Levi Wilson is a trailblazer.
No, really.
Wilson, 40, of Arnold is responsible for maintaining the hundreds of blazes that guide hikers and runners through the rugged 46.2-mile Rachel Carson Trail.
And that’s only one of his responsibilities.
A floor manager at Aloma Shim and Manufacturing Co. in Penn Hills and a Valley High School alumnus, Wilson said he first started venturing out on the Rachel Carson Trail around 2018.
“As soon as I looked it up, I got hooked,” he said.
Wilson is an avid trail runner, who has taken on progressively more rigorous courses, first running half of the Rachel Carson challenge, followed by the full 37-mile race and later ultramarathons like the 100-mile Rabid Raccoon and Oil Creek challenges.
But in more leisurely times, he enjoys maintaining a 2.7-mile stretch of the Carson Trail from Crawford Run Road in East Deer to Agan Park in Springdale Township.
Wilson is among a handful of trail stewards responsible for preserving and improving various section of the trail, a role he has held since about 2019.
Since then, he has become something of an amateur biologist, engineer and landscape designer.
Strolling through the woods, Wilson plucked sprigs of invasive mustard garlic from the trailside and lopped off small branches of obstructing trees while pointing out many of the native plants of the region.
That’s before crossing a small stream using a wooden bridge he helped build out of a deconstructed pallet and some chicken wire and hiking up a brief set of stairs he placed into a hillside.
He said he tried to make the stairs useful for hikers but still far enough apart to not throw off the stride of trail runners.
“I kind of put thought into everything,” Wilson said.
The spring bloom is his favorite time to be on the trail.
During the winter, he said, he can see throughout the Allegheny Valley from the hilltops of his section, but by summer, the trail turns to a “green tunnel.”
“Even though I’ve been on here so many times, sometimes it looks so different,” he said.
Wilson said he tries to get out on the trail at least once a week.
Beverly Bowser, Wilson’s girlfriend of 3½ years, sometimes joins him, she said, pointing out that the two even had their first date on the trail.
“I love being out in nature,” Bowser said. “We just talked the whole time about Rachel Carson. His passion for Rachel Carson is amazing.”
Wilson’s basement, filled with camping and outdoors equipment, resembles an REI store, she said.
For the past year, Elizabeth Stephens has joined Wilson as a trail steward on the stretch near Agan Park.
She said she has learned a lot — including lessons about invasive species from Wilson — during her time on the trail.
Watching people make their way through the section they maintain, Wilson and Stephens both said they feel a sense of pride.
“It’s just great to see anybody outside in a society where we’re always on our devices or sitting at home,” said Stephens of Penn Hills.
It takes more know-how than one might expect to place the Rachel Carson Trail’s iconic yellow blazes, Wilson said.
He typically searches for a sturdy, full-grown tree to paint, rather than a young sapling, since an expanding tree trunk will tear apart a blaze over time.
Then, Wilson dabs the trunk with a base layer of dark brown paint to make the bright yellow blaze more visible because of the contrast.
As the only guide for trail users, the blazes require constant maintenance, he said. But he’s up for the challenge.
“Every time people see me, they’re always appreciative,” Wilson said.