https://linktr.ee/backcountrytrails

Backcountry Trails Program, Eureka, CA (2026)

10/23/2026

Inyo September Overview/ Cedar Long

To everything there is a season, and the mountains are experts at showing us when ours has drawn to a close. Shadows have lengthened and deepened; many of us keep our jackets on most of the day now despite the body heat generated by pissanting the rocks all day. Air not yet touched by the sun crackles with ice crystals in the mornings; we root daily for the arrival of bright rays over the mountains’ rim, so that our bodies might relax a smidge in their warmth. Our lake’s waters, though not significantly cooler than just a month ago, steep our bones in a chill we struggle to ease now that the sun disappears below the granite before we finish dressing again. The furry susurrus of the balsamroot has become a desiccated rattle, its vibrant, cheerful golden petals long gone and its pale green leaves now a dusty, washed-out yellow reminiscent of a faded manila envelope. Fall has unequivocably settled into the Sierra, whether or not we are ready. And yet, there remain rocks to roll, steps and wall to build, lessons to learn, wilds to explore.

There is no end to the amount of maintenance and repair that a trail will need in its lifetime; “job security”, we say, as we brush and tread and build and rehab. We continue to undertake new sections of repair on our trail, fighting all the way to the end for as much improvement as we can serve up for this high-traffic vein to popular destination locations such as Thousand Island Lake, Mt Banner and Mt Ritter, and the PCT. In our last two weeks of dry stone masonry project work, we install over a dozen steps and over 3 dozen square feet of structural rock wall, moving thousands of pounds of rock over constantly increasing distances as we exhaust native stone availability closest to our building sites. We are strong yet tired, focused yet zooming out, present yet beginning to look ahead. It is a difficult balance to maintain, especially this late in the season.

The Labor Day holiday gives us our last long weekend for exploring further than we might otherwise. A late-day after-work departure kicks off the weekend that will start at Thousand Island and see us attempting to peak Mt Banner. Although Moriah thwarts our efforts for the summit, we are awed into silence by the azure clarity of Lake Catherine. Our return to Thousand Island brings us face to face with frustration, disappointment and what-ifs, and how choices play out over longer time frames than just the immediate moment. We grapple not just with the talus and the wind, but with how to reframe perspectives, and continue forward in a way that enriches us all. The mountains are not cowed by our emotions, will not offer us an easy win just because we want it; by the same token, they also will not turn us away in scorn when next we return to confront what we failed to accomplish this time. The mountains will be here long after we are gone, and will always be generous with their lessons when we are ready to learn.

Prom and Christmas, or Prom-mas, follows our long weekend, and while our bodies are grateful for the rest of an in-camp weekend, the excitement and anticipation for our holiday is barely containable. Promposals have been floating through the crew for weeks, with varying degrees of excitement and heartache. Music, although everpresent in our crew full of warblers and strummed instruments, has not been heard in digital form since we first started our season. Each person has been given an allotment of 5 song choices, which our generous cook Aubrey has hiked out to service and downloaded into a playlist on her phone (gasp! Technology!). Bren’s speaker and a giant metal mixing bowl combine to give us amplification enough that our favorite ballads and bangers saturate our senses for hours. Prom fits stun, with flair courtesy of Aubrey’s thrift-store finds, and a bespoke suit jacket courtesy of Moriah’s destruction and Carlos’ tailoring skills. We forgo a prom-photo backdrop in favor of the natural beauty of our lake in the afternoon sunlight. The first notes of the music bring shouts of excitement that fade almost immediately into gusty sing-alongs to nearly every track; the dancing starts immediately, and does not stop, for some, the entire 7 hours of serenade. Aubrey lays us out a feast for monarchs to envy, and crooning and cavorting, spinning and posterior-shaking, interpretive dance and shoulder-to-shoulder swaying carries us well into the late hours of the night. With stars overhead, and our senses full of the timeless bond that shared music brings, we tumble exhausted into bed as we realize: Santa will not come if we are still awake!!

The next day brings Christmas! Continuing the musical weekend we decorate our live Christmas tree with garlands made of cardboard stars and found-treasure style ornaments to a soundtrack heavily featuring Vince Guaraldi tunes and Christmas jazz; a wire-shaped star sits atop the Charlie-Brown white pine, and discarded trail flagging become our tinsel. Hand-made gifts, crafted with love, slowly collect under the tree, and Aubrey and helpers once again fill us with delicious Christmas goodies. As we each present our Secret Santa with our token of love, the creativity and care put into each gift is evident. Beautiful creations surprise and delight, and each new gift is received with gratitude and joy. Our bellies are full, and so are our hearts.

As our time on the trail draws to a close, we race against the clock to finish our final projects and close our camp. Last rocks are harvested and set, and impacted soil is rehabilitated back to a natural state. Ranger Day pairs us with our neighboring Wilderness Ranger Kate, who teaches us how to properly dismantle and rehabilitate illegal fire rings and campsites, in order to uphold wilderness ethics and preserve the wilderness setting for all visitors. With masonry projects complete, Bren and Lily have one last surprise for us: an introduction to Crosscut Saws!! A half-day in camp to learn the basics of the history and relevancy of the beautiful singing saws, and first exposure to the safety and techniques, is followed by three days of logouts. While there are only a scant few logs for us to remove from surrounding trails (this part of the Sierra has more rock fall than downed logs), each of us gets a chance to pull the saw, feeling both its challenges and the joy as it slices cleanly through the wood, our saw partner sweating opposite us across the log. We are grateful to finish with one more new skill, and the taste of still one more piece of the trail-work puzzle to fit into the big picture.

And so, with our work on the trail done and the mountains showing us the door, we spend a day breaking camp and making loads for our packers and mules to carry our camp back to the trailhead. Dishline and H-brace, shelves and benches are taken apart and disappeared so as to hide our presence here; sump and latrine are given a last call and then filled in. Our wall tent is dismantled and bundled; tools are hiked out to a staging area we haven’t seen in months. Our home for the last several months is returned gratefully to the mountains from whom we borrowed it, and on a crisp Monday morning, we shoulder our packs, throw some last armfuls of duff on the ground to cover our sleeping spots, and begin the trek out to re-enter the rest of the world. We are excited and apprehensive; how will it be out there? How will WE be out there? Will we be strange…or strangers… to those we left behind? Will we carry with us the lessons learned out here in the mountains, or will we lay them down at the wilderness boundary on our way out, returning to a more “civilized” code of behavior? Will we remember the intentions and impact of our choices, both here in the wilds and in our front country lives, and will we shape our lives in the way that feels best to us?

To everything there is a season, and while the mountains have turned the page on this one for us, we hold the pen poised, ready to write the script for our next chapter. Where will our story take us? What grand adventures and deeds will we serve up in the rest of our lives? We are only just beginning…

10/19/2026

Big Basin/Inyo September Overview -Sam Boutelle

September felt like a series of triumphant last acts. We walked away from our backcountry work with our heads held high. We made the most of our final weekends together, and we started and ended our season with performances that brough smiles and laughs to all involved. After weeks of work, we brought our production of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 to our burrow stage. Rehearsals paid off and the cast brought down the house with renditions of Princess Buttercup’s kidnapping and rescue as well as her foiled wedding. The cast wasn’t off book but were in fabulous form, and the audience roared with laughter and applause.

Mount Ritter looms tallest in our corner of the Inyo, and the crew had been building momentum and excitement to climb it for weeks. Rosy and Angel held down the fort so the rest of us could attempt it together. We traversed the west side of Whitebark Pass Ridge and navigated through the Nydiver Lakes, but our pace didn’t match our prize, and most of us weren’t in a position to attempt Ritter by the time we reached its flanks. The group split, so a smaller team could attempt a late dash towards the top, but even they had to turn back at the mouth of the fearsome Secor Chute to reach camp at Ediza Lake by nightfall.

After a short, windy week of work, it was time again to plan our weekend adventures. Cedar, the supervisor of the Inyo BCTP crew, dropped by at the end of her weekend as we wrapped up our planning session in a cozy kitchen tent. She shared stories from her crew’s season, and we finished our evenings with bear cans full to bursting and a mix of ambitions driving us to Labor Day Weekend. One group aimed for recovery to aid sore knees and aching feet, a second sought to reach deep into Yosemite and set foot on the Cathedral Range, and the final four wanted to pack in as many peaks as they could in a mad scramble to the north.

The recovery group alone accomplished all of their objectives, and they all returned refreshed and recovered from their days at Altha Lake. Those exploring Yosemite only made it as far as Amelia Earhart Pass before a stomach bug forced them to stop and focus on making it home rather than adventuring on. Our peak baggers scored four early successes around Kuna Crest and camped atop Parker Peak their first night but ran out of time for their final summits north of Donahue Pass and returned home safe if a bit deflated.

We all got back in time to meet the ESCC crew as they made their way out of the backcountry at the end of their season. We shared a great dinner made from the last supplies in our pantry and wished them well the next morning as we said goodbye in our PT circle. This last four-day weekend was a rush but also a reminder of how human we remain.

As soon as we’d finished with The Princess Bride, we turned to prepping and rehearsing a skit all our own for Debriefing. Plans came together around a twisting tale of two hikers caught in a world of madcap misadventure, and the crew eagerly applied themselves to fleshing out funny moments and fitting everything together as we revised our concept over the course of half a dozen check-ins and read throughs.

There were miles of work left on the River Trail as we started September, and some tackled new project locations at the same time that others took maintenance runs all the way to Shadow Creek Trail and cleared over half a mile of heavy manzanita from the first switchbacks and straightaways that harass hikers and packers on their way up to Thousand Island Lake. We removed dozens of major rocks from the tread to open up a safer walking surface for mules, and our sponsors Vic and Kelly led the way on a final few steps for a steep set of turns. Kelly even brought a final rock wall in for a landing with a hardworking team of corpsmembers alongside her.

Rosio turned out a grand finale of birthday meals for the crew, including pesto chicken, spinach feta empanadas, and fried panko chicken. KPs stepped up to cover weekend meals in style and did well even when Rosio headed to the frontcountry early to help have everything ready back in Mammoth Lakes.

Brandon started our month’s lessons off with a fabulous mycological foray and a look into the many forms mushrooms can take in Inyo and beyond. Jason followed up with a rock-climbing class where we got to get our hands on some jugs and crimped our fingers. Life stories flowed, and we relished the insights that each evening offered into one another. We celebrated Glizzmas with a feast of hot dogs, caroling, handmade ornaments, and pics with Santa and Rudolph that had us in high spirits before our final backcountry weekend.

We returned to Mt. Ritter chastened and prepared. Half the crew joined Sam B. for a dawn departure, and Vic joined us in spite of their fear of heights. The group blew prior timings out of the water and reached the top after a challenging scramble to and through the Secor Chute. They shared a cathartic moment at the top where they could take in all that they’d climbed in the season and almost everything they’d seen. At the end of their descent, they joined the rest of the crew in a final night camped in the hills west of Ediza Lake.

In our final day working on the River Trail, we split the crew in two and chased drains and removed berms up and down the trail. One group pushed uphill to cut back the last branches and brush that clogged the trail’s corridor and cleared dozens of drains in a push to work back to camp. The rest of the crew joined Vic in a race to resolve a handful of problem places, including old projects who’d long ago outlived their usefulness. Each group returned to camp ready to get us packed and back to civilization.

Our last backcountry morning was also our coldest. Bleach spray froze to tables as we cleaned up breakfast. We broke camp quickly and started our hike out after the packers arrived en masse to bring our whole camp back to the trailhead. The wilderness fell away as we saw fences for the first time in months and noticed logs that had been cut by chainsaws not crosscuts. In a few turns more, vehicles and a parking lot were all that the trail had left to show us. We faced sticker shock as we passed gas stations, but that was nothing compared to the jolt of seeing ourselves in the mirror as we reveled in our first showers.

The hardships of the backcountry dropped away from us little by little. Later mornings for demobilization and comparatively easy work felt like a breeze, and we celebrated our season with a banquet, a wedding, and a slideshow that had us cheering, laughing, and tearing up in turn. We left Mammoth Lakes to make way for the Inyo crew’s return to civilization and drove south to Bishop with a stop at ESCC’s Tiger Ranch along the way. We’d earned a last weekend adventure and turned towards the Bristlecone Pines and White Mountain as storms gathered and curtains of rain danced across the Owens River Valley.

As we neared the White Mountain trailhead, we drove into a snowstorm. We prepped in our vehicles before braving the weather to set up tents and make dinner on the truck’s tailgate. Sam B. read In a Far Country in the van, and then we took to our tents for the night. We rallied the next morning, and everyone set out for the summit together. While we faced bitter winds and altitude, the crew reveled in the awesome feeling of reaching 14,252’ and made it back safely before striking camp to see the nearby Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest.

Our days of howling into cold Sierra winds while we bathed in the San Joaquin were replaced by laughter-filled balmy baths in pools by the Owens River near Bishop. We stormed Paiute Pass for a final day on trail before spending our last day of work clearing our new quarters at the Mann Ranch of Russian thistle and other invasive weeds. Soon, it was time to leave the Eastern Sierras, and we toured Yosemite from the top of Mount Dana to the base of El Capitan on our way to Debriefing with just enough time for a gift shop stop.

In the first giddy day of Debriefing, we turned in gear and organized and readied equipment for the next Backcountry season. Hugs with loved ones swept some of us off our feet the next morning, and we brought down the house with performances of our skit on Tuesday. We huddled up after a rich open-mic event for our last night with one another, and we got in hugs and tearful goodbyes in the turbulent emotions of the closing morning of our season. This was our final month as a backcountry crew, but we’ll compose more chapters as friends in the future that’s yet unwritten. Thanks for following our adventures all summer!

10/19/2026

Yosemite September Overview

This month was both challenging and rewarding. The crew worked hard on their rock projects, finishing a total of 10 projects including check steps, rip rap steps, water bars, and pans. On one weekend, a group set out for the longest trek of our season, hitting the Shire north of Red Peak Pass, Red Devil Lake, Edna Lake, Horse Thief Canyon, and Chain Lakes. The rest of the weekends were spent with the whole crew by a lake making the most of our time together. We made a personal record for most holidays in a month by celebrating backcountry Christmas, gladiator day, and backcountry Olympics. As we prepared for camp move however, a wrench was thrown in our plans. The Wawona Dome fire began and we could see the fire peeking just over the next ridge about 2-3 miles away. Luckily, the wind was on our side and blew the smoke and fire away from us, allowing us just enough time to button up our rock projects. Even so, our camp move was moved up from one day to another and the crew spent an adrenaline filled night packing up camp before hiking out the very next morning. Yet, even on little sleep, we emerged from the smoke victorious into the front country and got to spend our last week in Foresta, our first home in Yosemite

September was a whirlwind in many ways but there was one day where the wind stood still. We got to sit by the lake and reflect on our time here as we gazed on the picturesque mirrored landscape of Buena Vista. I saw a log there, partly submerged. I thought it looked like a representation of mind and memory and thought about how it related to our experience of this season. The exposed part was smooth and dry, worn by the weather. I thought, this is the part of us that other people see, we try to express ourselves to the best of our abilities, but it’s only the surface. Under the lake, the log was growing with algae, there was a rock here and there, and another murky one just a little ways off. I thought, this is what a mind is like, filled with memories and feelings that have so much more detail close up yet get hazy with time and distance. But the lake is full of them, just like our minds are full of our memories. Though it saddens me that I cannot adequately describe all the joy, pain, belonging, and growth of being in the backcountry, I am infinitely grateful to have added this rock of an experience into my own lake.

-Mariel Jones

10/14/2026

September Monthly Overview Shasta Trinity, by Mason Pinkman

Our crew's final month in the Backcountry 2026 season has been full of amazing milestones for the crew! The first week of September was spent at the battle mountain scramble, where we reestablished lost trail and constructed 7 block Cairns to aid hikers on their travels. The Labor Day weekend allowed us all a bomber weekend! Both of our weekend buddy groups had the chance to see wonderful subalpine lakes like Big Boulder Lake, Union Lake, and Landers Lake before our big camp move. Our classes that week included packing loads with the packers and learning the ins and outs of soccer/ futbol, playing until we had to bring out the headlamps! Our goodbye to sugar pine was emotional, but packing up camp and heading to spike on the Stuart Fork Trail put the pep back in our step. Three CCC association interns joined our crew for the spike, a week of log-outs and brushing where we brought our September production totals to 10.5 miles of trail maintenance, 65 logs removed, 300 linear yards of new trail, and 50 linear yards of rehabilitation, plus the 7 rock cairns, During spike, we had a marching class from Ben, before marching ourselves back to the trails barn to retire the tools of the season. At the barn in Weaverville, Delmy taught us a Spanish class, and we danced ourselves into the night at Shasta-Trinity’s 2026 Backcountry Prom. As the end of the month got near, we hopped into the vehicles and made our way towards the final boss of the season… DEBRIEF!!! Our trip was grand! Finding the town of mount Shasta but missing the city of light! Dipping into the pits of Subway Cave in Lassen National Forest! Hiking up Lassen Peak and smelling the sulfur of Bumpass Hell at Lassen Volcanic National Park! Seeing Giant Sequoias at the Famed Mariposa Grove and taking in the beauty of Yosemite Valley! We already miss Shasta-Trinity dearly, but Backcountry has taught us well and we will find our way in our bright futures. “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. the wind will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.” – John Muir

10/14/2026

Kings Canyon/Luz Lara

September came and went faster than any other month this season. Throughout the month, we found ourselves experiencing full-circle moments that reminded us that the season was truly coming to an end. We kept encouraging the crew to stay present, soak up what was left, and enjoy each other’s company. The comforts of home would be waiting. Loved ones would be there to welcome us back. But for now, we still had each other… and work to finish.

This month, we finished the last trail our shovels would touch for the season, bringing our final season totals to 52 miles of trail maintenance, 56 rock steps, 5 waterbars, 129 log-outs, 12 feet of new trail, 12 feet of multi-tier wall, and 1,232 linear yards of single-tier wall.

Then, in true full-circle fashion, we said our farewells to our home, our work, and our commitment to the land by hiking a 57-mile loop over Forester Pass, Colby Pass, and Avalanche Pass, and across the Sand Flats one last time. Ending the loop at our frontcountry camp brought everything back to where it had begun. We returned to the place where we first started, but we were no longer the same people who had arrived months before. We came back as a family, one that had grown in so many different ways, both individually and together, through the hardships, the tears, the dirt, the farts, and, most of all, the love.

And now, the season has ended.

If there is one thing this season has taught us, it’s that there is never enough time to truly soak up the last moments we have with one another. The everyday routine that slowly became our life will be missed by all of us, the early mornings, the miles, the work, the laughter, the exhaustion, and simply knowing that at the end of the day, we had each other.

I will miss this crew more than I can put into words.

More than the not-so-quiet mornings.

More than the laughter at the dishline.

More than the desserts that Peter baked.

More than even the alpine glow against East Vidette.

Because the mountains will still be here.

The trails will still be here.

But this crew, this season, and the family we built together in these mountains will never exist in quite the same way again.

10/14/2026

September Overview 2026
Yolla Bolly/Klamath Crew
Supervisor: Robert Zekanoski

If you are reading this our Backcountry Season has come to an end. Our final month kept us at ‘Cold Spring’ camp, where we made significant improvement on trails leading to Hell-Hole Ridge, Ethel Lake, Wild Lake, and Grant Meadow. The work consisted mostly of treading and reestablishing tread width to 36” meeting the Forest Service standards of the Klamath National Forest. Crosscut saw dust flew as we worked further and further away from our hidden camp. At one point we were hiking 10 miles a days to get to and from the work site.

John Book out, Ellen Andrews, and Allen Schroeder continued to provide ample guidance and support for our crew to be safe and get as much trail work done as possible. The packers Karen, Olivia, Kera, and Dan put in tremendous amount of hours the final week to make sure all our gear and camp equipment was brought out of the Backcountry successfully, we are grateful for their service.

Weekends consisted of trips to Wild lake, English Lake, and Hancock Lake. As well as a valent effort to hike North on the PCT to Campell Lake and Cliff Lake, but poor weather and good decision making dictated otherwise. Games of choices on the weekends were: Catan, Love Letters, Magic the Gathering, and our new favorite ‘Assemblage’.

Classes continued with sharing our life stories, as well as a resume building class catering specifically to Forest Service applications. We also dedicated time to working on our end of the season essays, working on our skit, and providing feedback to the Backcountry Program.

Finally, we want to extend a huge thank you to Arron McBride and Sarah Boreman for all the background work they did at their respective districts to set us up for an incredible season, that will linger in our hearts, minds, and muscles for years to come. Also, deep gratitude to Miguel Rodriguez, Chelsea Saeland, Karlson Hubbard, Jon Fisher, and Nelson Bellesheim for all the grinding background work you do to keep our season progressing forward.

Thank you all who have followed our journey this season. It has been a wild ride but we are ready to do a little self-care and reflect on the lessons we have been humbled. Please keep following us and if your eligible we hope to see you apply for our Backcountry 2027 season! Applications come out this November. Happy Trails. Bobby Z

10/12/2026

BigBasin/Inyo Crew.
August Overview

August has a bad reputation in the Backcountry Trails Program. It’s called “Angry August” or “Apathy August”. It’s where hard-charging crew members go to burn out and scraping-by corps members go away. We defied those expectations and made the most of August’s changes and challenges.

We opened the month with Halloween costumes and performances. We shared treats and played pin the tail on the Gabagool before crowning Shrumpus the Wizard as top costume.

In our final days on the Minaret Creek Trail, we installed steps and walls to protect stream crossings and took on a series of switchbacks to significantly widen their tread and remove many yards of berm that kept water trapped on trail, which leads to erosion and other ills.

Our supervisor, Sam B.’s mom, Ann, came for a visit and shared details of her life as an author with us. She joined us at Minaret Lake for our final weekend down south. While one group set up camp in the woods along Minaret’s northern shore, the other group waved to them on their way up the talus field that leads to the top of Volcanic Ridge. There, they settled in for a high-elevation night under the stars then took in sunrise near the summit.

We then packed up camp and prepped for our journey to the River Trail, our new home. We began our 14-mile camp move on August 7th by working our way north on the JMT. We overnighted at Rosalie Lake, and Sam M. shared her experience as a solo traveler in Brazil and the Netherlands in a class that opened doors to overseas travel for others on the crew.

Storm clouds filled the view to the north as we neared our destination. We held tight to our good moods despite the weather and dropped packs at our new camp. We quickly fell in love with our new home. While visible thanks to the Garnet Lake Cutoff Trail that ran through our southern neighborhood and the River Trail that dominated our frontage, we also enjoyed private waterfall bathing areas with pools that left room for everyone and a view that took in miles of the San Joaquin’s upper watershed.

On August 9th, we laid a colleague of ours to rest after she suffered a heart attack as she helped pack our camp in. Kit was 22 years old, which is late middle age for a working mule. She worked with our Forest Service packers for two decades, rising to the position of lead mule, who’d help set the pace for a string of her colleagues. She rode with some of her peers in the Rose Parade three times as examples of the finest pack stock the Forest Service has in the country. In the words of Michael Morse, who shared trails with her for many years, “She was the nicest mule you could hope to work with. She didn’t love to walk uphill, but she was always solid.”

We buried her near where she fell amongst a grove of aspens and lodgepole pines in meadow flats along the San Joaquin River. It was a comfort to know that her end was quick and calm, that she died surrounded by familiar faces, and that she lay in a glen that any mule would be delighted to frolic through after a long pack-in.

In our first River Trail weekend, one group bagged four peaks along Whitebark Pass ridge and camped on the south shore of Garnet Lake. The remaining two groups also started their weekend at Garnet. Some peaked a ridge-line summit, then they all clambered over Garnet Pass to take in the majesty of Thousand Island Lake. As these groups settled in north of the lake, storm clouds built then broke against the mountains. Hail slammed down for twenty minutes as thunder lashed the land, but they and their shelters survived. After the storm passed and the clouds parted that night, Gavyn woke the groups to take in the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower, and they shivered and smiled beneath a sky singing with stars. On their way home the next morning, the crew earned their first Inyo bear sighting as a black bear lazily ambled away from the trail less than a mile from our camp.

The River Trail had already shown its harsh edges to us on our climb towards camp, and it fell to us to make its rough places smooth. We put our saws and loppers to good use in early maintenance runs, but the scale of work was staggering. About a mile below our camp, we reached a vast stretch of whitethorn that fed directly into some of the trail’s worst steps. Vic and Kelly looked at the situation and arrived at two effective fixes. We re-benched the trail through the thickets and achieved an even tread that wasn’t falling off the mountainside. We also built a series of steps that eventually held and supported dozens of feet of crush bed that helped build back up the trail’s tread and effectively buried steps that once towered higher than a foot each.

David and Kai shared our first days on the River Trail and offered gifts of song lyrics and candy that had us singing their praises. Morty traveled all the way from the Santa Cruz Mountains to join us for a few days of fun and reminded us just how hard we’d hustled back in our Big Basin beginnings. She restarted our end-of-day push-up tradition and was a very welcome presence in a community that had evolved so far from our first weeks out west.

All the while, Rosio and our KPs continued to crank out bangers at an almost daily clip. From rich beef stew to Empanadas, from French onion soup to chicken quesadillas and spicy mac and cheese, our kitchen was on a remarkable roll. By the end of the month, our impending camp move began to cramp our style as we had to draw down our kitchen’s inventory to minimize our mules’ loads, but Rosio kept her creativity as sharp as her knives and persevered with delicious results.

The crew’s progress as safe mountaineers led Sam B. to open the gates to Banner Peak. Much of the crew scrambled through the boulder field that is North Glacier Pass and skirted round Lake Catherine on their way to a half-mile snow field that’s the gateway to most Banner ascents. The group kept their footing through the last thousand feet of talus to the top. The crispness of this summit took their breath away as did the view of the lakes below them and the look at their new neighborhood from nearly its highest point.

Lessons and committees brought joy into our month. Kayla taught us the art of braiding hair, and we all took to it with wild results. Events Committee and Mental Health Committee collaborated on a spa day that gave everyone the opportunity to relax after the cares of our week. Sam B’s dad, Dan, visited in late August and brought in Kettle chips and other rare delicacies for the crew. He shared an evening of 10-minute hot seat with Vic’s good friend Nikki who traveled all the way from New York City.

The crew split in two for our final weekend of the month. Those roving north caught a view that’s still not on their maps as Waugh Lake’s drained acreage stretched over a mile, defined by saplings growing below what used to be the shoreline. A lonely arch of concrete dam still guards the eastern end of Rush Meadows while Rush Creek meanders and defines its uncovered bed. Our hikers then turned uphill and clambered up to Summit Lake on the cusp of Agnew Pass where they set up camp for the night. Meanwhile, our mountaineers returned to Banner Peak and climbed Mount Davis for good measure. They camped near Lake Catherine and reveled in seeing moonrise between Ritter and Banner.

Nikki and Dan departed on a rainy morning that cleared long enough for them to reach the trailhead and then tore into the crew as we worked at our familiar whitethorn playground as well as on the outskirts of Thousand Island Lake along the Pacific Crest Trail. As hands numbed, brush still fell before our blades, and we made use of our shovels to relieve some of the flooding that dogged our trails as the rain refused to let up. We returned to project work in the final days of the month. We knocked steps into place on one set of switchbacks and finished work on the steps and crush beds that redefined the worst stretch on the trail.

Our August was full of change and challenge, but the crew rose to each occasion and found plenty of adventures to crown their season with. We look forward to the possibilities of Labor Day Weekend and hardly believe it as plans come together for our departure from the backcountry. The last chapters of our season await! We’ll make them our own together.

Backcountry Trails Program

10/23/2026

10/19/2026

10/19/2026

10/14/2026

10/14/2026

10/14/2026

10/12/2026

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Listing takedown request