Nebraskaland

June 2021 • Nebraskaland 51 footprints and bicycle tracks along the way, counting the number of other trail users met during the trip was easy: zero. With a total of 97,817 steps, the trail also served well for my fi tness. When I returned home, the scale showed I had lost eight pounds. Being our fi rst time, we probably carried too much stuff . I have since read that backpackers should not carry more than 20 percent of their body weight. An old dog like me might want to get that percentage down to 15. That weekend not only coincided with National Trails Day, but also with D-Day — the World War II battle of 1944 in which the Allies stormed the beaches of France under heavy gunfi re and headed inland on foot to fi ght the Nazis through dense marshes and hedgerows. Our adventure gave us an opportunity to contemplate the military members who have hiked with heavy gear with the fear of being shot, to give us the freedoms to enjoy a recreational backpacking adventure such as this. Would I backpack the Pine Ridge Trail again? Defi nitely. Would I do it all in one chunk? Maybe, but I would surely allow more time to do so. With our Sunday deadline, it seemed we were too busy hiking toward our destination to stop and smell all of those pretty fl owers. Short overnighters to places such as Turkey Track Spring and Cunningham Creek seem most attractive now. Regardless, Sawyer and I considered it an outstanding adventure and a way to gain a deeper appreciation of, and respect for, our home turf. Moreover, we contracted no viruses while doing so. N The Pine Ridge Trail The idea of the Pine Ridge Trail arose more than 40 years ago from a desire to connect Chadron and Crawford via the patchwork of public land in the Pine Ridge. That goal still stands. During our 2020 hike, the U.S. Forest Service was working on installing an additional 2.7- mile segment of trail from West Ash Road to Ponderosa Wildlife Management Area near Crawford. By using the "Rim of the World" service road at Ponderosa, trail users can descend to Squaw Creek Road, which features multiple parking lots for the WMA. Although the new section is the first significant addition in many years, it is just the latest of many advancements since the trail's beginnings. The first chapter of the trail's construction was from 1978 to 1981 by the Young Adult Conservation Corps, one of two federally funded youth conservation programs from the period. After the government terminated the program, the Pine Ridge Ranger District of the Nebraska National Forest continued construction from 1982 to 1984. During those periods, the sections from Spotted Tail to Chadron State Park and from trailheads at Coffee Mill Butte to East Ash Creek were completed. In 1992, the Wohlers family granted the U.S. Forest Service an easement across their property to link East Ash and West Ash creeks. In 2008, the Forest Service and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission agreed to an easement for the trail through Chadron Creek Wildlife Management Area, providing a link from Chadron State Park to Deadhorse Road. During the 1990s and early 2000s, a few shorter additions and reroutes of the trail on Forest Service land occurred. Four Decades in the Making While the backpackers didn't encounter other hikers, red- headed woodpeckers and other wildlife greeted them along the journey.

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