The Trail Skills College program is PCTA’s premiere trail maintenance educational program. Every year, PCTA hosts a series of events along the trail where new and experienced volunteers and outdoor professionals can learn critical skills for designing, building and maintaining backcountry trails. But what does it look like to take ... Read more
I approach the trail junction at Haypress Meadows after the long climb from Echo Lakes. It’s great to be back on trail again, and I have big aspirations for my weekend adventure. Working behind the scenes helping to coordinate volunteers to make the trail possible is something I’m passionate about, ... Read more
By Southern Sierra Regional Trail Stewardship Coordinator Michelle DiMeglio
Trail work facilitates a unique connection to the land. We’re not just caring for the trail, we also benefit from spending time in that place, in stewarding a section of this 2-foot wide, 2650 mile long footpath.
How often do you ... Read more
The Pacific Crest Trail Association hires Trail Crew Technical Advisors each field season to help oversee corps crew work, support PCTA volunteers and teach at PCTA Trail Skills Colleges. They are skilled and dedicated trail builders who spend most of their time in the field in support of the PCTA’s ... Read more
The September 2017 fire that swept through the Columbia River Gorge temporarily closed 10 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail and a popular PCT alternate route, the Eagle Creek Trail. Pacific Crest Trail Association volunteers were able to reopen the PCT quickly, but the Eagle Creek Trail, which follows a ... Read more
By Hannah Levy, ACE Corps Crew member
“I know it’s a rock. Don’t you think I know a rock when I see a rock? I spend a lot of time around rocks!”
— Flik, from “A Bug’s Life”
That’s how it felt, working on the PCT. Let me paint you ... Read more
By Johnny Wilke, ACE Corps Crew member
As I sit in ACE’s Ridgecrest, California housing on a September day where the air quality is “unhealthy” again, I stare through smog at China Lake Naval Weapons Station and reminisce about my first project on ACE’s PCT crew.
In June, I returned ... Read more
By Sandra Plato, PCTA Trail Crew Technical Advisor
“Unprecedented.”
“Flexibility.”
“COVID.”
“Wildfires.”
“Grateful.”
Honestly, I should make a 2020 word search with all the words that keep being repeated to me either by work colleagues, the news or the internet. These words are starting to lose their meaning. I want ... Read more
Welcome to the blog of the Pacific Crest Trail Association. Check back often for news about the trail.
A PCT community blog feed.