2009 Trail Accomplishments

2009record year for WTA volunteers - over 2,100 volunteers more than 94,175 hours of volunteer trail maintenance on 130 trails.

Whew! 2009 has been a busy year on the trail!

: The White Chuck Bench Trail before WTA volunteers tackled it.

In fact, it was a record year for WTA volunteers - over 2,100 individuals came out for at least one day of trail work with us in 2009. The combined efforts of these volunteers translated to 94,175 hours of volunteer maintenance.

WTA's worked on trails all over the state, including four different national forests, three national parks, seven Washington State Parks, two Department of Natural Resources regions, three county trails systems, as well as a few other projects here and there. In total - 130 trails statewide (see below for the list).

: The White Chuck Bench Trail after WTA volunteers finished. Go volunteers!

Day Trips

Continued work with King County Parks. On Cougar Mountain, volunteers worked on maintenance of eight trails, including the Deceiver Trail; at Taylor Mountain, work to development a comprehensive system of trails continued and included work on the Mountain Beaver and Holder Ridge Trails; on the 7-mile Grand Ridge Trail, which connects from High Point to Duthie Hill, volunteers worked to establish some neighborhood access trails.
Grand Ridge, Canyon Creek Bridge - Volunteers constructed a 40’ bridge made of native materials across Canyon Creek on the Grand Ridge Trail. This is one of the largest structures that WTA has completed, and one of the remaining projects along the length of this 7-mile trail.
Worked with DNR to help alleviate resource damage on Tiger Mountain, including the Chirico Trail and West Tiger Railroad Grade Trail.
Construction of Beacon Rock State Park’s Hardy Ridge Trail continued, as well as maintenance on trails throughout the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and at Cape Disappointment - North Head.
With restored access to the White Chuck Bench Trail (the bridge over the Sauk River was washed out in 2003 and replaced in 2008) – WTA crews addressed some backlog maintenance, and made trail improvements along the first 2 miles of trail.

New Projects

In North Cascades National Park – first Volunteer Vacation held in the park on the Flat Creek Trail.
In Spokane, work began on the Big Rock Trail and Tower Mountain Cut-off Trails to establish a new trail from the boundary of the Dishman Hills Natural Area’s acquired property to the base of Big Rock.
Held winter work parties in Olympic National Park on the Peabody Creek Trail, to address maintenance needs.
Eastern Washington cicuit – weekend work parties in the summer months in the Methow Ranger District, Wenatchee River Ranger District and Colville National Forest.

Backcountry Response Trips (BCRTS)

Volunteers ventured further into the backcountry on weekend trips, completing logout, heavy maintenance and bringing trails up to standard.
Conducted ten trips in the Olympics, nine trips in the Cascades, and a trip in the Colville National Forest.

Volunteer Vacations

WTA fielded a total of 44 week-long Volunteer Vacations, including 12 Youth Volunteer Vacations and one special Family Volunteer Vacation.
288 youth and adults participated on a Volunteer Vacation.
WTA Volunteer Vacations were held in Northeast Washington, Southwest Washington, the Olympic Peninsula, North Cascades National Park, Mount Rainier National Park and throughout the Cascades.