Volunteer Vacation Crew Leaders

These are some of the men and women who will work with you while you're out on a Volunteer Vacation. They'll make sure you are safe, having a great time and eating plenty of good food. Volunteer Vacations (for adults) are indicated in orange, Youth Volunteer Vacations are indicated in green.

Jane Baker

Jane first started trail work in 1987 with the Sierra Club Outings.  But when she learned about WTA in 2005 she jumped ship and has been enjoying Volunteer Vacations ever since.  She supports her outdoor recreation and trail work habits by being a physical therapist.   She lives in Spokane and has helped get a foothold for WTA in Eastern Washington; come check out the Salmo-Priest Wilderness and the Colville National Forest sometime!  But every once in a while she likes to get back to the Cascades for a week in the high country, which is where you'll find her this August.

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Lisa Black

Lisa is a Seattle native who grew up hiking in the Cascades and Olympics.  From her home in Everett, she's been working on trails for seven years and leads day work parties when the need arises.  Away from her night job as a pediatric nurse, Lisa gets out in her yard, knits, and has lately been indulging an interest in Egyptology.

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Arlen Bogaards

Growing up on the family farm in the shadow of Mt Baker, Arlen discovered the great outdoors and the wonders of nature. Influenced by an aunt with a penchant for hiking, and involvement with a local youth group, Arlen learned to love hiking and camping. Arlen volunteered with WTA before becoming WTA's year-round Northwest Washington Crew Leader.  He leads early-season Volunteer Vacations and spends his summer leading weekend trips in the Mount Baker district, as well as winter work parties in the Bellingham area.  Arlen loves to travel, work on trails, garden, play and listen to music. If his guitar or mandolin is anywhere nearby you might find yourself singing around a campfire after a great day on trail.

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Kathy Bogaards

Kathy has been volunteering on trails with WTA for five years in the Bellingham/Mt Baker district. She has great enthusiasm for nature and the outdoors and documenting every nuance of it with her camera. Kathy has worked two seasons with the Mt Baker/Snowqualmie Forest Service trail crew as well as a volunteer crew leader for WTA. When Kathy and her husband, Arlen, aren’t enjoy their new home and hobby farm in the foothills of Mt Baker, they enjoy hiking, camping, snowboarding and volunteering on each other’s WTA work parties.

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Barbara Budd

Over a decade ago, Barbara succumbed to her growing need for mountains by taking a one-year-long job in Washington.  She's been finding excuses to stay ever since, including working trails for the Forest Service, where she started out as a volunteer wilderness ranger at her favorite place, Lyman Lake.  After all, can anything be better than living in a tent for three months surrounded by mountains, lakes, glaciers, and alpine meadows? After serving as USFS liaison to a whole bunch of WTA trips, she got hooked.  Now, after leading her first WTA trip in 2009, she's thrilled to be on the other side of that equation.  When she's not out on the trail, Barbara loves to travel, sing, and dance.  Hmmm...guess you can do those things on the trail, too.  Oh, and let's not forget this winter's adventures in dog sledding, where she learned another meaning for the phrase "Hike!Hike!"

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Jackson Lee

Jackson has spent the past three summers on trail with WTA – first as a youth volunteer, then as an assistant crew leader. He is currently studying environmental education at Western Washington University. When he isn't writing term papers or leading trips for WTA, he enjoys photographing and exploring the dynamic landscapes of the Pacific Northwest. Some of his favorite back country exploits thus far have occurred in the North Cascades, including a 60 mile traverse from Ross Lake to Hannegan Pass.

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Janice O'Connor

When she isn't leading a volunteer Vacation during the summer, you will find her volunteering her time leading day trips and Backcountry Response Teams for WTA on the Olympic Peninsula. Janice is a semi-retired Registered Nurse has been leading trail crews for about seven years. She joined WTA 11years ago after running in to a crew while out on a hike and being told to "pick up that shovel and help us out" by Greg Ball, one of WTA's most memorable crew leaders.  She has met some of the most terrific folks out on work crews, and her favorite tool is the shovel.

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Julia Schwarz

Julia has been doing trail work with WTA since her first volunteer vacation in 2005. She is currently finishing her Master’s in geology, but she couldn’t help but say ‘yes!’ to another year of wandering around on trails with some great people. You certainly can’t beat the office view. While on trail and off, she enjoys cooking, singing, and exploring new places. One of her favorite hikes is Summerland to the Cowlitz Divide, in Mount Rainier National Park.