Customer Honored for Trail Work

The latest issue of the Pacific Crest Trail Association Trail Dirt newsletter featured the familiar name of Barry Teschlog, in an article noting his recognition by the U.S. Forest Service for his contributions to volunteer service programs in the Cle Elem Ranger District. When a name sounds familiar to me, it's usually because it's a customer from the old GVP Gear days. So I hit the old archives (the yellow lined sheets that constituted the order log in the early days), and sure enough, Barry was shipped pack no. 1648, a medium forest green G4, on May 2, 2003 for the grand sum of $85, which included shipping and handling. Barry used that G4 for section hikes on the PCT in '03 and '04. It was an important part of reducing his base pack weight down to 12 lbs. In 2005 Barry upgraded to the Mariposa for his section hike that year, and then used it the next year for the start of his thru-hike of the PCT (check the PCT Trail Journals under "Token Civilian").

After his thru-hike, Barry started doing regular trail maintenance with the Washington Trails Association (WTA). In 2009, Barry co-founded the North 350 Blades trail maintainers group (give 'em a 'like' on Facebook) with Jim "Big Foot" Miller. The group's name comes from their goal of regularly maintaining the most northerly 350 feet of the PCT. So far the Blades have concentrated their efforts in the 40 miles south of Snoqualmie Pass. And their efforts have been considerable, logging over 2100 volunteer hours in 2012. They have some great photos of their events on their Facebook page.

Congratulations to Barry Teschlog for the recognition from the U.S. Forest Service, and we wish the North 350 Blades a stellar year in 2013.