TCT #18 -- Karie Lew

Yellow Mariposa Lily

A memory came up on my Facebook page the other day:  "While walking the dogs this morning, I came upon a little girl in a tree singing a made-up song that went, 'Will it rain?  I don't know, but if it does, it'll probably snow.'"  Ten years later, we certainly resemble this remark!

Cross your fingers for good weather for our June 1 hike on the Pinecrest Lake National Recreation Trail.  June 1 is National Trails Day, and again TCT is cooperating with the American Hiking Society in a trail service day.  AHS invites us to take the pledge, "We saw how our public lands suffered during the government shutdown.  Together, we'll give back to the places we love and set the world record for the most people improving trails in a single day.  Be a part of history by pledging to clean up a trail or volunteering at a trail service project on National Trails Day."  Our service will be two-tiered:  we'll start with a Leave No Trace education session with Stanislaus Wilderness Volunteers at the Pinecrest Ranger Station; then we'll grab trash bags and clean up the trail as we hike the 4-mile loop around Pinecrest Lake.

Trail Heads on the Green Springs Trail

Rebecca and Wendy, your TCT co-hosts, plotted all this in the May edition of the radio program.  The show also features "three T" mini-trip reports (what was Tough, Trippy, and Tremendous) about the May 4 hike on Peoria Mountain.  We had Ranger Hilary Maxworthy of the Bureau of Reclamation along to provide interpretation about this lightly-visited area of New Melones Lake.  Noteworthy sightings include yellow Mariposa Lilies, poppies, an Osprey nest, and Half Dome!  Yes, we could see Half Dome, 55 air-miles away!

Trail Heads on the Peoria Ridge Trail; New Melones Lake on the right

The radio show also includes a lengthy interview with Karie Lew, the Sonora resident who is coordinating an ambitious weekend of trail-building on the Dragoon Gulch Trail in October.  The goal is to add a mile of trail over two days of work.  Karie hopes to recruit 150 volunteers and set a record for Volunteers for Outdoor California (V-O-Cal).   Karie is passionate about this project; you'll want to join her in the project for sure!  To volunteer or donate: contact Karie at dragoongulchtrailproject@gmail.com

Here's a link to the Union Democrat article about Karie's Dragoon Gulch project:  https://www.uniondemocrat.com/localnews/6947187-151/volunteer-group-to-add-a-mile-of-trail

Here's a link to V-O-Cal's webpage:  http://v-o-cal.org/home.html

Finally, Here's a link to the google drive file for the May 2019 Tuolumne County Trailhead radio program, TCT #18 - Karie Lew:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NEQwTSt7IIgxb3cbkep1bbF1OorQhNIT/view?usp=sharing