Special to ViewAmerican Hiking Society volunteer Tony Taylor helps clear brush and overgrowth from the Iron Goat Trail in Stevens Pass, Wash., in July. Taylor, a retired Nellis Air Force Base employee, took part in five volunteer trips last year and plans to do more this year. The society?s volunteer program provides food and accommodations for each trip.
Advertisement
Tony Taylor likes to spend his vacations working.
The Boulder City resident pitches tents, cooks meals, and does some heavy lifting with the American Hiking Society's volunteer vacations. Along with other volunteers, Taylor travels to parks around the country and helps build new trails or clean up existing trails.
"It's kind of a payback," Taylor said. "I have been hiking for years. I am a triathlete and a camper."
Andrea Ketchmark, the society's volunteer programs manager, said participants can search for trips by date and by state on the society's Web site, www.americanhiking.org. Information is given for each trip, including accommodations.
"Some trips are in tents, some are in lodges that have hot tubs and fireplaces," Ketchmark said. "On some trips, volunteers backpack 12 miles in and stay in back country."
Although most volunteers participate in one or two week-long trips a year, Taylor, who is a retired Nellis Air Force Base employee, said he did five trips last year and plans to do more this year.
"There are so many I want to do. I can't do them all," he said.
Ketchmark said the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, park services, local trail groups, land trusts and other organizations can request a volunteer group to come to their site. Most host organizations do not have the funding or staff to clear or build trails, and without the society's yearly 500 volunteers, some of the trails could be lost forever.
"Trips to national parks and iconic places have no problem filling up. We have a harder time filling in the smaller state park trips," Ketchmark said.
Taylor has visited Arizona, California, Washington and Puerto Rico.
"The Iron Goat Trail in Washington state was one of the hardest (trails) I worked on. We had to move boulders that were blocking the trail," Taylor said.
Ketchmark said, as a volunteer, the society won't make anyone do anything they don't want to do.
"There are many jobs from cutting branches and clearing trails to cooking and planning meals," she said.
Each group of about eight to 12 people are with the host organization for the entire trip. The group also is lead by a team leader, who has been on previous trips with the society.
"They always ask me to volunteer for that, but I say 'No way, I'm retired,' " Taylor said.
He said it can be hard work, but that there is always a day off during the week.
"Volunteers work about eight hours a day, they get a long leisurely lunch and evenings are theirs. They can go out and enjoy the city or if they are staying in the back country, they can go hiking and explore the area," Ketchmark said. "We and the host organization recognize that all these people are volunteers."
While on a trip to San Francisco, Taylor said the volunteers moved around and worked at different sites each day and in the evenings he said he biked all over the city.
Taylor said the hosts are very accommodating. They will take volunteers to visit places if they don't have transportation or might even lead a trip to a local point of interest.
About 90 to 110 trips are planned each year all over the country. Since the American Hiking Society began organizing trips in 1976, their volunteers have touched all 50 states and will reach at least 30 states this year.
Most trips have a minimum age requirement of 18, but some families have traveled with children as young as 13. There is no maximum age limit and Ketchmark said some volunteers are in their 80s.
All trips are rated from easy to very strenuous, and participants decide where they want to go based on the rating.
"If you do go on a trip with a 14-year-old, we want you to do a moderate trip," Ketchmark said.
Taylor said on a trip to a rainforest in Puerto Rico, he worked on a trail that was so overgrown it hadn't been used in about three years. The volunteers used weed wackers, rakes and machetes to clear the vegetation. He said you work closely with other volunteers and spend most of your free time with them, as well.
"You've got to be a people person," Taylor said. "You meet some really interesting people on these trips."
There are other organizations who have volunteer vacations, but Taylor said "so far the American Hiking Club has had the most reasonable rates."
There is a $30 annual membership fee, and the first trip of the year is $100. Any additional trips are $75. Volunteers need to pay for their flight or other travel to the site. Ketchmark said many trips have airport pickups.
Any additional requirements will be specified with the description on the website. Food and accommodations are provided at no additional cost.
Archived Editions| Advertising | Contact The Staff
