INYO/TRINITY BACKCOUNTRY TRAIL CREW
SEPTEMBER 2008 MONTHLY OVERVIEW
Karlson Hubbard, BACKCOUNTRY TRAILS SUPERVISOR

There was a place in the Trinity Alps, between Stone Wall Pass and Little Stone Wall Pass, where thunder could be heard for weeks without a single cloud in the sky.  That thunder was the sound of the Sinity Alps crew piss-anting furiously the rocks they needed for their projects.  We finished the season by building check after check and feet of causeway after feet of causeway.  We finished the season toned, and strong and bronzed by the glare of the sun.  We finished the season bathing everyday in the regenerative waters of Echo Lake.  We finished the season happy and laughing.  We finished the season sharing one last time the stories of our lives with one another.  We finished the season a family.
Our lives changed when we entered the Backcountry program in April, and no doubt our lives will be changed again when we leave the backcountry this month.  This crew spent an entire season building a community and then nurturing and maintaining it.  In September the Sinity Alps crew got to enjoy the fruits of their labor by enjoying one another’s company for the last time.  Like a mule train making it up and over a steep, rocky mountain pass smoothly without losing a load, so too did this crew make it through a long, arduous season without losing what they were carrying.  What they were carrying was their share in the Backcountry Tradition; their part of this 30 year legacy.  What they were carrying was their opportunity to uphold what Peter Lewis believed was core to the Backcountry Spirit---Integrity, Compassion, and a rock solid Work Ethic. 
                We lost Peter Lewis in August, but we kept in September what he stood for for so many years.  We kept Backcountry alive for one more season.
                Thank you Peter Lewis and thank you Yosemite I, Yosemite II, Kings Canyon, Klamath, and Stanislaus crews.  And finally, thank you Tessa for continuing to take care of us in Peter’s absence.