La Verne’s Trail Trekkers Pursue Paths to Fitness, Friends and Fun

Bill Helm strides past a memorial seating area honoring the service of former Claremont Mayor Nick Presecan.

Given their last name, it’s easy to know why Bill and Phyllis Helm are the natural leaders of the La Verne Trail Trekkers, a group of nearly 100 early-risers intent on taming our local foothills six days a week.

Bill and Phyllis’ paths first crossed in 1953 on a college choir tour, and they’ve been going strong ever since, carving their own lifelong route through marriage, work (Bill as an Aerojet engineer for 40 years and Phyllis as an administrative assistant to the dean of students at Scripps College), children, singing on four world concert tours and sharing their love of the outdoors.

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, rain or shine, they capably and steadfastly lead their foot soldiers on early-morning outings of three-to-five miles with nary a complaint or callous. On horribly inclement days, they’ll drink coffee instead at The Bagelry. What brings them out are the great human company and the great coterie of animal friends, such as bears, deer, coyotes, foxes, rabbits and lizards, they’ve respectfully learned to observe at a safe distance.

Requirements for joining the group are easy enough. The best way is to call the La Verne Parks and Recreation at (909) 596-8776 and say you want to join the Trail Trekkers. You’ll be asked for basic contact and emergency contact information, and you’ll be pretty much set to go. You don’t even need a note from your doctor. There’s no fee to participate, so there are few barriers to entry. “You just have to be able to move your legs,” Bill chuckled.

Many in the group, which can be just a handful or as many as 50 on a holiday, come sporting lug-soled shoes, hats and telescopic walking sticks, your first sign that this group isn’t just your garden-variety, pick-up-a-twig walking federation.

Saturday trail leader Julie Cosgrove, who said she lived in La Verne for five years before discovering La Verne’s big backyard, wouldn’t be caught without her walking stick. She uses hers for balance, stability and rhythm. “It’s especially good for crossing creeks,” she noted.

A woodpeck encountered on the trail doesn't understand the saying, "Peck on someone your own size."

The Trail Trekkers are full of other helpful tips and observations. At any turn in the trail and depending on who you’re walking partner is on a particular morning, you might get a 30-second tutorial on birds, botany, history or global warming. Still only April on the day that LaVerneOnline went tagging along, the canyon creeks were reduced to a trickle, so as a cautionary word, pack in your own water and don’t leave any bottles behind.

One of the Trekkers, Pat Davis joined up a dozen years ago, and can regularly be seen ambling along hill and dale two or three times a week. “Up here in the mountains,” Pat said, “you experience the beautiful changes in the season that you normally don’t see in the flatlands.”

Such an adventurous and spirited group, of course, can’t always be contained by our local hiking habitat. Several times a year, the Trail Trekkers hit the road for Mammoth Lakes, Death Valley, Kings Canyon or a dash up to Zion Canyon. One group of Trekkers even tackled the famous Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru.

The Trail Trekkers are always full of surprises and good times. In fact, Bill was sporting a Trekker tee shirt at the Bagelry that displayed the club’s unofficial motto: “Fitness, Friends, Fun.”

“They left off one ‘F’,” Bill said. “Food.”

All weekday hikes begin at 8:30 a.m. Saturdays start at 7 a.m., unless otherwise announced. To join, call La Verne Parks and Recreation at (909) 596-8776. More photos below: