Volunteering is second nature for Dianne Erskine-Hellrigel. In addition to leading The Community Hiking Club in Santa Clarita, California, she plants community gardens with native plants, organizes trash clean-ups in wild places, and helps map proposed wilderness areas in Angeles National Forest. Dianne is devoted to improving her community and the wild places she cherishes.
Dianne's love for the outdoors goes back as far as she can remember. Born in Glendale, California, she began "hiking" at the early age of two, with her mother, in places like June Lake, Yosemite, and Bishop. "As a child, I loved and appreciated the meadows, mountains, peaks, streams, and rivers. That respect was passed down to me from my mom," she says. "And I want to pass it on to my daughter and grandchildren." Dianne's mother loved the beauty of the Eastern Sierra, including the incredible wildflowers, and shared that passion with Dianne, who is currently working on a book on California wildflowers. Dianne also writes a blog and a weekly column in her local newspaper in Santa Clarita, The Signal, which she was invited to do by the editor after reading her piece for the Community Hiking Club. Dianne's blogs and commentary include topics about discovering local wilderness areas, the need for young people to experience nature, and the activities of The Community Hiking Club, which organizes hikes and educates the public about the various wilderness lands of Southern California.
Dianne at the Bridge to Nowhere
"One of the reasons I'm working with the Community Hiking Club," says Dianne, "is to get people out into wilderness, to appreciate wilderness and to support efforts to protect wilderness." She leads numerous hikes into both designated and proposed wilderness in California's Eastern Sierra and San Gabriel Mountains. Upon meeting Dianne, one might get the idea she's been leading the hiking club for a lifetime. However, it was within the last three years - after hiking in the Placerita Natural Area - that Dianne was introduced to a staffer at Friends of the River. "Placerita Natural Area is adjacent to Santa Clarita Canyons, a proposed wilderness area," says Dianne. "I would hike from Placerita into proposed wilderness before I even knew it was proposed." When the Friends of the River employee found out that Dianne had just climbed Mount Everest and was the oldest woman to climb the north side of Everest, he was adamant that she become a hike leader for his organization.
She started leading hikes, and soon took over the Community Hiking Club. Many of Dianne's hikes are with young people, where she teaches "eco classes" to Boys and Girls Clubs, school classes, and more. On these hikes she discusses the natural and cultural history of wild places and shares her knowledge of native plants, Native American history of the area, medicinal uses for plants, and the importance of wildlife corridors. She recently led a group of underprivileged students on a hike in the Chumash Wilderness, high in the mountains with snow. "Most of these kids had never been to the snow," Dianne says, adding, "they were beside themselves with joy at being in the snow."
Dianne Erskine-Hellrigel's efforts are helping to build support for protecting wilderness in the San Gabriel Mountains, as well as in the Eastern Sierra of California, where Congressman "Buck" McKeon and Senator Barbara Boxer are working to reintroduce their Eastern Sierra Rural Heritage and Enhancement Act. The measure would designate additions to the Hoover and Emigrant wilderness areas, provide wild and scenic status and protection for many miles of the Armargosa River, and protect the glaciated landscape, volcanic ridges, and peaks interspersed with numerous lakes and meadows. "Through the Community Hiking Club, Dianne is doing an outstanding job connecting the residents of a growing part of Los Angeles County to the nearby local wild places and mobilizing their support for wilderness and wild river protection," says Steve Evans, Director of Friends of the River - a statewide river conservation group dedicated to preserving and restoring California's rivers, streams, and their watersheds as well as advocating for sustainable water management. "She is grassroots action personified at the local level."
In addition to leading hikes for people of all ages, Dianne also has been an integral part of helping to map proposed wilderness areas, generating letters of support for wilderness, traveling to Washington D.C. to advocate for support of wilderness, and organizing trash pick-ups in her favorite wild places. "These areas are just gorgeous and I just appreciate it every day I am out there," she says, "I want these areas to be as pristine as possible." Last year she went to Washington to talk directly with Congressman Buck McKeon's and Senator Barbara Boxer's staff members about the need to protect more wilderness. "There is nothing more beautiful than the sheer cliffs, peaks, flowers, air and sky. You just wonder why it wasn't protected before."
Back in California, she loves to bring new people to the places that inspire her. She recounts an instance when she led a couple into the proposed Hoover Wilderness additions. The husband was excited about the trip, however the wife was not. As soon as she saw the incredible wildflowers, "it was like a light bulb went on for her," says Dianne. "She had never seen so many flowers and said it was the most beautiful thing she had ever experienced." On another hike, Dianne was picking up trash as she led a group of hikers. At the end of the day one of the hike participants approached her and said, "I appreciate everything you do. At first I didn't understand why you were picking up cans and trash, but at the end of day you had a bag of trash, from now on I'll take a trash bag with me every time I hike." The stories of the positive impact Dianne has on people are endless, as is her commitment to protecting wild places. She devotes countless hours of her time to the wild places she loves and believes that "everybody can play a role in this and it's about time we all did."
