WTA helps open new Mount Spokane trail, builds bridges, trains trail and saw skills, celebrates one of our own
WTA has had a busy few months, training folks at Snohomish County and Washington Conservation Corps, working on trails across the state and celebrating one of our own winning an award from the Washington State Trails Coalition.
WTA and the trails community has had a lot to celebrate in the last few months.
- After 10 years of work, a new trail opened at Mount Spokane State Park. Our trail work has shifted into lower elevations, and incredible volunteers from Bellingham to the Columbia River Gorge continue braving the colder season to improve trails across the state.
- We've also been celebrating the recognition of WTA's Angelic Friday, who the Washington State Trails Coalition honored with an award as an Emerging Leader last month.
- And we've been proud to train new professionals in technical trail skills, spending time with both Snohomish County staff and our friends at the Washington Conservation Corps.
All that, and its not even the end of the year.
New trails open (and some still to come)
New Trail in Mount Spokane State Park
After 10 years, Mount Spokane’s new Trail 182 is finally complete! State Park’s staff and WTA crew leaders Jane Baker and Holly Weiler took to the area on a snowy day in 2014 to do trail layout and design. After years of permitting and trail construction, WTA volunteers finished the trail under the leadership of crew leader Mary Siegel.
Ribbon cutting trail 182 at Mount Spokane. Photo by Rianna Bidon
The trail opens up a number of opportunities in a popular area:
“It’s the first non-roadbed trail from a new access point in the park and ties it into the rest of the trail system," said Joe Hall, a Spokane-based staffer. "I was able to link together 10 miles of trails I’d never been on before thanks to this new gem. Thank you for the years of work on this project!”
Ready to hike: With the return of wintery weather, the formal ribbon-cutting celebration will occur next spring, but the trail is ready for visitors now! Trailhead access from Day Mount Spokane Road can be limited during winter depending on snowfall amounts, or check it out via the longer approach from the Lower Kit Carson Loop trailhead, which is a maintained Sno-Park. We’ve already got our first trip report — will you write the next one?
From Bellingham to the Columbia River Gorge, More Trails Coming Soon
In winter, WTA shifts our trail work from the high country to lower elevations, and there's plenty of trail construction happening close to town.
In Bellingham, work is paused for the season at Olson Creek but continues at Blanchard Mountain and Maple Creek.
Further south in the Gorge, our project at St. Cloud in the Columbia River Gorge is nearly completed, requiring just one more layer of gravel to make it fully ADA-compliant.
We can expect the trail to see final graveling in the spring. For now, most of the loop is graveled, though wheelchairs may need assistance since the materials haven’t been fully compacted yet.
WSU Outdoor club member smooth out new gravel at St. Cloud. Photo courtesy Stasia Honnold.
Many groups have made this update to the trail possible, including the Washington State University Outdoor Recreation Club. This group has worked primarily on trails on WSU Vancouver’s campus, but visited St. Cloud to improve the trail system here.
“I enjoyed being able to restore part of the path at the St. Cloud Rec site," said one volunteer enthusiastically. "I also had fun learning how to use the motorized tote/wheelbarrow, and I’m glad I can use that as part of my resume now!”
The happy WSU Outdoor Club smiles with crew leader Stasia Honnold (front) at the beach near St. Cloud after a day of work. Photo by Stasia Honnold.
Awards won and trainings done
Angelic Friday Honored at Statewide Trails Event
WTA’s Angelic Friday was honored in October with an award from the Washington State Trails Coalition as an Emerging Leader here in Washington. Angelic has been with WTA for years, stewarding our Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) after a year working on our Lost Trails Found crew and returning as a crew leader and project coordinator for the Emerging Leaders Program.
Angelic with Washington Trails Coalition Board Member Lisa Black at the ceremony recognizing her contribution to the trails community. Photo courtesy Jen Gradisher.
The program offers participants — which includes Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) individuals — paid opportunities to build leadership skills, trail maintenance skills, and it lays the groundwork for careers in natural resource stewardship and outdoor recreation.
Under Angelic's leadership, the program's participants have advanced professionally, returning to lead WTA trail crews, work in the office, or branch out into careers with local farms or nonprofits who work with WTA partners such as King County.
Angelic beams during a break from crosscutting on the ELP crew. Her on-trail experience has been shared with years of other ELP cohort members. Photo courtesy Angelic Friday.
"Angelic brings her lived experiences, identity as a Black woman and trail work swagger to every space she is a part of. She stresses the importance of movement, safety, and the importance of technical skills to trail work parties. She continuously paves the way for BIPOC leaders in trail work spaces and is finding various ways to bring technical trail work training accessible and fun," said WTA's ELP co-manager MJ Mahan, highlighting the many assets Angelic brings to the outdoor community.
Congratulations, Angelic, and thank you for sharing your skills with WTA's community!
WTA shares trail skills, builds literal bridges, with Agency staff
Periodically, WTA staff and volunteers train land management seasonal staff as part of our agreements with agencies. Trainings like these expand the trail maintenance community’s capacity to help keep trails open come spring, as snow melts and winter storm damage is revealed.
As part of a recently-renewed partnership with Snohomish County Parks, WTA staff in Arlington hosted a workshop on building bridges and puncheons with Snohomish county rangers and park planning staff.
Before the crew took to the field, we used models crafted by WTA staffer Joe Olbrych to share concepts.
No trolls here! Photo by Joe Olbrych.
Then we did some planning and practice in the trailhead parking area.
Starting small with models makes implementing the larger project easier to grasp. Photo by Brandon Tigner.
We headed to the worksite for some life-sized practice ...
On-trail construction has lots of tasks, from trail corridor clearing, to measuring, leveling, and cutting (ideally once). Photo by Brandon Tigner.
And by the end of the day, the Lime Kiln trail had a nice-looking puncheon and the Snohomish County Staff had a new set of skills!
WTA-led Sawyer Trainings for Washington Conservation Corps (WCC)
As part of a different agreement, WTA's Central Puget Sound Trails Coordinator Emily Snyder also recently completed our first-ever 4-day chainsaw felling and bucking training with Washington Conservation Corps.
Felling (cutting trees down) and bucking (cutting trees into pieces so they're easier to remove from a trail) are both crucial to annual trail maintenance, but felling trees is a difficult task requiring a lot of skill to do safely. It's typically reserved for contractors, professional crews or land managers to tackle, limiting the number of people who can address hazard trees on trail.
A WCC crew member practices felling cutting techniques on an already-downed tree at a WTA-hosted training. Photo courtesy Emily Snyder.
By training these folks, we're increasing the number of professionals who can address issues on trail as they arise. Emily, an avid sawyer, was thrilled by turnout and by the range of people represented in the class.
“The WCC folks included 17 women and 7 men. I’ve never walked into a classroom for a saw event that just happened to be majority female presenting. Awesome group!”
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