General Trip Information
About your dog
Fido is always welcome on Trail Crew
trips. However, as our group size increases, we ask that you observe the
following common-sense considerations: Although the backwoods is a great
place to let your obedient dog run free and explore, it's not appropriate
in base camp. Please leash them when you are in base camp. We need to
keep them out of the kitchen tent so our chefs and chefettes do not trip
over them and worse, step in dog poop. While we're on the subject, be
SURE to bring a pooper scooper; kids and other folk are running and walking
all over, and... well, you know the drill. Just keep you dog out of the
food tent and pick up after it and we'll get along fine. Also, please
let everyone know if table bones or other morsels are OK to feed your
dog; some dog owners prefer they eat only dog food. And, of course, make
sure your dog is people-friendly when you make a decision to bring him
or her. It's a sure bet it will be considerably spoiled with petting and
affection by most people in our group. We LOVE dogs!!
Our Trips
If you have not attended one of our past trips and you are curious about
them, we will gladly answer any questions you may have. We also can put
you in touch with one of our veterans of past trail crews events to answer
your questions.
Your camping arrangement is your personal preference. A campsite will be provided within an easy stroll of the food tent. Many people sleep in their truck beds and in their SUVs. Some bring RV's but the vast majority use tents. Some sleep on the open ground. It is completely your choice. We do not get involved in providing camping equipment to volunteers. Those are completely your responsibility.
ALL food, however, is provided. You need bring nothing to eat; we provide breakfast, lunch and dinner on all days we are on a project/trip. Of course, if you have preferences feel free to bring whatever your fancy requires. Adult beverages (in moderation), are your own choice; sharing is encouraged but not required.
A Typical Day
Breakfast is served promptly at 7am. Coffee and juice is usually ready by 6am for
the early risers. Breakfast consists of all-you-can-eat of the following
items; scrambled eggs, sausage or bacon, hash-browns (with Tonia's
special recipe!!), pancakes or Cinnamon French Toast, toasted bagels with
butter and jam, an assortment of fruit, oatmeal, cold cereal, pastries and all the condiments
one would expect of a fine hotel; except it's all fresh cooked, and in
the wilderness. (Wake up on Saturday morning at 5:30am, and be one of
the first in camp to arrive at the food tent, chat with Shane as he makes
the coffee and puts the bacon on to fry. The aroma of that bacon
cooking in the high Sierra at dawn will intoxicate anyone!! Then,
pour your first cup of coffee, sit by the fire and hang out!)
Breakfast is usually done by 7:45am, and folks are assembled for final instructions. Depending on the group size, attendees are assigned to a crew which will have a crew leader who has been briefed on the work needed to be done and will assign individual responsibilities. All crews usually leave camp at around 8am. Projects are worked until lunch, which consists of peanut butter-and-jelly and/or tuna-salad/chicken-salad sandwiches and fruit. Afternoons, you will resume work until the project is completed or until 2:30pm, whichever comes first. It is absolutely etched in stone; crew leaders have been carefully instructed to conclude the day's work at 2pm, meaning that if a project cannot be completed by 2pm, then it is not to be started. Some days you will be done by noon.
The work can be hard at times depending on the specific project, but with a group tackling the project in coordinated fashion, no one person is "working their fingers to the bone" or working to exhaustion. There are times when you are done by 1pm, and you have the rest of the day to yourself. It's amazing how quickly the job can be completed when a group of people combine their efforts to achieve a result. And then there is the camaraderie that results among the work crews. Laughing, telling stories, verbal rambling occurs on the hike back...
Then it's back to camp where you grab a nap or wash up, find the shower (available on all trips except Clover Meadow) and then assemble at the food tent for hors' doeuvres and whatever adult beverage you have chosen to bring. It's social hour with people standing around the camp fire, making new friends, and generally having a good time. Frisbees, baseball and football catch, horseshoes, etc. have been known to break out (No boom boxes or other radio/CD player/video game devices please). Then again, you may prefer to find a quiet spot with a view or shade, and just stare at the sky, read a book, or contemplate the rising moon, or...whatever...
Dinner is served at around 6pm, and there's some variation of all-you-can-eat tri-tip, chicken, salmon, pork loin chops or other meat entrée, (cooked on the real charcoal grill and yes, there is a difference) and salads, veggies, fresh-baked breads from our three propane ovens we use for all baking, and fresh dessert; usually there's fresh-baked Dutch-Oven Pineapple Upside-Down Cake or Cherry, Apple or Peach Strudel or other delicacy with Haagen-Dazs ice cream. Truly, you have not lived until you've had fresh, still-hot Pineapple Upside-down Cake or strudel, topped with Haagen Dazs ice cream, left-over fruit salad from dinner and whipped cream; all you can eat. Go back as many times as you want and go for it! WOW!!! and, of course, there's after-dinner coffee.
On Thursday night we usually serve hamburgers and hotdogs cooked on a genuine charcoal grill, potato salad, green salad, chips, and for dessert, fresh baked cookies. We bake the cookies fresh each day timed to be ready fresh from the oven at about the time you'll be looking for desert. This meal is easy to cook with short cooking time, perfect for a day when we are setting up a new camp and have not yet deployed all the kitchen equipment.
Friday night usually consists of pasta; Pasta is a dish that can stay fresh longer and is easy to prepare. This is important on Friday night as we have a large number of volunteers arriving in camp after work on Friday. Some do not arrive until 8 or 9pm. We can keep the pasta and sauce longer and have it ready to eat when someone arrives late. We will keep out pasta, sauce (with and without meat), tossed salad, fresh-baked Sourdough garlic bread, and anything else that makes sense people might want.
On Saturday we pull out all the stops. This is a night of food excess. We have barbecued chicken AND fresh-caught Salmon, AND fresh-grilled Halibut, AND any Trout caught by volunteers; all with Norm's incredible spices and sauces he uses on the fish... or Tri-Tip, again, cooked with Norm's spices. There's a large variety of different salads; Tania makes a Broccoli Salad that is to die for... green salads, pasta salads, vegetable salads, and an addictive fruit salad made with absolutely the freshest fruit from the San Joaquin Valley; several growers donate huge volumes of fruit to our organization each year, and we serve it up! Fresh-baked Sourdough garlic bread, or dinner rolls, steamed vegetables, or vegetable soup/stews we prepare fresh that day... dessert is usually either fresh pineapple upside down cake cooked in a Dutch Oven, or Apple, Cherry or Peach or all those choices at once (3 kettles), and strudel also cooked in the Dutch Oven. With that is Haagen Dazs ice cream. Whipped cream is available, chocolate sauce if you only want the ice cream. Cookies, fruit salad again... fruit salad is incredible poured over hot pineapple upside down cake..............
Then, after dinner, folks socialize around the campfire; uproarious laughter, lively group conversations, serious one-on-ones and of course kids running around is the order of the day. In recent years we have been blessed with the live music from some rather proficient guitar players/songwriters who were only too willing to perform. GREAT entertainment it was too! Or, you may prefer to find a spot with solitude and simply stare at the stars and look for meteors.
When we are in the Huntington area, at either Kokanee or Edison Lake, there is a large hot spring within a short drive people sometimes take advantage of at night. The hot spring scene can crank up quite a party atmosphere... under the stars...and in the wilderness. The hot spring is deep in the wilderness, and you can make all the noise you want!
People generally turn in around 10pm. Folks up later than that usually keep it quiet for another couple of hours... The food stays out until folks are down for the night. Beverages are available 24 hours a day. Although third and fourth helpings at all meals are encouraged, no midnight raids of the food tent please; we're working on a midnight buffet... yeah, right!
Next day is a repeat until the last day, on which breakfast is served and then at 9am the camp food tent comes down and everyone goes home.
Kids and dogs are encouraged to attend. Amazingly, your kids will have a great time without video games, TVs or other electronic devices. Running, laughing and playing occurs nonstop. When the sun goes down the kids roast marshmallows, hot-dogs, and build 'smors until they run out of energy. Your children will become terrifyingly dirty. Just take a deep breath...
Trail Crew is a total family outing and all ages are welcome. Their are no egos, axes-to-grind or soapboxes. Folks have been known to obtain the phone number of a member of the opposite sex from time to time. We've never compiled the statistics on the number of marriages that have resulted from a chance meeting at Trail Crew, but we arbitrarily take credit for at least 2, with two more in the making.
People from all walks of life attend; currently we have a judge, retired pharmacist, university professor, retired veterinarian, 5 traffic cops, 2 nurses, mortgage broker, Volkswagen mechanic, commercial real estate broker, artist, handyman, television documentary maker, helicopter pilot, emergency room physician and several teachers. There's one guy who's hobby is working calculus equations...long-hand. ?? Some of our teachers bring their students so at times we can be overrun with very courteous, mature, incredibly enthusiastic and generally impressive teenagers. We often have elderly folks who work in the kitchen, or are grandparents of a volunteer who invited them to attend... it's truly a melting pot of life experiences, ages, backgrounds, races, etc. We welcome and strongly encourage children to attend. We have several families who have literally raised their children in the Trail Crew atmosphere each summer. We love seeing them grow and change...
In ten years, only once have we had to ask someone to pack their stuff and leave.
Equipment Needed
On overnight or extend trips away from base camp a portion of your gear will
be carried by the local packers. (These trips are entirely volunteer in
nature; you will never be assigned a backpacking trip unless you specifically
sign up for one.) The equipment the horse packers will carry in and out
for you will be as follows: tents, sleeping bags, sleeping pad, and the
group’s food. You will be responsible to carry you own clothing and
any extra items you may need.
About showers: In base camp we cannot promise you a shower facility; Clover Meadow definitely will not have access to a shower. Other base camp locations will have showers within a reasonable drive. You may (probably will) have to pay for a shower, but at least it's there and only about $4 or $5; money well spent, in my opinion.
In Camp (Base Camping)
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In Camp (Backpacking Trips)
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Food
(is provided for you)
Our chefs
and cheféttes work very hard while you are out during the day preparing
for your return. It is a challenge to plan the food for these trips, and
stay within budget. The sooner you sign up, the more accurate we will
be on meal planning. If you are a vegetarian or have any special food
requirements please advise us 10 days in advance of the trip so we may
make an arrangement for you.
Clothing
Clothing
will range by date and project but while doing the actual trail maintenance,
you are required to wear long pants and a long sleeve shirt, a pair of
sturdy hiking boots (tennis shoes not recommended) and a good pair of
leather work gloves. The forest service will provide you with a hard hat
and goggles that must be worn at all time (when actually working) along
with the tools necessary to perform the work for the day. You will want
to have a medium size day pack with room for (2) one quart water bottles,
sack lunch, basic first aid gear and rain wear.
First Aid
We are very proud of our safety record, and have had only one accident in
ten years; and that person was present on the very next trail crew project.
The credit goes to all the volunteers for their "heads up" for
safety during our work project, but we always want to be prepared! Anyone
with current First Aid and CPR cards or is an EMT, Paramedic, Registered
Nurse or Doctor and would like to be part of our medical support teams
please contact Shane Krogen for
additional details.
Car Pooling
We have people
that would like to volunteer for the outings but are uncomfortable with
mountain driving or do not have transportation. If you have extra room
and can provide volunteers with a ride it would be greatly appreciated.