Tag: Trail Skills College

Saturday-Sunday, July 13-14, 2024

To start off my section hike, I participated in a two day trail maintenance course put on by the Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA). This was a great way to get into the hiking world again, acclimate a bit to the higher elevation I would be hiking at on this trip, and make some new friends who are just as into the trail as I am.

We camped for three nights at Hobart Work Center (a forest service campground) just a few minutes north of Truckee.

The way I got to this location was a bit serendipitous, as I met my trail angel Rayna outside of Wrigley Field back when I went to Chicago for my birthday in June. She was visiting a friend in Chicago and we randomly shared a table with her at the bar outside center field. When she discovered I would be hiking the PCT in July near her home, she offered to pick me up at the Reno airport and drive me out to the campground.

I got my tent set up and hung out with the other volunteers and PCTA crew for the evening. We then woke up, ate breakfast, made lunch for later, and headed to the trail.

We hit the trail with loppers and other tools to start clearing some brush that was encroaching on the trail near Donner Pass Ski Ranch. Incidentally, this is where my hike would take me on the first day.

The views were beautiful and the people were great to work with. The first day was mostly manual labor, but I think they do that on purpose to break people in. Trail maintenance isn’t easy, but it’s very rewarding and all of us hikers appreciate the volunteers that do it. Interestingly, I would say the majority of the volunteers don’t ever really use the trail. They aren’t hikers. They just like to give back.

The second day we learned a bit more about trail construction techniques and water drainages. We hiked north on the PCT, past I-80 (my official starting point for my section hike), and cleared out some of the drainages along the way.

After we got back to camp, I got a ride with my new buddies (Abel and Kevin) into Truckee for dinner and a quick soak of the feet in the local reservoir. I was very happy I attended this course, as it got me in a great headspace, even if I did end up getting sick from it (more on that later). I got some good sleep and was ready to hit the trail to start my section hike the next morning.