the PCTA to build and maintain these relationships in particular, to encourage and give assistance to the Trail Keepers in building a healthy volunteer force for the entire state.
The joint spring training sessions with the High Cascade Forest Volunteers (HCFV) continue to expand and the introduction of structured skill level classes was generally well received by the participants. This is the place where we evaluate and prepare our volunteer force for the coming year. Providing effective training during the trail season is much more difficult and time consuming because it has to be done on the one-on-one basis in the field. However, less than 25% of all volunteers attend spring training (although the ratio is much higher for active volunteers) and additional efforts are needed to improve education with supplementary training events in both general trail work and specialist subjects. The "Trails College" concept should be continued and expanded in future years to include more specialized subjects such as culvert and bridge repairs.
Agency relationships have greatly improved with most Stewards understanding the need for prompt problem reporting and a willingness to ask for agency resources where necessary. Several joint work parties were conducted in '09 and the inclusion of F.S. members in the Windigo crew was an asset. PCTA crews also cleared several side trails leading to the PCT; an effort that was greatly appreciated. A HCFV/PCTA crew also worked on other forest trails in the Winter season.
The expanded Windigo crew schedule (part PCTA paid staff and part volunteer) provided a large proportion of the skilled tread and structures maintenance for this season along with contracted youth agency crews. More should be done to coordinate and advertise these work parties to encourage other volunteers to participate and hence improve their tread work skills.
This was the first season where work crews were provided access to F.S. Radios for communications. Results have been mixed with some crews successfully using radios on all work trips while others experienced area overage and other communications difficulties and radio reliability problems. A specific workshop session on the use of Radios should be given at the next spring training. Radios have proved largely unusable South of Willamette Pass due to poor coverage and the PCTA has asked for additional repeaters to be programmed into the radios for that area.
The West side tool cache, which is currently on private property, will be moved to Elijah Bristow state park over the winter thanks to the efforts of a Steward in locating a suitable building. The facility is locked, heated and the area is patrolled by a camp host in the summer. A site for a second cache is being sought in the area of highway 22 to provide equipment for those working in the Northern part of the region. In addition, an alternative site for the East side cache is being sought to allow volunteers access to tools after hours and at weekends. The continued use of OET and BCHO tools cannot be guaranteed and an active program of improving the PCTA tool stock is being pursued as budget allows.
Additional education on the use of tool caches is required to ensure fair access to all volunteer groups and to improve the care and treatment of hand tools. Appropriately 30% of all tools required significant back shop care at the end of the season.
Two special use areas transited by the PCT - Santiam Pass and Jefferson Park - were monitored for unauthorized traffic. Generally, the public has complied with the signed restrictions. However, significant mountain bike encroachment has been observed in the Charlton Lake area and more explicit signing is required to deter the activity. ATV encroachment was also observed at Pengra Pass and on the PCT alongside Summit Lake.
Basic Statistics
- PCT mileage 160, 80% Wilderness
- Volunteer work pool 202 on file, 110 active
- Total volunteer effort hours 8900 (est)
- Blow-downs removed 800+ (est)
- Signs replaced 30+ (est)
- Mileage surveyed/water dips cleared approx 60 miles
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Overview
