Rogers, Warren Lee, 1912-1992.

Warren Lee Rogers, a Pasadena, Calif. businessman and conservationist. A Harvard-educated businessman who helped found the Pasadena Playhouse, he found his passion in the Pacific Crest Trail. In 1935, while a secretary at the Alhambra YMCA, he was chosen to be the trail guide for the YMCA relay teams that first explored the proposed route for the Pacific Crest Trail, a projected extension of the John Muir Trail that would reach Canada and Mexico. Organized by Clinton Clarke of Pasadena, the 40 teams consisted of young men aged 14 to 18 and operated during summers from 1935 through 1938. Warren L. Rogers first met Clinton C. Clarke in 1932 when the idea for a continuous trail from Mexico to Canada was formulating and Clarke founded the Pacific Crest Trail System Conference to lobby for it. After the relays, Rogers devoted much effort to promoting the Trail through radio programs and some 200 talks before service clubs and school assemblies. He directed camping programs for the YMCA for twenty-one years, retiring in 1952. Thereafter he worked for a number of non-profit organizations including the Southern California Camp Bureau which helped establish the Los Angeles Times Summer Camp Fund. His passion for the great outdoors and the PCT never waned, and when Clinton Clarke passed away in 1957, Rogers took up the cause of completing the Trail. Rogers acquired Clarke's PCT files from Clarke's estate and formed the Camp Research Foundation to keep the dream alive. He continued to collect trail updates, and was one of the few sources hikers could turn to for credible information until the enactment of the National Trails System Act of 1968, which designated the U.S. Forest Service manager of the PCT. The National Trails Act also established an Advisory Council for the PCT and the Secretary of Agriculture appointed Rogers, who served on the council for over sixteen years. He founded the Pacific Crest Club in 1977 and maintained PCT support enterprises such as his Pocket Maps as well as his Food Pack service, which delivered meals for hikers along the trail, keeping their loads light for the 2,650 mile haul.

From the description of Papers of Warren Lee Rogers, 1912-1992. (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 228770314