A summary of the Trail Ambassador’s 2024 season: Intro by Stewardship Director, Lindsay Butcher

I am both sad, and slightly happy, to announce the finale of the 2024 TA season. The crew worked HARD this year, but hopefully they had some time to enjoy themselves in the backcountry. We had Nature Yoga, Snake Walks, Art Walks, Edible Plant Walks, Volunteer Events, Cleanups, Camping, lots of Hiking, Campsite Monitoring, and everything in between. This season was challenging: funding was scarce, projects were logistically difficult, injuries were sustained, cars decided to break down… but it was made all the more rewarding for our efforts. If you want to help support the TA program in 2025 be sure to check out our Gofundme campaign! All donations go directly to the Rock Creek Boardwalk project, the TAs, and our projects for next year.

Here is a bullet point list of accomplishments this season:

221 Volunteers Engaged for a total of 1,603 hours

362 Interpretive Hike Attendees

641 Miles of trail monitored and maintained

234 Logs removed from trail

293 Campsites cleaned with 79 illegal firerings removed

3,696 Pounds of trash removed

2,100 Visitor contact made

These numbers are impressive!

 

And now, a few words from the TAs:

Bella- Mt. Whitney RD:

The air is turning crisp, and the time has come to lay down the tools for the season. What a season it has been—one filled with breathtaking sunrises, alpine lakes, wildlife, and wildflowers. A season that involved a variety of data collection efforts, including backcountry campsite inventory, solitude monitoring, and water quality testing. It was a time of great collaboration with the Forest Service and volunteers on projects like the Golden Trout Fence Removal Work Week and the Tuttle Creek Trail Work Day. Between clearing fallen trees from trails, cutting back overgrown brush, cleaning up fire rings, and packing out pounds of trash from the wilderness (including Wag Bags), I’ve gained a great sense of accomplishment.

This season, I hiked 262 miles for work. I’ve had the privilege of exploring and admiring the immense beauty of the Whitney District. I hope everyone who visits—whether it’s exploring the lakes along the Kearsarge Pass trail, enjoying solitude in the South Sierra Wilderness, fishing in Cottonwood Lakes, or summiting Mount Whitney—takes a moment to appreciate it and helps preserve its beauty.

Jean- White Mtn RD:

The autumn golden glow sheds light on the trailwork this season. Myself and other staff were able to crosscut saw two massive trees that fell over the Grass Lake trail. I cleared trees near Sam Mack Meadow, Upper Lamarck Lake and Piute Pass. Recently, I lopped overgrown brush on trails to Pine Lake, Dorothy Lake and Chocolate Lakes. As these trails turn golden with changing leaves, we still clear fallen rocks on the trails, remove campfire rings, educate backpackers and block riparian area social trails. It was a blast to lead a couple of educational walks about Foraging Edible and Medicinal Plants on the East Fork of Rock Creek trail. And what a treat to experience the Taboose Pass trail collecting data for the Forest Service on the 20 campsites up there. As aspens strip their golden leaves, the winds whip their cold bites and the brilliant light fades into increasing darkness, I recognize this beauty of all the fading. I’m excited to see what winter creates, and when the darkness returns to light, we will again witness the artistry of transformation.

Brian- Mammoth Lakes RD:

My season fizzled out unceremoniously due to an unrelated injury that kept me from hiking. It was an anticlimactic petering out, but my last few days of work included the Great Sierra River Cleanup, an Adopt-A-Highway cleanup, a fence project protecting sensitive wetland, and some non-hiking trailhead stewardship. This season was full of highs and lows, literally and metaphorically. I got to backpack out into some remote sections of the wilderness, but I sadly always found remnants and legacies of poor LNT human impact. Late this season, Victor the Bear- a local Mammoth character, was sadly euthanized due to some bad human decisions. These experiences leave me a bit disheartened. We all can do better. On a positive note, I’m looking forward to ski season!

Ellie- Mono Basin RD:

This beautiful late September week was my last week of the season as a Trail Ambassador, and I got to do solitude monitoring in Lundy Canyon. Trail Ambassadors collect data about how many people we encounter on certain trails to monitor the amount of solitude in Wilderness, because “opportunities for solitude” is a character of Wilderness that the US Forest Service wants to ensure is being met. (You can do this too as a volunteer through Friends of the Inyo!)

Lundy Canyon is at the beginning of the spectacular fall color season. Aspens, willows, and shrubs are turning yellow, orange, and red, yet the days are still sunny and beautiful. In upper Lundy Canyon I sat on a perfect rock shaped like a bench and felt the afternoon sun warm me as I looked out on the stunning landscape. Sitting and breathing on that rock in solitude felt like all that mattered in that moment. I am so grateful that I had the chance to experience this piece of the world so intimately this summer.
Jordan- Bridgeport RD:

I once met a man on the trail who said, “When your office looks like this [gestures to the beautiful alpine scenery around us] it’s a damn good job.” He couldn’t be more right. Being able to both integrate myself further with The Sierra and give back to it at the same time felt like a pipe dream type of job. It’s one of those jobs your parents tell you doesn’t exist so you finish your marketing degree. Well guess what? It’s real!! I made a living doing exactly what I wanted to do, and I still can’t believe it. So here’s to the Summer of 2024, the many logs I cut out of the trail, the badass hikers I met along the way, the 346.74 miles I hiked, and the 66,681 feet of elevation I gained.

Next season, 2025 the USFS is not planning to hire back their non-permanent seasonal staff: wilderness rangers, OHV techs, recreation techs, biologists… This means nonprofit partners will have to fill the gap. The TAs will be one of the only educational resources out there for visitors! Help support them by donating: check out our Gofundme

Thanks to our partners for making this program possible!