By Shannon Cunningham
Trails do not maintain themselves, nor is there enough paid staff to take care of the miles and miles of Pacific Crest Trail and all other West Coast trails. You may already know that it takes thousands of hours every year from dedicated volunteers to keep the ... Read more
By Connor Swift, PCTA Technical Advisor
Working on a trail crew is always unique. Sometimes the experience is good and sometimes it’s bad. Either way, trail work is an irreplaceable opportunity, and most who do it remember it for the rest of their lives.
One thing is certain: you will ... Read more
The Pacific Crest Trail Association is excited to have technical advisors in the field supporting our corps crews and volunteer programs in 2017. Connor Swift and Tyler Lau already are working in Southern California and will move to Northern California this summer before returning south in the fall.
Technical advisors ... Read more
By Ben Echt and Roger Sweet
Coming from backgrounds of all shapes and sizes, it’s safe to say we were mostly prepared for being unprepared. Our 11-person team, Gold 4 of AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps, set off on an amazing adventure, not through space and time, but to the ... Read more
By Connor Swift, PCTA technical advisor
Wildfire in California is like rain in the Northwest: inevitable. While suppressing wildfire in California continues to be a high priority, the damage cannot always be mitigated or controlled, and unfortunately, the Pacific Crest Trail is oftentimes dramatically affected. In some cases, the PCT ... Read more
Frequently when I explain the scope of my job and the Pacific Crest Trail Association’s work, the responses are usually very similar: “I didn’t know you did all that” or “I thought you just fixed the trail.”
Most people don’t realize that much of the PCTA’s work is behind the ... Read more
By Joan “Bump” Napolitano
This summer, I volunteered on “my” section of trail between Granite Pass and Methow Pass (within 60 miles of the Canadian border). We had temperatures in the 80s and snowflakes. Just another week in August on the PCT! “Yurtman” and I adopted this section by volunteering ... Read more
By Ben Barry
Roughly two years ago, I signed up with the PCTA for a four-month term as a Technical Advisor. My job was to coordinate and oversee trail maintenance and reconstruction along the Pacific Crest Trail. I worked with youth and volunteer trail crews, supported corps crews and taught ... 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.