Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail

For its 25th birthday, the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail got a new leg--its last one. U.S. Forest Service crews recently carved out a 7.5-mile segment near Neenach, a remote community east of Gorman, completing the 2,638-mile transnational trail, scheduled to be inaugurated in a "Golden Spike" ceremony near Acton on Saturday. While hikers have journeyed along the trail since its inception in 1968, it was not until recently that they had an unbroken path to follow.

For its 25th birthday, the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail got a new leg--its last one. U.S. Forest Service crews recently carved out a 7.5-mile segment near Neenach, a remote community east of Gorman, completing the 2,638-mile transnational trail, scheduled to be inaugurated in a "Golden Spike" ceremony near Acton on Saturday. While hikers have journeyed along the trail since its inception in 1968, it was not until recently that they had an unbroken path to follow.

Negotiating the 2,638 miles of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail just got easier with the publication of a new color brochure featuring a three-page fold-out map. Now, enthusiasts can either walk the trail or work on it--at the trail association's expense. You bring your own sleeping bag and work boots and the association will provide a campsite and three meals a day. They'll even meet you at the airport. Work trips are planned Feb. 19-27, March 19-27 and June 4-12.

Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon said Thursday he will lead efforts to obtain $5 million in federal funding to improve the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, including $2.5 million for a three-mile section in Agua Dulce.

As it wanders along desert valleys and mountain passes, the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail cuts through some of the most beautiful natural scenery in the world. But sometimes nature can make an awful mess. When a two-mile stretch of the 2,620-mile trail was washed out and virtually destroyed by January's record rains, a group of Boy Scouts swung into action.

The rugged Pacific Crest Trail is not for the faint-hearted, and neither was Saturday's water-logged ceremony to celebrate its completion. In a cottonwood grove in the Santa Clarita Valley east of this small town, about 200 spectators and a raft of government officials weathered frequent cloudbursts to mark the long-awaited completion of the 2,638-mile trail between Canada and Mexico. The event was timed to coincide with National Trails Day.

Dennis Cof dfey is lucky to be alive, let alone hiking solo hundreds of miles along the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, as he's been doing this summer. The 50-year-old from Tacoma, Wash. was diagnosed with emphysema in 1988 and was hospitalized for respiratory failure in 1994. He had to be hooked up to a ventilator to breathe, his weight plunged to 92 pounds, and when he was eventually released, he needed supplemental oxygen to survive.

Thousands of all-terrain and off-road vehicle users from California and Nevada have caused so much damage to three southern Utah national forests that the Forest Service is considering closing some roads in the forests. Areas in the Dixie, Fishlake and Manti-LaSal national forests, have experienced "devastation," according to the Forest Service.

Half an hour west of this mountain town in central Oregon, in an area covered by forest, is a growing bulge in the terrain that eager scientists say could be the beginnings of a volcano. The bulge covers 100 square miles -- roughly the size of Fresno -- and is rising at a rate of 1.4 inches a year. The shape resembles a dome, with the highest point about three miles west of the South Sister volcano in the Cascade Range.

For its 25th birthday, the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail got a new leg--its last one. U.S. Forest Service crews recently carved out a 7.5-mile segment near this remote community east of Gorman, completing the 2,638-mile transnational trail, which will be inaugurated in a "Golden Spike" ceremony near Acton on Saturday. While hikers have journeyed along the trail since its founding in 1968, it wasn't until now that they had an unbroken path to follow.

Marlin have long been recognized as crafty, elusive fish, which is one of the reasons fishermen prize them. Biologists in the state Department of Fish and Game would like to know what in their behavior patterns makes them crafty and elusive, and they hope to get some answers through a tagging study. Said Dennis Bedford, biologist in charge of the study: "We hope to collect the first known documentation on marlin habits. We're breaking new ground in the study of marlin behavior."