Journey to the Center of the Wild: Wes Hoskins on the Pasco Canyon Trail

By Wes Hoskins

Friends of Nevada Wilderness ended its 2010 series of projects in Alta Toquima on Sept. 24-26, 2010 with a big logging and lopping event. We have adopted de facto the Pasco Canyon and Pine Creek trails which are adjacent to each other and sit on the east side of the Alta Toquima range.

The scenery at Alta Toquima (photo by John Fiske)

We first identified this trail-clearing project when while scouting the area in August, trying to find an erstwhile connector between Pasco and Pine Creeks so that we might create a nice loop section out of the two drainages. But we were thwarted during the scouting trip by wild rose, thick as kudzu, lashing our skin and downed willow trees blocking every turn. The connector, even though it is on the Forest Service visitor maps is not a viable route right now. We may still try to conquer the connector but that will have to be left for next year. The connector was not a viable one-weekend volunteer project so we moved on to look at Pasco Canyon.

The obstructed trail before Friends of Nevada Wilderness (John Fiske)

Hiking up 2 miles we found that an intense weather event had demolished the trail. Aspen, willow, and water birch trunks and limbs lay scattered around the area for over one mile.

The trail after the team cleared it (John Fiske)

Clearing out this trail to aid access for hunters and horse users was a perfect project, we decided to get it done the last weekend of September and we did it in a day with 6 volunteers. We logged out 217 dead, downed, and hazard trees, in addition we created a 500 foot re-route in an especially impacted area. This project was highly needed and the satisfaction level at the end was super-high.

Big thanks to Larry, John, David, Mike, and Phil (John Fiske)

I have to put in a good word for Phillip Breslow. An honors student at UNR, he came out to satisfy some required service learning hours, but he worked as hard as anybody on the trip. He loves to be in the backcountry and I truly hope that he sticks around. Soon, my generation will need to find wilderness champions from the next generation, if they are like Phil, Nevada’s public lands will be in good hands.

Phil earns some relaxation time after working hard! (John Fiske)

Just so you all know, the Pine Creek Trail out of Pine Creek campground is now cleared out and leads up to the Jefferson complex of peaks. Length of the trail is approx 12 miles roundtrip.

Would you like to see your trip on the blog? Write up a description of your hike and include a photo or two and email it to darcy@nevadawilderness.org and your adventure could be featured!

National Public Lands Day Round-Up

The 17th annual National Public Lands Day brought out volunteers across the state to restore, conserve, and protect Nevada’s public lands. Over 75 people from FNW, Friends of Black Rock High Rock, Nevada Outdoor School, and Mountain View Montessori School attended a two-night camping excursion to the Black Rock Desert to build buck and rail fences and remove debris. While the weather was hot in the Black Rock Desert, the 25 volunteers from FNW and Friends of Gold Butte in southern Nevada faced temperatures over 100 degrees! Meanwhile, Forest Project Coordinator Wes Hoskins led a trip to Alta Toquima to log downed trees and perform general trail maintenance on the Pasco Canyon Trail.

Friends of Nevada Wilderness celebrated National Public Lands Day by…

Encircling two sensitive dune habitats with natural underground springs that were being destroyed by irresponsible off-highway vehicles (photo by Graham Stafford)…

Clearing the debris (an entire dumpsterful!) off public lands from a former living encampment (photo by Brian Beffort)…

Putting up over 175 posts and putting in 80 native plants in Gold Butte (photo by Andy Sanchez)…

Logging out 217 downed trees and creating a 500-foot re-route along a trail in Alta Toquima (photo by John Fiske)…

Kurt Kuznicki from Friends of Nevada Wilderness and President of Friends of Gold Butte Nancy Hall (photo by Andy Sanchez)

…and we worked with over half a dozen organizations including Friends of Gold Butte, Friends of Black Rock High Rock, Nevada Outdoor School and Mountain View Montessori School!

A big thank you to all our volunteers, the wonderful nonprofits we worked with, and the government agencies that assisted us – we made a fantastic contribution to Nevada’s public lands.

More Events for National Public Lands Day

In addition to the Sept. 17-19 trip to Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada and the Sept. 25 trip to the Spring Mountains in southern Nevada, there are two other conservation and restoration events happening.

The Joshua Trees of Gold Butte (photo by Brian Beffort)

National Public Lands Day with Friends of Gold Butte
Another option to give back to the Nevada Wilderness on National Public Lands Day! Friends of Gold Butte will be leading a day trip to Whitney Pockets in Gold Butte. Volunteers will be working on restoration, planting vegetation, and cleaning up the area. You can sign up at friendsofgoldbutte@gmail.com or call Nancy Hall at (702) 346-3723 for more information.

Alta Toquima trail maintenance trip in July 2010 (photo by John Fiske)

Alta Toquima Trail Maintenance for National Public Lands Day
A four-day, three-night trip to the Alta Toquima Wilderness. Volunteers will be brushing out trail tread and logging downed trees to maintain the Pasco Canyon to Pine Creek Connector Trail to ensure hikers and backpackers have a safe, designated route through the protected area. Interested? Contact Wes at wes@nevadawilderness.org or (775) 324-7667 for more information.

This Is Nevada...

Sun cups at Alta Toquima (photo by James Sippel)