LSHT Club History

By Jane Prentiss (aka TrailBoss), Founding Member and President (1998-2007)

We were a small group of individuals who did not have a clue what we were doing. It was before GPS; it was before the internet. The trail was so overgrown, we weren’t sure where it was. We named the trail heads and made rustic maps. I was the TrailBoss. I was sometimes called “bossy” but I prefer “goal directed.”

When we started working on the trail with the Sierra Club, our only trail maintenance tools were loppers and swing blades. The trail was very overgrown and it took so much effort with so little results. Allen Pape suggested we use lawnmowers so I brought my self-propelled lawnmower from home and it worked. I purchased several Sears 5 horse power lawnmowers myself. I loved mowing and mowing my lawn was a piece of cake after mowing in the woods.

Left to Right: LSHT Club Founding Members: Rhoda Butler, Jane Prentiss, Marge Dutch, Rich Dutch

We had the support of REI before they came to Houston. One year they gave us $500 for National Trails Day, another year they gave us 20 debit cards worth $25 to give to the individuals who worked on the trail. Another year they gave us $5,000 to get children out into the woods.

We went on volunteer trail maintenance trips in Texas and Arkansas. In Texas we established and cleared trail in Guadalupe National Park and Big Bend National Park where were treated to a canoe trip down the Rio Grande by the National Park Service. In Arkansas we worked on the Buffalo National River and Ozark Highlights Trail where Roy Seynard treated us to a Shock and Awe vacation.

We camped almost every weekend that we worked and Double Lake was our favorite place. We enjoyed many hours around the camp fire solving life problems. We spent numerous weekends together at the beach and welcomed the New Year in our flannel gowns. We developed lasting memories.

And look where we are now!