For a young hiker, aged 18 to 25, it might just be the ultimate summer job or what the Sierra Club calls “The Best Internship on Earth.”

The Sierra Club is looking for one guy/gal to spend the summer of 2010 traveling across the U.S. to report on various Sierra Club outdoors youth programs including Volunteer Vacations, Inner City Outings and Building Bridges to the Outdoors.

By “report on” the Sierra Club means the lucky employee will hike, backpack, camp and raft in beautiful places then video-blog about these outdoor adventures.

Hikers: If you can’t hike the trail you love, love the trail you hike.
 
“Love the One You’re With” was playing on the car radio as I was driving to a trailhead in the Santa Monica Mountains. The classic Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young tune got me thinking about how important it is to be open to new possibilities when the object of your desire is denied.
 
The trail I really wanted to take winds through Rattlesnake Canyon, located in the Santa Ynez Mountains a few miles from my home. However, this trail and surrounding environs was scorched by wildfire last year and eroded by runoff from heavy rains. Other trails in the mountains are in similar shape, and frankly are just plain butt ugly as a result of their 2009 incineration.