Most of us have or will be using our long distance trails, some of us annually, some of us more sporadically, but the trails don't differentiate between us. They receive the same wear and tear each year, some years more-so than others. The year 2000 fire season has been severe on both the CDT and PCT and the trails can not spontaneously recover the damage incurred. Even without such catastrophic events, gravity aided by erosion never takes a day off out there. Beady-eyed brush seeking light and air senses opportunity in the corridor. Trail maintenance is never complete for long. It needs to be ongoing. If it stops trails can disappear in a hurry.

What with the federal and state cutbacks in funds available, the need and opportunity for volunteer trail maintainers is great. There are almost certainly trail maintaining organizations near each of us which can use our help. It's only a matter of getting the organizations and their trail maintainers together with us as individuals. To get the ball rolling we urge you to contact organizations listed below so that you can get into the act and pay back, in small part, to the trails which have been of benefit and enjoyment to each of us. The original intent of this article was to provide detailed information for contacting the trail maintaining organizations closest to each of you so that on short notice you might join a work party. However, responses from the organizations indicate that they each prefer the inquiries to be funneled through the main organization.

Participating in our distance hiking trail maintenance projects isn't just an obligation. Most of us can not do a thru-hike or even a long section hike each year. This past season, one of us (DYP) participated in several week long trail maintaining projects, during which time any number of distance hikers came through. The vicarious thrill of feeling that you are once again connected to that trail with them, through their expressed gratitude for what you are doing, reaffirms the original intent and experience we enjoyed during our own hikes.

For some, trail maintenance is their only tie to the distance hiking trails, they not being either thru- or section-hikers themselves. They represent a small, but much appreciated, group of dedicated trail maintainers who very regularly participate in trail projects. Much of their work is done 'out of season' relative to the hikers and therefore they don't receive the same first person kudos, 'warm fuzzies' and pats-on-the-back of those who do the maintaining during peak hiking seasons. None-the-less, there they are doing their thing. Even though some of these folks are senior citizens, let me tell you, don't for an instant try to outwork one of them. You can't! I take a great false pride in staying reasonably fit for hiking; but just as strong day-hikes don't get you trail-tough, fitness for trail maintenance can be achieved only by participating. One is far more fatigued after a full day of trail maintenance than a full day of distance hiking. So don't just assuage your conscience with a single annual trail maintenance activity. Once you've recovered from a project, get back out there and use the increased level of fitness thus achieved to get out there and do it again.

Life in a trail maintaining camp can be any number of things. Some can be rather elegant permanent camps with camp cooks preparing hearty meals and with amenities in camp which amount to camping-in. the other extreme is a full backpack without much support other than what you personally provide. But most organizations provide some degree of support for the transport of tools, water and food. And frequently there is the fellowship of the evening around a campfire (where permitted) with a little lying and bragging thrown in. It is by no means unusual to be quartered in a campground or other facility where car camping is the mode, particularly on the weekend trips.

For those not particularly skilled with a Pulaski, McLeod or chainsaw, some jurisdictions have weekend or day training sessions. But unskilled labor, loaded with enthusiasm, is needed most, just a bit of muscle to help move brush, haul rock (for walls or treadwork), or help out in the kitchen and camp.

In some areas the managing agencies seek individuals to assume the responsibility of overseeing and maintaining short segments of trail, trail adoptions if you will.

So, come on out and join a trail maintenance group. We think you will be well rewarded, in the friends you make, the experiences you enjoy, and the feeling of accomplishing a job well done.

Pacific Crest Trail
PCTA
525 Elkhorn Blvd PMB #256
Sacramento, CA 95842
(916) 349-2109
1-888-PCTrail
infor@pcta.org

Continental Divide Trail
CDTA
P.O. Box 628
Pine, CO 80470
(303) 838-3760
cdtnst@AOL.com

Appalachian Trail
ATC
P.O. Box 807
Harper's Ferry, WV 25425-0807
www.atconf.org

Pacific Northwest Trail
Pacific Northwest Trail Association
1361 Avon Allen Road
Mount Vernon, WA 98273
(360) 424-0407
pnt@sos.net

Arizona Trail
Arizona Trail Association
P.O. Box 36736
Phoenix, AZ 85067
(602) 252-4794
ata@aztrail.org