Randy's Hiker Haven (destroyed) on the South
Fork of Mission Creek, SoCal Pacific Crest Trail...
Navigation is at bottom of page, and in links throughout.
[ I finally found the boxes with 20 years of photos, so beginning May'09 I'll scan and load some of the
old pics from Hiker Haven, and the many PCT hikers who stopped in for a break. First photo is a scrap-
book of thumbnails from May'97: Camping & garden area with outdoor solar shower (with someone in it)
plus washroom & cabin views. The tall photo is a helicopter view of HH, and then a view from the "Phone
Trail" above HH, looking up the South Fork of Mission Creek-CLICK any pic to ENLARGE
Good weather and reliable friends I wish for the PCT Class of '09 ---Randy (I'll add more photos,
so visit again to see more PCTers of the 80's and 90's, when they stopped in at the Hiker Haven. You
can still email me via Muletrails at Yahoo.) Here is my Biography page, and I'm on Facebook, and
YouTube.
Here is a Satellite view of the Hiker Haven area that includes Randy's 'copter crash site
along with the HH location; Big Bear Lake CA is at top.
The re-printed letters below are about the fight to save the Hiker Haven, and its death
when overwhelming political- economic forces destroyed Randy's twenty years of work:
an incredible oasis in the wilderness that was much used by hikers and others. These
important letters are both still posted through the PCTA Backcountry Net. This first
letter by Randy gives a wide-ranging history of his Hiker Haven, in the context...
* Subject: [pct-l] Hiker Haven response to the entire PCTA.
* From: muletrails@yahoo.
* Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 00:49:52 EDT
* Cc: ******@lasierra.edu / ********@LLU.edu
* Reply-to: RTestman: muletrails@yahoo.
To Everyone reading this post: Greetings.
I'm Randy ('the human mule') of Hiker Haven, on the PCT above Fork Springs in
Mission Creek. (Calif. C3/C4). Parts of this are also from Brad, of Hiker Haven.
Many hikers and others have contacted the PCTA concerning the dispute that is
documented on the website (http://www.hikerhaven.com---now gone). Bob Ballou
posted a letter stating the PCTA position, in response to a letter he received from Chris
Bailey, and many others. This is a matter of record.
A good opportunity is being missed here. The controversy surrounding Hiker Haven is
going to be resolved, with or without the support of the PCTA.
There was an opportunity available that is now all but gone.
Life goes on, and so will the PCTers of '99. Congratulations for the adventure! May the
wind always be on your back, and water found where it is needed.
I have been living on and off, or full time, at South Fork Mission Creek for twenty-one
years. Brad, six. Anyone who has actually been there can appreciate what this means.
I am, primarily, a backpacker/explorer/adventurer. Have been for 35 years. Did
sections of the PCT before there was a PCT. I have spent over a year backpacking in
the Grand Canyon (Here is a true tale about a remarkable adventure I had there when I was young).
Even for all that, Mission Creek upper is still my main sweetheart.
Or was....
My original cabin in the wilderness was not built for hikers or others. It was built for
love of the place. Because others also appreciate this land, I found I had more visitors
out here in the wilderness than I ever would get in the flatlands. The visitors liked the
way human life was lived in harmony with this wild canyon.
In Mission Creek, I have had hikers and others off the PCT stopping in at my place
since the early 80's. Some of these people have turned into best friends. I have been
blessed, or whatever you want to call it.
I find it a badge of honor that no bureaucracy has been needed to bring this place into
existence. It has not been needed to keep it alive all these years. Hikers and other
individuals voted with their feet, whether some institution endorsed their vote or not. I
have twenty years of logbooks to illustrate this. On all of the PCT, Hiker Haven has
been unique. Those who have been there know this to be true.
No person is qualified to render an intelligent, informed opinion of Hiker Haven unless
they have been there. In 1993 the PCT was made usable in the Mission Creek section.
In 1994 we noticed the first significant use on this section, and had a few extra visitors
to my place...mostly those who were lost!
In 1995, a snow laden-till-late year, there was more usage, and more visits from lost
hikers and others. In 1996 was even more usage. On the advice of many hikers, (the
real PCTA), we improved the 100 year old trail up to my place...making it easier for
lost hikers to get around! Brad & I also kept the entire Mission Creek mid-area of the
PCT open and maintained, as best we could, from '95 till last year when paid
professionals finally showed up to do it. At great expense.
In 1997 we had 85% of all hikers who came up the PCT to Fork Springs come to Hiker
Haven, as it is now called. This was an exceedingly hot/dry year,overall, from Campo
to Big Bear. The incredible souls who survived that rugged year, and made it all that
distance to my place are qualified to give an opinion concerning the future of Hiker
Haven. I have almost 200 opinions from the 1997 group written in my log books. Bob
Ballou has never read these.
Nor has he read the entries from 1998. This was a dangerous year, not for dehydration
and heat prostration, but for heavy snowpack, frostbite, hypothermia and exposure.
Brad and I had cases of all the above show up in 1998. The Hikers of '98 know this
very well, and can render informed opinions. The month of May was when the name
"Hiker Haven" stuck to the place, for very literal reasons.
There are over 200 opinions stated in my logbooks for that year, many of them
women, who were more numerous than ever before in '98. Solo, or in pairs. We
have a polaroid of every hiker. Mugshots! Have you read all of the those entries, or
seen the pictures, Bob Ballou? Did you even try?
If the institutional PCTA were a democracy, Hiker Haven would have the favorable
vote of, at least, a simple yet significant majority of actual hikers. At least those
navigating the PCT in Southern California from Campo to Big Bear. Hard to argue with
the "foot vote." And logbook entries.
Yet those "votes" have been negated by institutional bureaucracy. Maybe this is simply
inevitable in an increasingly hectic, liability ridden world that has now invaded even the
wild reaches of Mission Creek, South Fork...Hiker Haven.
I would like to state, for this parting record, that it was great while it lasted. I have done
my best to save the place, but to no avail. I am only me, and that has not been enough.
I regret this, deeply.
To the hikers and others who have been to Hiker Haven: Thank you for the adventure!
Every one of you had your own opinion of pack weights (some were dangerously heavy
opinions, some were dangerously lite) and other trail problems, but almost all of you
loved the place, and found it uplifting and useful. So did Brad and I.
Thank you for your support, if only in thought, or expressed in the logbooks. Good
memories are good memories. Don't ever let institutions of any kind take those from
you. It is all that remains over the years. And, probably, of Randy's Hiker Haven on the
South Fork on Mission Creek, part of the newly extended San Gorgonio Wilderness
Area.
With Grateful Admiration and Respect to all PCT Hikers, past, present and future,
>Randy Testman, founder & builder of Hiker Haven..."the human mule".
>Brad Cadman, loyal & poverty stricken worker at Hiker Haven..."thanks for nothing,
PCTA."
* From the Pacific Crest Trail Email List | http://www.backcountry.net *
Subject: [pct-l] Open Letter to PCTA re: Randy Testman's Hikers Haven
From: "Chris Bailey" @earthlink
Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 15:13:00 -0800
Cc: <hiker@hikerhaven.com>, <RTestman via muletrails at yahoo.>
March 26, 1999
Bob Ballou
Joe Sobinovsky
Reuben Rojala
Pacific Crest Trail Association
5325 Elkhorn Boulevard, Number 256
Sacramento, CA 95842-2526
Bob, Joe and Reuben:
As I'm sure you are all fully aware, the facilities available to PCT users
operated by Randy Testman on the South Fork of Mission Creek in California
Section C are in grave danger of being ordered removed as part of a
proposed sale of the land on which they were built. I am deeply disturbed
by some information I've received that the PCTA, through its silence on the
issue and lack of support for these trail facilities, may play a large role
in the destruction of this amazing resource for PCT users. I feel strongly
and urgently that the PCTA should quickly and forthrightly come to the aid
of Mr. Testman by publicly attesting to the fact that these facilities
have, in relatively short time, become a phenomenal and important resource
for all sorts of PCT users.
For the purposes of this communication, I'll assume that the Association
has, in fact, not taken and formal and public position supporting Mr.
Testman. If this turns out to not be the case, then the rest of my
thoughts here will only serve to reinforce and support that well-deserved
support.
The PCTA's stated mission is to promote and protect the PCT in a manner
consistent with its status as a world class recreational resource. As in
the management of any public resources, one cannot look solely at issues
affecting the resource alone (for example, in this case, the trailway
itself), but must consider a whole gamut of issues and the environs of that
resource. My point is that Hikers Haven is, de facto, a part of the
Pacific Crest Trail due to its proximity to the trail and its usefulness to
PCT users. Moreover, because the vast majority of users access Hikers
Haven from the PCT, one could argue that it is more useful to the
Association's constituents than to any other group of users. These simple
facts make it clear that the PCTA should, based on its mission, take a
position on issues affecting these facilities.
Now that we've established that the PCTA should take a public position on
Hikers Haven, let us examine what the nature of that position should be.
Again the mission statement of the Association says that the purpose of the
PCTA is to promote "enjoyment, education and adventure" of users. Every
scrap of evidence I'm familiar with, along with my own experiences there,
indicates that Hikers Haven provides enjoyment, education and, in a real
sense, adventure to PCT users who make an effort to visit it. One of the
many beauties of the place is that it not only gives trail users a
temporary refuge from the rigors of the trail, but that Mr. Testman
provides valuable and passionate insights into the incredible diversity and
beauty of the area, all the while having a very minimal impact on the
environs and almost no direct adverse impact on the trail itself, other
than perhaps a few directional signs. I don't think any of this is in
dispute, at least not by anyone who has visited this magical place.
On a more personal level, I believe the Association should consider the
human impacts if Hikers Haven should be destroyed. Mr. Testman and Mr.
Cadman care passionately and sincerely about PCT users, especially the
small but visible subgroup of thru-hikers. This dedication has been
callously dismissed by some as opportunistic because Mr. Testman charges
modest fees to offset (but not cover) the costs of the services and goods
he provides. Such an accusation of opportunism is unadulterated nonsense.
Mr. Testman charges fees so that he can simply carry on what I believe he
feels is his God-given calling to serve. For this service, he deserves the
kind of adulation that the Association frequently gives to dedicated trail
volunteers who make great personal sacrifices of their time and money
because they believe that the resource they are protecting is worth it.
Instead, it appears the Association has turned its back on Mr. Testman.
I hope that the Association will revisit this issue and deliberate about
the message it is sending if it fails to do all it can to protect Hikers
Haven. This incredible place has become an important stop for hundreds of
PCT users and future users deserve to have it available, if they so chose,
as an oasis, a safety net, a refuge, and as an inspiration for how we can
live in nearly complete harmony with our surroundings.
Sincerely,
Chris Bailey
* From the Pacific Crest Trail Email List | http://www.backcountry.net *
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
[pct-l] Hiker Haven, response to the entire PCTA. (Pacific Crest Trail Association)
Here is an [archived] Front Page Article that included several photos when it was
published by the Riverside Press Enterprise, about the situation. Randy won the battle,
when the Bureaucratic Pod-people paid him for his property and easements, but he lost
the war because they destroyed Hiker Haven in the process.
And so it goes...
There are other details and links on Randy's Roundup page.
Site Map / Index
===============================================================
Fork of Mission Creek, SoCal Pacific Crest Trail...
Navigation is at bottom of page, and in links throughout.
[ I finally found the boxes with 20 years of photos, so beginning May'09 I'll scan and load some of the
old pics from Hiker Haven, and the many PCT hikers who stopped in for a break. First photo is a scrap-
book of thumbnails from May'97: Camping & garden area with outdoor solar shower (with someone in it)
plus washroom & cabin views. The tall photo is a helicopter view of HH, and then a view from the "Phone
Trail" above HH, looking up the South Fork of Mission Creek-CLICK any pic to ENLARGE
Good weather and reliable friends I wish for the PCT Class of '09 ---Randy (I'll add more photos,
so visit again to see more PCTers of the 80's and 90's, when they stopped in at the Hiker Haven. You
can still email me via Muletrails at Yahoo.) Here is my Biography page, and I'm on Facebook, and
YouTube.
Here is a Satellite view of the Hiker Haven area that includes Randy's 'copter crash site
along with the HH location; Big Bear Lake CA is at top.
The re-printed letters below are about the fight to save the Hiker Haven, and its death
when overwhelming political- economic forces destroyed Randy's twenty years of work:
an incredible oasis in the wilderness that was much used by hikers and others. These
important letters are both still posted through the PCTA Backcountry Net. This first
letter by Randy gives a wide-ranging history of his Hiker Haven, in the context...
* Subject: [pct-l] Hiker Haven response to the entire PCTA.
* From: muletrails@yahoo.
* Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 00:49:52 EDT
* Cc: ******@lasierra.edu / ********@LLU.edu
* Reply-to: RTestman: muletrails@yahoo.
To Everyone reading this post: Greetings.
I'm Randy ('the human mule') of Hiker Haven, on the PCT above Fork Springs in
Mission Creek. (Calif. C3/C4). Parts of this are also from Brad, of Hiker Haven.
Many hikers and others have contacted the PCTA concerning the dispute that is
documented on the website (http://www.hikerhaven.com---now gone). Bob Ballou
posted a letter stating the PCTA position, in response to a letter he received from Chris
Bailey, and many others. This is a matter of record.
A good opportunity is being missed here. The controversy surrounding Hiker Haven is
going to be resolved, with or without the support of the PCTA.
There was an opportunity available that is now all but gone.
Life goes on, and so will the PCTers of '99. Congratulations for the adventure! May the
wind always be on your back, and water found where it is needed.
I have been living on and off, or full time, at South Fork Mission Creek for twenty-one
years. Brad, six. Anyone who has actually been there can appreciate what this means.
I am, primarily, a backpacker/explorer/adventurer. Have been for 35 years. Did
sections of the PCT before there was a PCT. I have spent over a year backpacking in
the Grand Canyon (Here is a true tale about a remarkable adventure I had there when I was young).
Even for all that, Mission Creek upper is still my main sweetheart.
Or was....
My original cabin in the wilderness was not built for hikers or others. It was built for
love of the place. Because others also appreciate this land, I found I had more visitors
out here in the wilderness than I ever would get in the flatlands. The visitors liked the
way human life was lived in harmony with this wild canyon.
In Mission Creek, I have had hikers and others off the PCT stopping in at my place
since the early 80's. Some of these people have turned into best friends. I have been
blessed, or whatever you want to call it.
I find it a badge of honor that no bureaucracy has been needed to bring this place into
existence. It has not been needed to keep it alive all these years. Hikers and other
individuals voted with their feet, whether some institution endorsed their vote or not. I
have twenty years of logbooks to illustrate this. On all of the PCT, Hiker Haven has
been unique. Those who have been there know this to be true.
No person is qualified to render an intelligent, informed opinion of Hiker Haven unless
they have been there. In 1993 the PCT was made usable in the Mission Creek section.
In 1994 we noticed the first significant use on this section, and had a few extra visitors
to my place...mostly those who were lost!
In 1995, a snow laden-till-late year, there was more usage, and more visits from lost
hikers and others. In 1996 was even more usage. On the advice of many hikers, (the
real PCTA), we improved the 100 year old trail up to my place...making it easier for
lost hikers to get around! Brad & I also kept the entire Mission Creek mid-area of the
PCT open and maintained, as best we could, from '95 till last year when paid
professionals finally showed up to do it. At great expense.
In 1997 we had 85% of all hikers who came up the PCT to Fork Springs come to Hiker
Haven, as it is now called. This was an exceedingly hot/dry year,overall, from Campo
to Big Bear. The incredible souls who survived that rugged year, and made it all that
distance to my place are qualified to give an opinion concerning the future of Hiker
Haven. I have almost 200 opinions from the 1997 group written in my log books. Bob
Ballou has never read these.
Nor has he read the entries from 1998. This was a dangerous year, not for dehydration
and heat prostration, but for heavy snowpack, frostbite, hypothermia and exposure.
Brad and I had cases of all the above show up in 1998. The Hikers of '98 know this
very well, and can render informed opinions. The month of May was when the name
"Hiker Haven" stuck to the place, for very literal reasons.
There are over 200 opinions stated in my logbooks for that year, many of them
women, who were more numerous than ever before in '98. Solo, or in pairs. We
have a polaroid of every hiker. Mugshots! Have you read all of the those entries, or
seen the pictures, Bob Ballou? Did you even try?
If the institutional PCTA were a democracy, Hiker Haven would have the favorable
vote of, at least, a simple yet significant majority of actual hikers. At least those
navigating the PCT in Southern California from Campo to Big Bear. Hard to argue with
the "foot vote." And logbook entries.
Yet those "votes" have been negated by institutional bureaucracy. Maybe this is simply
inevitable in an increasingly hectic, liability ridden world that has now invaded even the
wild reaches of Mission Creek, South Fork...Hiker Haven.
I would like to state, for this parting record, that it was great while it lasted. I have done
my best to save the place, but to no avail. I am only me, and that has not been enough.
I regret this, deeply.
To the hikers and others who have been to Hiker Haven: Thank you for the adventure!
Every one of you had your own opinion of pack weights (some were dangerously heavy
opinions, some were dangerously lite) and other trail problems, but almost all of you
loved the place, and found it uplifting and useful. So did Brad and I.
Thank you for your support, if only in thought, or expressed in the logbooks. Good
memories are good memories. Don't ever let institutions of any kind take those from
you. It is all that remains over the years. And, probably, of Randy's Hiker Haven on the
South Fork on Mission Creek, part of the newly extended San Gorgonio Wilderness
Area.
With Grateful Admiration and Respect to all PCT Hikers, past, present and future,
>Randy Testman, founder & builder of Hiker Haven..."the human mule".
>Brad Cadman, loyal & poverty stricken worker at Hiker Haven..."thanks for nothing,
PCTA."
* From the Pacific Crest Trail Email List | http://www.backcountry.net *
Subject: [pct-l] Open Letter to PCTA re: Randy Testman's Hikers Haven
From: "Chris Bailey" @earthlink
Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 15:13:00 -0800
Cc: <hiker@hikerhaven.com>, <RTestman via muletrails at yahoo.>
March 26, 1999
Bob Ballou
Joe Sobinovsky
Reuben Rojala
Pacific Crest Trail Association
5325 Elkhorn Boulevard, Number 256
Sacramento, CA 95842-2526
Bob, Joe and Reuben:
As I'm sure you are all fully aware, the facilities available to PCT users
operated by Randy Testman on the South Fork of Mission Creek in California
Section C are in grave danger of being ordered removed as part of a
proposed sale of the land on which they were built. I am deeply disturbed
by some information I've received that the PCTA, through its silence on the
issue and lack of support for these trail facilities, may play a large role
in the destruction of this amazing resource for PCT users. I feel strongly
and urgently that the PCTA should quickly and forthrightly come to the aid
of Mr. Testman by publicly attesting to the fact that these facilities
have, in relatively short time, become a phenomenal and important resource
for all sorts of PCT users.
For the purposes of this communication, I'll assume that the Association
has, in fact, not taken and formal and public position supporting Mr.
Testman. If this turns out to not be the case, then the rest of my
thoughts here will only serve to reinforce and support that well-deserved
support.
The PCTA's stated mission is to promote and protect the PCT in a manner
consistent with its status as a world class recreational resource. As in
the management of any public resources, one cannot look solely at issues
affecting the resource alone (for example, in this case, the trailway
itself), but must consider a whole gamut of issues and the environs of that
resource. My point is that Hikers Haven is, de facto, a part of the
Pacific Crest Trail due to its proximity to the trail and its usefulness to
PCT users. Moreover, because the vast majority of users access Hikers
Haven from the PCT, one could argue that it is more useful to the
Association's constituents than to any other group of users. These simple
facts make it clear that the PCTA should, based on its mission, take a
position on issues affecting these facilities.
Now that we've established that the PCTA should take a public position on
Hikers Haven, let us examine what the nature of that position should be.
Again the mission statement of the Association says that the purpose of the
PCTA is to promote "enjoyment, education and adventure" of users. Every
scrap of evidence I'm familiar with, along with my own experiences there,
indicates that Hikers Haven provides enjoyment, education and, in a real
sense, adventure to PCT users who make an effort to visit it. One of the
many beauties of the place is that it not only gives trail users a
temporary refuge from the rigors of the trail, but that Mr. Testman
provides valuable and passionate insights into the incredible diversity and
beauty of the area, all the while having a very minimal impact on the
environs and almost no direct adverse impact on the trail itself, other
than perhaps a few directional signs. I don't think any of this is in
dispute, at least not by anyone who has visited this magical place.
On a more personal level, I believe the Association should consider the
human impacts if Hikers Haven should be destroyed. Mr. Testman and Mr.
Cadman care passionately and sincerely about PCT users, especially the
small but visible subgroup of thru-hikers. This dedication has been
callously dismissed by some as opportunistic because Mr. Testman charges
modest fees to offset (but not cover) the costs of the services and goods
he provides. Such an accusation of opportunism is unadulterated nonsense.
Mr. Testman charges fees so that he can simply carry on what I believe he
feels is his God-given calling to serve. For this service, he deserves the
kind of adulation that the Association frequently gives to dedicated trail
volunteers who make great personal sacrifices of their time and money
because they believe that the resource they are protecting is worth it.
Instead, it appears the Association has turned its back on Mr. Testman.
I hope that the Association will revisit this issue and deliberate about
the message it is sending if it fails to do all it can to protect Hikers
Haven. This incredible place has become an important stop for hundreds of
PCT users and future users deserve to have it available, if they so chose,
as an oasis, a safety net, a refuge, and as an inspiration for how we can
live in nearly complete harmony with our surroundings.
Sincerely,
Chris Bailey
* From the Pacific Crest Trail Email List | http://www.backcountry.net *
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
[pct-l] Hiker Haven, response to the entire PCTA. (Pacific Crest Trail Association)
Here is an [archived] Front Page Article that included several photos when it was
published by the Riverside Press Enterprise, about the situation. Randy won the battle,
when the Bureaucratic Pod-people paid him for his property and easements, but he lost
the war because they destroyed Hiker Haven in the process.
And so it goes...
There are other details and links on Randy's Roundup page.
Site Map / Index
===============================================================
Photos to the left are Brad Cadman,
Trailhand & Cook at Hiker Haven for
many years of service to hikers;
llamas are Amigo the Good and Sabe
the Bad. Photo to right is David
Heckman. He and Brad are the only
two who truly helped with much
hard work over the years. David
hiked the SoCal PCT (naked) and is
now a Rocket Scientist for NASA/
JPL (really).
Trailhand & Cook at Hiker Haven for
many years of service to hikers;
llamas are Amigo the Good and Sabe
the Bad. Photo to right is David
Heckman. He and Brad are the only
two who truly helped with much
hard work over the years. David
hiked the SoCal PCT (naked) and is
now a Rocket Scientist for NASA/
JPL (really).
An
interesting
sign greeted
Hikers from
the PCT >
interesting
sign greeted
Hikers from
the PCT >
| Young Randy, 1980 load (Marty Moen trailhand)> Old Mule, 1998 load > |
Several 1997
PCT Hikers
around the
campfire;
Sydney is
one of the
campdogs,
and is still
alive in 2010.
PCT Hikers
around the
campfire;
Sydney is
one of the
campdogs,
and is still
alive in 2010.
7:30AM
May 16,
1997 at
Randy's
Hiker Haven.
May 16,
1997 at
Randy's
Hiker Haven.
This family
from
Moscow
Russia
visited
Randy &
Brad in
April 1998.
from
Moscow
Russia
visited
Randy &
Brad in
April 1998.