1st Friday Art Walk: Old Growth from the Wild Siskiyou



What: 1st Friday Art Walk Gallery: Old Growth from the Wild Siskiyou
Where: Ashland Hardwired Building (340 'A' St, Ashland, OR)
When: January 3, 5pm - close

27 December 2013 | Ashland, OR -- Join the SMC for Ashland's 1st Friday Art Walk, January 3. 

Our January theme is old growth, and we'll put on display a small gallery of some of the Siskiyou's finest. We will provide beverages and treats.

We'll open the doors of Ashland's Hardwired Building (340 'A' St) at 5pm and leave them that way until the party's over.

Don't miss this fun event to see some great pics, learn how to find where they were taken, and meet awesome people.

Questions? Call 541-708-2056 or email howegabe@gmail.com

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Start winter with some fun outside


17 December 2013 | Ashland, OR -- Start this winter with some fun outside, just footsteps from downtown Ashland, OR.

The fun starts at 12pm at the Granite Street Swimming Reservoir. From there we'll hike about 5-miles through the watershed via Ashland Loop Road, where as we ascend more and more of Mt. Mclaughlin's (pictured above) snowy cap will appear. Depending on the preference of the group, we may wander off the road for some challenging off-trail adventure.

Wind the day down at 5pm in Lithia Park's Root Memorial Picnic Area. There we'll start a bonfire and host a pot-luck. Bring a festive side-dish, tasty dessert, or something to cook over the flames.

Keep an eye on the weather and dress appropriately.

Email howegabe@gmail.com or call 541-708-2056 for details and to sign-up.
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Go-To-Work Wednesday


4 December 2013 | Ashland, OR -- The Siskiyou Mountain Club started in 2010 as a group of hikers with a trunk full of old tools, some hardhats, and a whole lot of gumption.

Not much has changed.

While the tools are now sharper, and our core group of volunteers has grown a lot, there's nothing that replaces hard work in the backcountry. And this year we put 27 southern Oregonians to work for over 2,000 hours total.

They saved 8-miles of trails threatened by unprecedented maintenance deferments, and maintained or improved an additional 20-miles of our most remote and outstanding trails.

So if you're getting sick of being bombarded on Giving Tuesday, join us tomorrow for Go-To-Work Wednesday, when we're going to release a ton of 2014 volunteer opportunities for you to participate in. And hopefully on Go-To-Work Wednesday you can open your calendar for us.
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2013 work year keeps going



27 November 2013 | Ashland, OR -- 2013 doesn't seem to stop for Siskiyou Mountain Club work crews.

We've been busy wrapping up signage projects on the Lone Pilot Trail, Soda Mountain Wilderness Area. And now we're getting a head start on the Pilot Rock Re-Route.
User path has degraded a sensitive meadow near Peregrine falcon habitat

Our crews will replace the popular user-created trail which has led to significant erosion in rare meadow habitat adjacent the outcrop, also near Peregrine falcon habitat.

The new trail is being engineered in an adjacent slope that is forested and more stable. It will average no more than 8% grade and will not exceed 15% for more than 200 continuous feet. 

The project will reduce erosion and prevent environmental degradation, as well as improve the user experience to this iconic landmark.
The slope is steep and will require skillful and arduous rock work to build switchbacks


We're getting started with a heavy rock project on the last 200 ft section of the current user created trail. We're hiring local workers, including youth, thanks to a challenge cost-share agreement with the Medford Bureau of Land Management. 
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Rebirth of an American past-time: The crosscut saw

Volunteer Michael Dotson runs through an old growth fir tree down on the Pacific Crest Trail, November 2013. This tree had been dead for a long time, which made for less bind than with a 'green' tree.
3 November 2013 | Ashland, OR -- With over 375,000-acres of federally designated wilderness to maintain, Southern Oregon is begging for a comeback of the crosscut saw. 

It's the preferred tool for cutting downed logs from wilderness trails, where power tools are not allowed. Use of the crosscut goes back to as early as the 1400s in Germany, but it wasn't until the 19th-century that Americans invented the "raker" tooth, which made the crosscut much more efficient to use.
The SMC, and others like Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards, find sharp crosscuts to be very efficient compared to chainsaws, especially on projects that involve long hiking times. Our most remote projects take two days to reach, giving the crosscut's weight and simplicity an edge.
SMC board chairman Will Volpert runs through old growth in the Red Buttes Wilderness
The crosscut's biggest constraint in the 21st-century is skill. Crosscut skills, including the technical filing of them, was kept alive for decades through Forest Service wilderness programs. But those programs barely survive in many areas such as southern Oregon, where there are very many acres of remote wilderness, and very few dollars allocated for its proper management.

The saw is greeted popularly among a new generation of college-aged volunteers. As they cut through the tree, they discover and connect with natural history, and their own wilderness heritage. Each growth ring tells a story, each inch revealing years or decades of growth. Drought years, long winters, short and long growing seasons can be seen all the way to the tree's core.

And in a world dominated by automation and fueled by petroleum, it's reassuring there are still tools and skills in use that exemplify independence.

Do you want to learn to use a crosscut saw and get certified this spring? Make sure you're on our email list for updates on those events.
Lance tooth pattern, photo courtesy Lorinda Photography
Resources:
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Book review: Conifers of the Pacific Slope


31 October 2013 | Ashland, OR -- When author Michael Kauffmann was 13 years old, he saw his first redwood on a family road trip from Virginia. For the last twenty five years he's been exploring the west, drawn by its remote conifer forests that have lasted throughout the warming and cooling of geologic time.

And now Kauffmann's self-published his second book, Conifers of the Pacific Slope. The 142-page field guide provides descriptions and identification guides for each of the 65 conifers that grow from northern Mexico to southern Canada.
The book includes a horizontal identifcation key. And the introduction is a good source for those wanting to delve deep into the west's wild natural history. But what lies after could be the most comprehensive and user-friendly tool to identify conifers available.

Each id includes easily discernible and high quality, colored pictures of unique identifying characteristics. Accompanying are detailed descriptions of each tree's bark, needles, and habitat, which will lay to rest any arguments or settle any bets over the identification of every conifer found in Oregon, Washington and California.
The book is especially unique because it transcends borders often held by extension services and audubon chapters, National Forests and Bureau of Land Management Districts. And if you are looking for rare conifer populations, like the Baker's cypress population near Miller Lake in southern Oregon, this is the book for you.

Take the distribution maps available for each conifer and cross reference them with USGS topos and district maps to locate the rare finds Kauffmann has taken outstanding pictures of. His shots bring these giant plants to life, and the photographers (including SMC volunteer Brandon Andre) incorporate scale to provide perspective on just how giant they are. Kauffmann's objective was to create something accessible.

"I've published some academic papers," Kauffmann says, "but only the academic elite reads that stuff."


He's worried natural science is slipping through the cracks and modern science is too dominated by controlled laboratory studies. "I think natural history is a lost art, but it's coming back around," he says. "I think there's a natural history renaissance happening."

Kauffmann has spent the last quarter-century hunting conifer populations like a miner for gold. His migration to northwest California from Virginia even follows the density of his favorite gymnosperms.

He's found populations of rare species in areas they were never documented. And Kauffmann gives us a taste for the stories that brought him there, which may leave some readers may walk away wanting a little more of Kauffmann's own narrative. Maybe at some point in the future he will offer that to us.

All in all, Conifers of the Pacific Slope is the best field guide for the west coast's many conifers. And it fits into your back pocket.

You can hear Kauffmann's lecture on conifers, evolution and climate change on November 8 at 7pm in Ashland's Headwaters Building (84 fourth street). The next day (November 9) he is leading a hike on the Pacific Crest Trail, which you can sign up for at the talk.

Pick up Conifers of the Pacific Slope at the Northwest Nature Shop in Ashland (154 Oak St), or buy it online at www.BackCountryPress.com or on Amazon.com. And never look at a conifer the same way again.
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A very special place: Lone Pilot Trail

Blue highlighted section is Lone Pilot Trail
28 October 2013 | Ashland, OR -- This Saturday is your opportunity to see the entire Lone PIlot Trail and help us put a cherry on top of this two-year project. We're going to hike from one end to the other, and then loop back to Pilot Rock on the Pacific Crest Trail, installing primitive signs along the way.

The gradient is easy, but the hike is long (15.25 miles, map above) and does have more than 2000' elevation gain total. So participants should be in good shape and comfortable with a hike this arduous.  

We'll leave Ashland at 7:30am and return by 7pm. Email howegabe@gmail.com or call 541-708-2056 for details and to sign-up. 
Century volunteer Lisa Stutey stands next to an old growth pine bucked to wilderness clearing limits

The 24,123-acre Soda Mountain Wilderness Area sits barely north of the California border, just east of Ashland, OR.

The Soda Mountain Wilderness was designated in 2009 by Congress, which created a unique mandate for the Bureau of Land Management to return an area that was partially developed to wilderness, a process known as "re-wilding."
Rolling drain dips had to be out-sloped on a road that was in-sloped

Part of that process was to incorporate a 12-mile network of roads that connects with the Pacific Crest Trail into the area's trail management system. The route became known as the Lone Pilot Trail. It connects with the PCT near Pilot Rock trailhead, and about 1.5-miles from Baldy Creek Road's terminus.

The route boasts groves of giant Ponderosa pines, open oak chaparral, and towering fir forests. The Soda Mountain Wilderness is where the Cascades, Siskiyous and Klamaths come together, a refuge for wildlife, and harbor of outstanding biodiversity.
In 2012 the Medford BLM awarded us a grant to convert the old road network to a trail. 
View from Lone Pine Ridge of the Klamath basin 

Work included brushing and logging out of sections of the old road that had overgrown and filled in with trees. We cut everything to clearing limits for wilderness trails. Instead of cutting a log out of the entire road, we bucked out a 2ft-3ft section to allow for hikers and equestrians.

Brush and other debris that didn't overlap into the trail prism was left. Logs and brush we cut were dispersed into the old road corridor.

SMC crews also improved existing drainage features (rolling drain dips), as well as installed new ones in areas threatened by erosion.
Old growth pine bucked to wilderness clearing limits
Logs that fall into the trail will continue to be bucked to wilderness spec. Brush will continue growing into the old road corridor. And this area is feeling more and more like a place where man is but a visitor. 
Fall colors at Hutton Creek's east fork, a camping option for hikers
This project was funded through a partnership with the Medford Bureau of Land Management. 

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Sentimental Sunday

The very original SMC crew, Babyfoot Lake TrailheadSMC
6 December 2013 | Ashland, OR -- In late 2009 Club founders Jillian Stokes and Gabe Howe started talking with Forest Service staff about organizing volunteers to clean up trails in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area.

By spring 2010 they had organized volunteers who wanted to help out on a project that started June 18 and ended June 26.

In early June Stokes and Howe still didn't have a volunteer agreement signed, adn they were taking out strangers who signed up after reading community bulletins. They had a stack of hardhats and a trunk full of hand tools.

They thought about calling the trip off, but decided to go forward with it anyway. They took the time off from work and bought food ready to go anyway.

Then, on June 17, Howe got a call.

"Gabe, this is George Brierty," he said in a quiet raspy voice. Stokes and Howe had met with George before to discuss our plans.



"Hey George."

"You still plannin on going out there tomorrow, or, uh--"

"Yea, George, that's the plan," Howe told Brierty.

"Well, I got this volunteer agreement down here signed by the new district ranger."

And the rest is history. The Club has been working with the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management under volunteer agreements ever since. Until now.

We assume our volunteer agreements are suspended during the government shutdown. We operate under volunteer agreements that assume liability, a mechanism of the 1972 Volunteers In The National Forests Act.
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The botanist and his hike to Alberg Mine

21 September 2013 | Ashland, OR -- Join me, Gabe Howe, for October's First Friday Art Walk in Ashland's Hardwired Building (340 'A' St). I will be reading  a short story about a hike I took with a botanist earlier this year near the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area.
The story starts here at the shore of Rough & Ready Creek 

I wrote about this particular hike mostly because it was awesome.  I use my wild adventure as a lens for the reader to dig deeper into issues of ecology, fire, and a wild experience that today is becoming rare and hard to find. 

 The story also gives the listener meaningful insight into the area's history and future. At least that is my hope. 
At some point we found ourselves in the western Siskiyou's bizarre high country
I enjoy writing technical hiking articles for the Medford Mailtribune. This represents something, though, a little wilder.

The doors will be open at 6pm with a small display of pictures from the area. The reading starts at 630pm promptly and lasts about 20-25 minutes. There will be beverages and snacks provided. 

 Warning: there is some foul language in this story.

Questions? Email howegabe@gmail.com 
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V.I.P. Crew kills it

Vulcan Lake, where the VIP crew camped for their last night. 
10 September 2013 | Ashland, OR -- Last week a crew of five were busy recovering sections of the Trans-Kalmiopsis Route between Vulcan Lake and Box Canyon Creek. Work got thick near Johnson Butte, about 5.5-miles from the trailhead near where the crew camped.
After 
Before on Johnson Butte Trail No 1110






















We ran right into the same sections of trail that were jackstrawed and cleared in 2011, where there are still huge stands of snags killed by the 2002 Biscuit Fire. While it's frustrating to be re-working the same sections, we can't imagine what things would look like if we hadn't started this project when we did.


The crew worked on the trail two long days and cleared over a mile of trail that was going to be lost under brush and windfall. They hiked out Thursday and spent that night at Vulcan Lake.



This section of the Trans-Kalmiopsis Route contains huge Kalmiopsis leachiana botanical areas, rocky ridgetops and views out of this world.


Good news: It looks like the rate of seasonal windfall in these threatened sections is slowing down, which means our goal of having the route to standard by 2020 is possible, especially with some good news we're going to release in our Summer Round Up Trip Report coming October 1.


This was a VIP trip made up of repeat volunteers who were invited.

More pictures from the trip. 
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Scholarship crew looks towards their future

9 September 2013 | Ashland, OR -- This July four high school seniors from southern Oregon spent 15 days in the Kalmiopsis federal Wilderness Area. They hiked in 105 degree weather. They clipped brush and sawed logs. They lived for two weeks without any amenities. And they got a $1,500 scholarship for college.


In a few weeks they will go to college with a little less financial burden. But that's not all. The lessons they learned on the trail are going to help them succeed. Here are a few things they said about their experience in anonymous surveys.

"I got over my fear of heights."

"I'm better equipped to dealing with life."

"I learned to listen to my body and take better care of it."

"I'm making more pro-active decisions."

"I made a list of objectives to help prepare me for school."

This pilot program was successful, and we learned a lot to improve it for next year. Thanks to our Director's Society and other members for donating the scholarships. A detailed trip report will be included in our Summer Round-Up Report coming in late September.
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Crew of Crazy Clippers

25 August 2013 | Kerby, OR -- Last friday three Siskiyou Mountain Club volunteers woke up as early as 3am for a full day of clipping in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area. Why did they get up so early?

The Babyfoot Lake Trailhead is a couple of hours away, and the project site is a tough four-mile hike in from there. And after clipping brush for six hours, an even more arduous hike out.
Before
The volunteers were busy attacking a 1200' section of thick brush along the Emily Cabin Trail between Babyfoot Lake and the Chetco River. The work site is hard to each, and far from water sources, but that didn't stop Tom, Sam and Micah from waking up before dawn to take a bite out of this section that plagues hikers.
After
 "The road bed is easily discernible, but the brush is in places six feet high," says SMC Executive Director Gabe Howe. "I'm really sick of walking through it with my crews to the Chetco," where trail conditions are even more volatile.
Before
SMC crews get an early start so they can beat the heat and capitalize on daylight, instead of hiking and working in the hottest part of the day in an environment with no shade.
After
The crew was back home by 9pm. That's a long day, and our volunteers aren't your typical Saturday morning do-gooders. There's still about eight hundred feet in this section that needs to be worked. 
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Boats and Boots Backpack Fundraiser

"I promise not to make you do trail work on this amazing four-day adventure with Indigo Creek Outfitters" - Gabe Howe
1 August 2013 | Ashland, OR -- This October join Indigo Creek Outfitters and Siskiyou Mountain Club for a fall adventure on the Wild and Scenic Rogue River. We'll hike the 42-mile Rogue River Trail with lavish raft support, which means all you've got to carry is what you need for the day.

On the third and final night you'll sleep in a bed at Paradise Lodge. And each day you'll be gently guided by Siskiyou Mountain Club executive director and outdoor writer Gabe Howe (me). Fall is a great time for wildlife in the rugged Rogue River Canyon, and I have a lot of stories and knowledge to share.

I've been rafting this section of the Rogue for over twenty years, and hiking it for about ten. My time as a caretaker at the Rogue River Ranch got me far off the beaten path, and I can't wait to share this experience.

The trip is well worth $1070 per person, and 10% of the proceeds go to benefit the Siskiyou Mountain Club's efforts to restore historic trails and put area youth to work in the woods. This is your chance to have a load of fun and make a real difference to make sure trails like the one you'll be hiking stay open for the next generation to enjoy.

Go to http://indigocreekoutfitters.com/vacations/boats-and-boots-rogue-river-hiking/ for more information and to reserve your spot today!




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Outdoor Photography Workshop


25 June 2013 | Ashland, OR -- Do you strive to take awesome pictures outside?

Then join David Chambers and Qamuuqin Maxwell of West Turn Picture Co. for this 1/2-day workshop July 21, 10am-2pm in Ashland, Oregon.

Start at 10am with some classroom basics in Ashland's Hardwired Building, 340 'A' St. Then Qamuuqin and David will take you in the field for some hands on experience.

Bring your digital camera (don't forget your memory card), plenty of batteries, water, snacks and excitement! The class will go beyond the basics to cover stylistic elements, including composition control, depth of field, and use of color.

True adventure can be found in every moment of your life. This course will help build your outdoor photography skills and foster your concept of adventure.

Free for Siskiyou Summit (and higher level) members

$5 for Red Butte Members

$20 for non-members

Sign up for this class now. 
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June 7 - 9 Siskiyou Adventure

Pacific Crest Trail, before
6 June 2013 | Ashland, OR -- The Siskiyou Mountain Club was busy across the Siskiyou range last weekend.

We kicked things off with an overnight trip with the Pacific Crest Trail Association. Two saw teams split up to log out the Soda Mountain Wilderness portion of the Pacific Crest Trail between Soda Mountain Road and Pilot Rock.

After
Then the next morning we hiked to Boccard's point, with some bird lessons along the way.

"I like birding because I can do it all the time," says Ian Nelson, the Pacific Crest Trail Association's regional representative.

He pointed out a lazuli bunting, rock wren, and many other birds on their way through the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.

From Boccard's point were panoramic views of the Klamath basin, Mt. Shasta, Pilot Rock and Mount Ashland. To the south we could see the Trinity Alps and Marble Mountain Wilderness' in California. And right below us was the Soda Mountain Wilderness Area, Ashland's best kept secret.

Ian Nelson of the PCTA and Brandon Andre gaze into the Soda Mountain Wilderness from Boccard's Point
The next morning, June 9, the Club took things west and met up with Scott Hoelscher, head gardener for Leach Botanical Gardends in Portland, OR. We met at Taylor's Country Store in Cave Junction and headed up Rough & Ready Creek.



After a couple hours of slow hiking, fast botanizing and a bald eagle siting, a couple of us headed up an old road to near Alberg Mine.
The "yellow brick road."
The flowers were out, and so was the sun. The route up was steep, and steeper. And the summit of this serpentine ridge was just outstanding.

"The PCT is great, especially for families," says SMC executive director Gabe Howe, staring into the headwaters of Josephine Creek. "But my heart is in this forsaken land, where nothing grows well, but where almost everything grows."

Lewisia pygmea

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Get to know our volunteers: Stefani Gissel

2011 volunteer Stefani Gissel standing next to her tool of choice

Ashland, OR | 3 June 2013 -- In 2011 Stefani Gissel joined the Club, for an 8-day trip in the Kalmiopsis wilderness area. That June Gissel and her crew worked from a ridge-top camp near Johnson Butte towards Box Canyon, clearing thickets of fallen trees and brush along the way.

Each day the work site got farther and deeper from camp. And each evening the hike back got tougher. Gissel pushed on, earning practicum credit for a bachelor's in Outdoor Adventure Leadership at Southern Oregon University.

In the meantime Gissel earned her degree, and she's graduating this month. Now she's packing her bags for Eleuthera Island in the bajamas, where she's going to be working doing what she loves.

"I'll be taking people out sailing and kayaking, snorkeling and surfing," she says. She's been hired on as an activities coordinator for Island Language College, which operated an English immersion program on the island.

"Getting the job was easy because my OAL degree and I have lots of field experience," she says. "They liked my energy and my resume." 

Even though Gissel landed a job in paradise, she sees herself returning to Southern Oregon. 

"I really want to walk the whole route. That's my goal."

Bon voyage, Stefani. I hope we have the route ready for you! 




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June 1-2 Youth Orientation Trip Report

SMC youth scholarship crew stands next to bucked log
3 June 2013 | Kerby, OR -- The Siskiyou Mountain Club's scholarship crew spent National Trails Day rehabilitating a loop around the Kalmiopsis Wilderness' popular Babyfoot Lake, where we camped. They hiked out Sunday morning.

The crew didn't hesitate to cut a large log from the trail, which took a couple of hours. They learned trail maintenance basics, and got used to the Kalmiopsis rugged, hazardous and very unusual environment. The same crew will be spending 15-days in the Kalmiopsis next month.

"It was perhaps the most rewarding trip I've done," says Gabe Howe, Siskiyou Mountain Club executive director and field coordinator. "I really like this age group. They have open minds and lots of energy."


For some of the high school seniors who just graduated, this was their first time backpacking. After their term of service in July, each crew member receives a $1,500 academic scholarship.

"We are so proud of this program," says Howe. "I love to be sharing this area, my knowledge and skills with the next generation. They're going to be a tough crew."

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Catch the spring flowers and ride high on the Siskiyou crest this June 7-8.

29 May 2013 | Ashland, OR -- Join the Siskiyou Mountain Club and Pacific Crest Trail Association June 7-8 to logout the 20-mile section of the Pacific Crest Trail in the Soda Mountain Wilderness near Ashland, OR.

On June 7 we'll hike about 8-miles from Soda Mountain Road to Bean Cabin, where we'll have our gear shuttled, and cut any logs out along the way. Volunteers will camp out there and on June 8 hike another 9-miles or so to Pilot Rock.

This is your chance to catch some outstanding views from the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument crest, meet some awesome people, and see what is so special about the Soda Mountain Wilderness Area.

For details and sign-up, email howegabe@gmail.com or inelson@pcta.org

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Memorial Day crew lays red carpet to Carter Creek

Melissa Conner stands proudly atop the rim of Babyfoot Lake
27 MAY 2013 | KERBY, OR -- Siskiyou Mountain Club volunteers spent their holiday weekend serving on the front lines of the Trans-Kalmiopsis Route, a 28-mile connection of trails the Club has been working to recover since 2010.

From Babyfoot Lake Trailhead, they worked their way through 4-miles of thick brush and about 25 downed logs.

And Club volunteer Justin Rohde hiked the 9-miles into Carter Creek, cutting the hardest to pass logs along the way with a 5-foot crosscut saw. Then he hiked out in the same day.
Horsepacker Mike Pierce approaches the Chetco River
"I hurt," he says in a phone interview. "We cleared over a dozen trees and multiple jams from the route." Supported by pack-stock, Rohde hiked over 18-miles with more than 6000 feet of gross elevation gain.

In the meantime, a group of ten volunteers were brushing out long sections of the trail where the brush had grown waist-high since the 2002 Biscuit Fire burnt the forest's canopy in entirety. The crew bucked around 13 logs inside the wilderness boundary.

Hikers heading for Babyfoot Lake should be aware that the critical junction less than a mile from the trailhead is very easily missed. "People are now getting lost looking for the Babyfoot Lake Trail because of multiple downed logs at the fork," says Rohde.
Kalmiopsis leachiana blooming, Bailey Mountain Botanical Area
There is still a 1,500 foot section of thick brush along the Emily Cabin Trail No. 1129.

The crew encountered a group of boaters with inflatable kayaks strapped to their backs heading for Carter Creek, as well as multiple hikers using the route.

"This was an impressive crew," says Gabe Howe, Siskiyou Mountain Club executive director. "I wish I had them for more days."

The popular Babyfoot Lake Trail has not been maintained.
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Boots for youth

21 MAY 2013 | ASHLAND, OR -- Things are going so well this year at the Siskiyou Mountain Club.

But we have ran into a huge hurdle. Our scholarship crew, comprised of high school seniors from southern Oregon who are graduating in just a couple of weeks, need boots. Badly.

The work they're going to be doing is hazardous, and each crew member needs a good pair of sturdy, ankle-supporting boots for safety. There's not an item of gear that is more important, or more expensive.

A pair of tennis shoes or Wal-Mart knock-offs just doesn't cut it for youth working through the West's most heinous trail conditions. A decent pair of boots starts at about $100, going up from there, and our students simply don't have the resources for a purchase that size.

So we've started a special gear fund. Our members can make sure their money goes straight to putting boots on youth. When you donate online to our gear fund, or itemize your check "boots" or "gear," your dollars will go straight to purchasing a pair of boots for a young person who made a huge commitment to public service so they can continue their education.

Gifts to our gear fund are tax-deductible, and go straight to your membership. This is your chance to make a real difference. Our youth deserve a good pair of boots.

The scholarship orientation trip is June 1-2, and we need to get the boots before then, so give online now, or send itemized check to:

Siskiyou Mtn Club
340 'A' St, Ste 112
Ashland, OR 97520
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Memorial Day Spikeout

16 MAY 2013 | KALMIOPSIS WILDERNESS AREA -- It's not too late to spend your Memorial Day Weekend in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness making a real difference.

We still have a few spots left on our crew heading out to the Babyfoot Lake Trailhead on Saturday, May 25. From there we'll bacpack in no more than 5-miles to our camp.

We'll be working on the Trans-Kalmiopsis Route, on sections that have filled in with logs and brush since we started working there in 2010. On Monday morning we'll hike out, and be back to the trailhead no later than 2pm.

This could be your view on Memorial Day Weekend

This section of the Kalmiopsis offers unprecedented views into the Chetco River's vast headwaters, and a chance to get to know the best way into the river's pristine, upper reaches with experienced crew leaders.

Participants need the following gear:
  • Large backpack
  • Lightweight sleeping bag
  • Long pair of sturdy pants
  • Long-sleeved shirt to work in
  • Work gloves
  • Appropriate clothes for weather
  • Sturdy shoes with strong ankle support
  • Mat for sleeping on
  • Personal tent (optional) 
This Memorial Day is your chance to have a real adventure and make a real difference. This trip is pack-supported, so you don't have to carry food in.

Sign up and get details. Email howegabe@gmail.com with questions.
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