Have you ever been hiking along a trail and found yourself thinking: “Wow, what a great trail! Not too steep, no branches in my face, easy to navigate, not too many mud puddles…”?
Or, if you’re like most of us before we started trail work, those thoughts never crossed your mind–because you were on a well-maintained trail, and you were too busy soaking up the spectacular views instead.
If you’ve been following our work for the past few years, you’ve likely heard us talk about the Caucasus Conservation Corps (CCC), our flagship program to connect and inspire young conservation leaders from the region through outdoor work and training.The CCC started in Georgia in 2020, with a similar effort growing in Armenia led by […]
This post was written by 2022 volunteer Elizabeth Yancey, and originally published on ArcGIS StoryMaps. You can view the original here. Thanks for sharing your experience, Elizabeth– we can’t wait to welcome more volunteers next year! Stay tuned for 2023 volunteer dates and information, coming soon.
Happy holidays from the TCT Team! As we close out the year, we want to say a huge thanks to everyone who was part of the TCT in some way in 2021: all the volunteers who joined us on the trail, the crew leaders who put weeks into their training, the hikers who shared their […]
Thick sunlight is dripping through the tree canopy, illuminating mossy branches of ancient hornbeam trees. We cross one gurgling stream, winding its way through a carpet of green, then another, and the forest itself seems to glow in the moist rising heat after a rain shower. It’s early November — and still green, still glowing […]
For the past four years, we’ve run volunteer trail building camps in Georgia and Armenia. And each summer, a diverse group of passionate, hardworking, fun individuals has descended on the growing hiking hubs of the Caucasus. They’ve worked on hundreds of kilometers of trail. They’ve learned how to swing Pulaskis, whacked through overgrown fields with […]
Trail-building is an immensely rewarding activity, and one that can be performed by people of all ages and physical abilities. Do not be intimidated by it! Trail-building is simply the process of creating a clear, comfortable and low-impact walking path through wilderness areas. Sometimes, if land is flat and unadorned by trees, pits, or rocks, […]
The daily camp schedule when you volunteer for the TCT is – theoretically – fairly straightforward: 6.30am: Wake-up 7.00am: Breakfast 7.30am: Finish breakfast and do morning dishes 7.45am: Gather at camp for daily briefing (this is where the Crew Leader will discuss the tasks for the day, the group will stretch, and the safety circle will be conducted) 8.00am: Hit […]
TCT volunteers have one thing in common: they are all awesome! I’m amazed every summer at the diverse group of people that sign up to come do manual labor in the remote mountains of Georgia and Armenia, and how well they all get along with each other. But it makes sense when you think about […]
This is a common question, and one with a simple answer: No, you do not need any previous experience to help with the construction of the Transcaucasian Trail! In fact, most people who join the programme have never built trail before volunteering with us. It’s not experience that’s important – it’s enthusiasm! If you are willing […]
