Pacific Crest Trail volunteer spotlight: Chris Ryerson
By Mark Larabee
November 18, 2015
http://www.pcta.org
Chris Ryerson estimates that he’s spent about 650 days in the Sierra over the past seven years. It’s no wonder he’s gravitated to working in the trails he loves.
He recently became chief of the PCTA Trail Gorillas’ Section G, meaning that he coordinates projects in the area, scouts for trail damage and makes sure his crews are well cared for.
Chris joined the PCTA Trail Gorillas for his first work project in late October 2009 and has been at it ever since. That project was in the Trail Gorillas’ Section F, which runs from Tehachapi to Walker pass and is notorious for heavy brush that grows up to 18 inches a year.
Chris on the summit of Clyde Minaret in the Sierra Nevada.
Asked where he like to work trail and Chris’s answer is an enthusiastic “Anywhere I can!” But most his work is done in Southern California south of Kennedy Meadows. “I get out most with the Trail Gorillas and have also done lots of time with SCA (Student Conservation Association) crews,” he said, “but any group that offers trail work could see me show up.”
For Chris, working hard on the trail is personal and cathartic.
“I have lived a life that is lonely and full of turmoil,” he said. “Being able to get out on the trails I love and do something not only for myself but for every other person that walks it gives me a sense of enjoyment and purpose that I have lacked all my life. Combine that with an ever expanding list of people I respect and...
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Re: Right On Rogue!
Yeah that made me want to get back out and do more trail work! It's been awhile since I've been able to get out with a crew. I've been working like a slave lately and have only had one day off in more than a month and most days I'm working 6:30am to 8PM. Oh well you have to work hard to play hard later.
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Re: Right On Rogue!
I was most impressed by some of the work being done by trail crews I saw out in the Sierra this summer; it looked like hard toil to say the least.
Good for you.
Good for you.
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