Seeking Creative, Determined Girls: Join a WTA Youth Volunteer Vacation Today

WTA's youth volunteer vacations are a great opportunity to try something new, learn a new skill, and have  a ton of fun in on some of Washington’s most beautiful trails. And we want to empower more girls to get those experiences by joining WTA on a trip this summer!

Learn from the best

Completing a task using your your creativity and determination can be a really powerful feeling. WTA relies on crew leaders who have lots of practice using and developing these skills, and when you join us this summer, you'll have the opportunity to spend time with women who have lots of experience working on trail and have a blast doing it.

Evonne Ellis takes a break for a photo with Assistant Crew Leader Jon Nishimura. Photo from WTA archives.

Evonne Ellis is one of these women.

She first discovered trail work as a teenager, participating in a multi-week youth conservation program through Northwest Youth Corps. Now a WTA crew leader and former member of the Denali National Park trail crew, she remembers what her first experience on a work party taught her.

“During my first stint of trail work, I learned how to surpass the boundaries that I put on myself and realized my potential to take on mental and physical challenges, which I would have never known was possible.”

Fall for the work

“That first summer program with Northwest Youth Corps was so tough!" says Evonne. "But our trip into the French Creek Wilderness changed me forever."

Evonne and her team were tasked with building a structure on trail that required tons of fist-sized rocks that they carried in buckets from a river nearby.

"Bucket by bucket, I stopped thinking about the pain in my body, the heat—all that I could think about was moving between my crew members in a bucket brigade. My mind was empty of negativity and focused fully on that moment. When we finished the turnpike, it was one of the most rewarding and joyful times that I had ever experienced in my life. Trail work became an addiction from then on.”

Take pride in your progress

Through WTA’s summer programs for teens, you'll have a week of fulfilling experiences like Evonne's and develop both physically and mentally. Many former volunteers are returning for another dose of the great outdoors. Those that can't, remember their past volunteer vacations fondly:

“After spending a week completing tough physical tasks, I always feel proud of myself and my ability to create so much with just my hands and a tool,” says Anna Silver, a WTA youth volunteer who went on six different backcountry trips in just four years of volunteering.

Anna Silver (middle front in red) flexes after a hard day of work on the White River Trail. Photo from WTA archives.

Join a growing community

WTA is committed to getting more girls and women outside. Sign up solo and meet a whole crew of new friends, or bring a friend and have an adventure together.

Questions? Email Andrea Martin at andrea@wta.org