The Odd Challenges of Backcountry Trail Blasting

The trail blaster is faced with a wide range of workrelated challenges, not the least being the work setting itself. It is usually remote, being anywhere from 5 to 30 or more miles (8 to 50 km) from any road. It may be in mountains, high rock desert, or coastal rain forest, and can range from sea level to over 12,000 feet (3700 m) in elevation. The blaster may be part of a 2-person clearing crew, a 4-person maintenance crew, or a 10-person construction crew. The crew will usually be mobile, moving and working up to 10 miles (16 km) or more per day, relying mostly on their own backpacks to move camp, tools and supplies from site to site. Periodic resupply may be by helicopter, aird rop, or even “sherpa” groups, but most often will be by packstrings of horses and mules. The crew goes into the backcountry a n y w h e re from two weeks to three months at a time, and while there, its members “live the job” 24 hours a day, enjoying baking heat, torrential rain or mid-July s n o w s t o rms along with the truly glorious weather that c o m p e n s a t e s . So who is this blaster? Well, “he” may be she, since some of the top trail blasters are women. He/she will also be more than a blaster: Crews are small, so experienced members must be capable of handling the full range of trail work. Thus this blaster is also a driller, and usually also a bucker, snag faller, rigger, dry-stone mason, log and timber carpenter, bridge builder, mule p a c k e r, small-engine mechanic and, not least, camp cook capable of putting out a hot meal from a campfire , in a downpour, in the dark. Being in remote locations, often without reliable communication to the outside world, trail crews enjoy a remarkable degree of independence from “supervision.” With that comes the responsibility to make sound decisions which expedite the work, while promoting crew safety and welfare .