The Signpost Blog

Last summer the public first heard official news of a resident wolf pack in the Teanaway. Since that time I've been thinking about these wolves, one of five active wolf packs in Washington and the one furthest south. I can hardly wait to don my backpack and head into this wild country to hear their call and search for their signs.

I spent many years in Minneapolis, and learned to backpack on skis and snowshoes in the wintery Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). Evenings around the hissing Whisperlite were almost always graced with deep, throaty howls off in the distance. It wasn't uncommon to find the remains of kills on frozen lakes, and on the summer trips I took, scat was everywhere. That's what backpacking in a place populated by 2,500 wolves is like. Their presence permeated every moment, even when they couldn't be heard.

What should you expect when hiking with wolves? How do you prepare? My advice is to enjoy the experience. You are very, very unlikely to actually see a wolf; they usually avoid people at all costs. But do hang your provisions or use a bear-proof canister. Wolves usually won't try to scavenge your food, but we still have those big black bears.

If you want to increase your odds of hearing wolves, find someplace where the sound travels - a meadow, a peak, a big lake - and have dinner at sunset. Wolves often howl to herald sundown. Watch for tracks or sign. It's unlikely that you'll see any, and I can nearly guarantee that you'll never see an actual wolf. If you do, it'll be gone in a flicker of its bushy tail the moment it registers on your eyes. They know you're there, and they're extremely skittish of humans. It takes months of waiting before a wolf will become accustomed enough to a human to approach.

And remember this: the presence of wolves means that you're in wild country. You're somewhere big enough and intact enough to support a pack of apex predators. It's a rare thing. This summer, and in summers to come,  savor it.

Warm weather + clear skies + mountains = hikers getting out to explore our mountains.

But...

Warm weather + clear skies + mountains + lots of snow = ripe conditions for avalanche activity.

Several bureaus are issuing warnings of moderate to severe avalanche potential in all areas of the Cascades for this coming weekend.

Before you choose your destination, check out the special, detailed forecasts for this weekend on the Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center's website.

Climbers aren't the only explorers who need to know avalanche conditions. Slides can travel great distances, so hikers who enjoy lower portions of our mountains can also be at risk. Avalanches and cornices know no boundaries, and the only law they follow is that of gravity. Exposed, south-facing slopes are especially prone to avalanche activity during this time of year.

A popular Mother's Day tradition, hordes of climbers make for the south side of Mount St. Helens to climb to the rim dressed in... well, dresses. The Gifford Pinchot National Forest has posted a warning that avalanche conditions on Mount St. Helens is "extreme." They are offering refunds for climbing permits for those wishing to avoid the current conditions.

Avalanches have already claimed several lives in Washington's Cascades this year.

Be safe. Be smart.

Hikers traveling around the state now have more options with popular mountain passes opening this week. Cayuse Pass (SR 123) on the east side of Mount Rainier opened Tuesday, and North Cascades Highway (SR 20) is opened at noon today. The final piece of the puzzle, Chinook Pass (SR 410), should be cleared and open by the Memorial Day weekend.

These routes give hikers more flexibility in route-planning. Cayuse Pass provides more access to Mount Rainier National Park, including the Ohanapecosh Campground. The opening of the North Cascades Highway makes it easier for many hikers to explore the Methow Valley, including ice cream cones in Winthrop and a stroll along the Chewuch River on the Se Teekh Wa trail. Car campgrounds will also be open in time for the Memorial Day weekend.

Snow removal crews on the North Cascades Highway have been worked hard since March 26 to cut through the snow, getting the highway open a full two weeks ahead of last year. Do note that this road is often closed a time or two after the initial opening due to avalanche danger, so check back on the WSDOT site until conditions are consistently stable.

Now grab the Gazetteer and Green Trails maps and start planning your hike over the mountains!

I hope you can join us for what is quickly becoming one of my favorite WTA events, Hike the State. This gathering of hikers offers excitement and inspiration for the upcoming hiking season. We'll have on hand seven experts who will give you some prime trail suggestions from around the state in a fast, fun format. The event is FREE but an RSVP is required.

Need a little more information before you brave downtown Seattle traffic on a Wednesday evening? Let me introduce you to our esteemed hiking experts.

>> Craig Romano

Craig Romano is an outdoors writer, photographer and author of eight books, including Backpacking Washington, Day Hiking North Cascades and Day Hiking Olympic Peninsula. He's called Washington state his home since 1989 and has hiked more than 15,000 miles, from Cape Disappointment to Puffer Butte. Craig will give you a sneak peak of his next project, Day Hiking Eastern Washington (Mountaineers Books, to be published spring 2013 with Rich Landers), as he takes you on a tour of the Blue Mountains in Southeast Washington.

>> Tami Asars

Tami Asars is an outdoors writer and photographer. She serves as a Regional Correspondent for Washington Trails magazine, as writes for online blogs and other trail publications. In September, her latest project, Hiking the Wonderland Trail (Mountaineers Books), will be available in stores. Tami will share with you a version of Mount Rainier's paradise that is a little more off-the-beaten-path.

>> Nathan and Jer Barnes

Looking for some lesser known hikes within 90 minutes of Seattle? The siblings behind Hiking with my Brother will be give you some great suggestions. In 2008, brothers Nathan and Jer, started weekly hikes to explore all the trails in Harvey Manning and Ira Spring’s 55 Hikes around Snoqualmie Pass. Now they venture far beyond Snoqualmie Pass and write for Backpacker Magazine, their blog and other publications.

>> Dawn Erickson

A recently retired trail specialist for the Darrington Ranger District, Dawn has spent many years wandering the trails of the Mountain Loop. Her tour of FR 20 is bound to have some great hike suggestions, along with a little history about what makes this part of Washington so special.

>> Shane Farnor

Experience the beauty of Olympic National Park, with Shane Farnor. As the online advocacy manager for the National Parks Conservation Association, Shane is intimately familiar with Washington's national parks. His seven minute presentation is bound to bring to light a couple of lesser known gems from the ONP.

We round out the Hike the State experts with two of WTA's own staff. Executive Director Karen Daubert will share with you her adventures from Mazama. And last but not least, Washington Trails editor Eli Boschetto will help you discover the wildflowers of the Columbia River Gorge.

The people I have talked with, experts and attendees alike, are very excited about this event. Everyone is looking forward to learning about new hiking destinations and networking with other hikes. We are pretty excited about it here in the WTA office too!

Space is limited, and we had to turn people away last year, so please RSVP today.

Imagine what it would be like to take your young nephew with a disability to enjoy a day in the woods, only to find that the accessible trail you thought was suitable for him was indeed too difficult, after all. Had you been able to determine the trail specifications before setting out, you may have chosen to visit another location.

To better inform people with disabilities about what to expect of a trail in Oregon and in SW Washington, a committee called Access Recreation is in the process of developing guidelines so that land managers can provide useful information to users with disabilities to better decide if a particular trail or a portion of that is suitable for them. For example, if a viewpoint on a trail is not connected to an accessible route, that information should be provided.

Access Recreation is comprised of representatives from federal, state and local agencies, and organizations involved in public recreation and accessibility - people who understand the spectrum of disabilities and what trail design features might mean a deal-breaker. Access Recreation is developing universally-accepted shapes, colors and symbols to denote accessible amenities at trailheads to be used on trailhead signs. Consistent placement of universally-accepted icons that users can rely upon finding on a specially-designed webpage will also be a part of the guidelines.

A public presentation of the guidelines is May 10th May 10, 2012 from 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm at 1120 SW Fifth Avenue, Portland, Oregon. 

For more information, check their website here.

If you aren’t familiar with the Catherine Creek and Coyote Wall areas in the Columbia Gorge, you’re missing out on one of the state's unique natural treasures. Just upstream from White Salmon on the Columbia River, you'll find rugged cliffs, Oregon white oak woodlands, wide open meadows and sweeping views. Endemic and rare wildflowers deliver spectacular springtime displays. A variety of animals call it home. Hikers are drawn here, along with mountain bikers and equestrians.

Last year, when the US Forest Service finalized plans to redevelop the network of user-built routes into an official trail system that would protect the area's remarkable biodiversity, they called on WTA to help. This spring WTA's SW Washington Regional Coordinator, Ryan Ojerio, started discussions with other trail user groups to prioritize and design trail redevelopment projects. "With so many different types of trail users it is essential that we collaborate," said Ojerio. "Good trail design is more than minimizing erosion and other resource damage; it's about creating a trail experience that people want to come back to, one that keeps them on the trail, and one that will be around for generations to come."

One trail that won't be around, however, is the popular "Coyote Wall Trail" that parallels the cliff wall near its base. Never sanctioned as an official route, this user-created trail traverses private property. The Forest Service is closing the trail and issuing citations to violators.

The past two weekends, WTA kicked off the first of several trail work parties in the area by focusing on a really muddy section through a wet meadow. We also started drafting the layout for future reroutes that we aim to begin next month

WTA's work at Catherine Creek and Coyote Wall is funded in part by a generous $15,000 grant from the National Forest Foundation (NFF). It's the latest effort in our partnership with NFF and the U.S. Forest Service to improve recreation opportunities on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.

Want to lend a hand? Check the WTA work party schedule in June for dates of work parties at Catherine Creek. In the Columbia River Gorge area, WTA will be working on the Augspurger and Cape Horn trails (the latter work was also funded by the NFF) in upcoming weeks.

It is with a heavy heart that we recognize Lauren Braden's final day at Washington Trails Association. After nine years as WTA's Communications and Outreach Director she is leaving to focus on the work that she most loves: communications and digital strategy, along with travel writing.

Without a doubt, Lauren has left her mark on WTA. From her arrival in 2003, she has transformed WTA's presence and reach in the hiking community. Her strategic ideas and talent for hiker engagement have contributed largely to WTA's robust growth and impact, keeping hikers connected to WTA's mission in ways that were new, exciting - and that worked.

Lauren has proven the power of storytelling by narrating WTA's story to an ever-growing cadre of hikers. Many of the things you've come to love about Washington Trails Association can be traced to Lauren:

• To deepen hiker engagement, she created Trail News, our monthly e-newsletter in 2004.
• She came up with the idea for Hike-a-Thon, WTA's biggest fundraising event, now in its ninth year.
• She launched the Signpost Blog in 2005 to deliver up-to-date hiker news. Still going strong today, WTA's blog served as an early model for other non-profits.
• From concept to design to content, Lauren led a complete redesign of WTA's website in 2007. She harnessed the power of our user-generated Trip Reports by adding a revised Hiking Guide, a map-based Hike Finder, a new photo gallery and more. Website visits have more than tripled since that time.
• She recognized the power of Twitter and Facebook in 2008 and has since built a highly-engaged fan base on Facebook of more than 16,600 people.
• She supported big changes in Washington Trails magazine, ushering in full-color and, with the latest issue, a great redesign.

There's more, but you get the picture of the depth and extent of Lauren's vision. Each of these tools has enabled WTA to grow, be successful in policy campaigns, and serve as the go-to source for hiking information in the state. Her work in online engagement was recognized last year by Groundwire when it presented WTA its first Connector award.

Lauren will be very much missed by everyone here at WTA, but we will definitely carry on her legacy. I am moving into the role of Communications and Outreach Director after spending the past four years as the website editor. Lauren has been such an excellent mentor that I except the transition will be mostly seamless. As my first order of business, I am looking for a smart and savvy Digital Content Manager (who loves hiking) to round out our communications team. It's a position that has evolved from Lauren's strategic decision to devote energy and resources to new media.

While we are super sad to see Lauren go, we are excited to see what direction she takes as she pursues her passion for travel writing and digital engagement work as a consultant. You can stay in touch with Lauren by visiting her website, Northwest TripFinder, or liking it on Facebook. This site is really becoming one of the go-to sources for travel in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia. Check it out!

Please join us in wishing Lauren a fond farewell.

My oh my!

At 11:45pm last night, Washington Trails Association received our final two contributions of GiveBIG 2012. All told, more than 300 hikers gave an astounding $41,092 to support our work to protect and maintain trails.

We knew our members were loyal. We knew our fans were passionate about trails. But with the exception of some of you climbers, trail runners, and Hike-a-Thoners out there, we didn't know how competitive you all are! You gave, and gave generously, to make sure that WTA would be at the front of the line when The Seattle Foundation awards the "stretch" dollars from the GiveBIG matching pool.

Your generosity on GiveBIG day puts WTA in a stronger position as the summer hiking season approaches. WTA trail crews are starting to follow the snowmelt up into the mountains. A heavy winter snowpack has left many of our favorite wilderness trails in disarray, and WTA volunteers will spend the next few months removing debris, logging out trails, and shoring up slumped switchbacks. We'll also be following issues that impact hikers and wildlands, like the proposed Goat Mountain mine near Mount St. Helens. We'll continue our investigation into the state of access to trailheads statewide.

We eagerly await news from The Seattle Foundation about how much your gifts will be stretched by GiveBIG sponsors. Until then, let me say THANK YOU to everyone who made a gift and helped spread the word about this community-wide day of giving. The Seattle Foundation reports that GiveBIG raised an amazing $7.4 million - that's double last year's total - to support nonprofits working to make our community a better place to live, work, and play.

With so many people giving to WTA, I haven't had a chance to thank all of you personally. If you have a question about your gift or about GiveBIG, feel free to drop me a line at rebecca@wta.org or give me a call at 206.625.1367 x8559.

Update, 5/2/12, 2pm: We have just passed the $20,000 mark! THANK YOU to the more than 125 people who've given so far!

Hikers are already going online to GiveBIG to Washington Trails Association, and help make May 2 the biggest day ever of charitable giving in our region.

Unless you've been out on an extended backpacking trip or a WTA Volunteer Vacation, you've probably heard about today's GiveBIG challenge sponsored by The Seattle Foundation. WTA is one of hundreds of local nonprofits participating in this one-day online event.

What's the big deal? When you GiveBIG to WTA, every dollar you give directly benefits the trails and wildlands you love. Plus, your contribution will be "stretched" by matching funds from GiveBIG sponsors. The more you and your fellow hikers contribute, the greater WTA's share of matching funds -- and the more we can achieve for trails. 

To participate, simply make a gift to WTA through The Seattle Foundation's website by midnight tonight -- and encourage your friends to do the same.

I hope you'll join me in thanking this year's GiveBIG sponsors for helping to "stretch" your gift for trails and make our community a better place to live, work and play: The Boeing Company, Microsoft, Bezos Family Foundation, JPMorgan Chase, Seattle International Foundation, and Seattle Sounders FC. 

One more thing: When you make your GiveBIG contribution, you could be chosen at random to have a nonprofit of your choice receive an additional $1,000! One lucky Golden Ticket winner will be chosen every hour between 7am and 8pm.

So what are you waiting for? Just click here and give as generously as you can.

Questions? Drop me a line at rebecca@wta.org or call 206.625.1367 x8559.