We are excited to announce that our 2024 Volunteers of the Year are Sylas Kauffmann and Oliver Bullwinkle. They each volunteered 118 hours doing trail work across two week-long trips. The first trip was into the Siskiyou Wilderness where they worked on the Bigfoot Trail from Poker Flat toward Young's Valley. Their second trip of the summer was to the Russian Wilderness where they worked on five miles of the Pacific Crest Trail -- after our Marble Mountain trip was rerouted due to the Shelly Fire.

In this episode of the Bigfoot Trail Tales, proud dad Michael Kauffmann interview Sylas and Oliver about their adventures working and exploring along the Bigfoot Trail. They share tales of food, tools, and friends made along the way.

For this episode we spoke with Eva Pointkowski who solo hiked around 200 miles of the Bigfoot Trail this summer. Eva grew up in the San Francisco area and nurtured her love of the outdoors in the Sierra Nevada. On a hike in the Marble Mountain Wilderness last year she learned of the Bigfoot Trail when she met one of our Trail Crews. In June 2024 she set out to do the southern half of the trail from the Yolla Bollys to the Marble Mountains. On her trip she encountered California Conservation Corp crews out in the backcountry, overgrown sections of the trail, high river crossings, snow fields in the high mountains, and even a too close rattlesnake encounter. She also discusses conifer highlights and the impact of fires along the trail.

Eva also came out in the fall to join on a volunteer trail work trip on Wooley Creek. This particular trip was a 13 mile hike to camp with work being done beyond that. She discusses working with the tools and crosscut saws, and how much work goes into maintaining these trails. She wanted to give back and become a part of the “Bigfoot Family." We are happy to have her as an addition to the family and thank her for bringing her passion and great attitude to the trail.