Retired CVHS Security Now Patrols High Sierra
When she retired from Castro Valley High as a Campus Security Patroller in 2017, Marcia Croghan Bergendahl still wanted to lead an active life. She always loved hiking, so she and her husband Steve moved to Amador County, where she could hike, and he could fish.
Now she’s a volunteer docent at the Carson Pass Information Station on Highway 88 in the High Sierra. There she helps dig the building out of the snow in spring and assists hikers who use the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) as they pass through California.
“It’s a total volunteer group. We’re all volunteers, and we each pay $25 to join the El Dorado National Forest Interpretive Association (ENFIA). The volunteers do interpretive walks, and wildflower, geological and historical hikes.”
“It’s a total volunteer group,” says Bergendahl. “We’re all volunteers, and we each pay $25 to join the El Dorado National Forest Interpretive Association (ENFIA). The volunteers do interpretive walks, and wildflower, geological and historical hikes.”
Becoming an ENFIA docent didn’t happen overnight for Bergendahl.
“When we first moved up here, I wanted to learn all the trails,” she says. “I joined a group called Central Sierra Hikers and heard about a cabin near Silver Lake which is made available for volunteers. This intrigued me, so I tried to volunteer, but there were already so many volunteers I was put on a waiting list.”
The following year (2020) Bergendahl went through docent training — and then COVID hit. The Carson Pass Information Station never opened that year.
“It was better for me, in a way, because I took that time to learn more about the trails, and I also learned snowshoeing. It’s all good information because when you do this position people ask you a lot of questions about trails and campsites.”
The next year (2021) the station opened but was closed in July by the Tamarack Fire near Markleeville and the Caldor Fire in August.
“This year we went back up, and so far, everything is great,” says Bergendahl.
In May, she and other volunteers dug the cabin out from under deep snow. They striped the parking lot and cleaned up the building and surrounding area. The volunteers hope to keep the Information Station open all summer and through September. It sells items like gifts, postcards, water, soda, snacks, and other merchandise. The money made from these sales helps pay for printing maps and brochures that the center hands out.
Volunteers also issue camping and wilderness permits and information stating that no fires are allowed in the forests. They monitor trails for signs of hikers in distress and advise bike riders that mountain bikes are not allowed on the trails.
Working there can be exciting because Carson Pass (named after frontiersman Kit Carson) is part of the popular Pacific Crest Trail. Recently two horse-packers from Germany and Austria rode through on American horses. And in June, a large group of Latter-Day Saints stopped in on a hike to Winnemucca Lake and beyond.
“Pacific Trail hikers are so excited when they get to our site, and they’re fun to talk to,” says Bergendahl. “The hikers help, us, too, alerting us to people who may have overdone it, or are hurt. They also let us know about things like animal activity. I’m so glad I joined this organization.”
But Mother Nature and folks who visit the forests will have to cooperate to keep the parks open all season. Bergendahl hopes this year the station will make it to fall without having to close.
“This year there already was a fire in the wilderness area, which was contained. But it was a scare and a reminder of how fragile our forests are,” she says.