Hiker Headlines: Summer Volunteer Trips, Permits, Snow!

It's Feb. 7. It's a great time to be planning summer vacations — including WTA volunteer trips. Permit season for backpacking begins soon. A lot of Washington is snowy. And now some libraries can check out Discover Passes. 

Here’s some hiker news that you may have missed while out on trail this week.

Now's a great time to plan for summer trips, including backcountry volunteer trips with WTA. Photo from a BCRT on the Boundary Trail by Brandon Tigner

Summer dreaming: We have the ideal antidote to the winter cold: Creating a stunning plan for summer. We may be biased, but we think our volunteer vacations and backcountry response teams are one of the best ways to spend you summer. Trips are already posted for you to begin daydreaming. Take a few steps to get ready, and you can begin registering at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Check out a pass, check out a trail: Thanks to a new pilot program. Libraries in Pierce, Skagit and Spokane counties will offer a limited number of Discover Passes to check out. With the borrowed that pass, you can visit any Washington State Park or other state lands that require the pass. As a bonus, the passes will be loaned as part of a backpack kit containing binoculars, field guides and other interpretive materials. 

Let it snow: After some areas of Washington received enough snow to shut downs schools, snarl commutes and make hats mostly mandatory, even more snow is expected this weekend. It seems like a good time to do some winter safety reminders.

• Avalanches can be deadly. Make sure you know conditions before you go out. 
• We like you. Please make good choices for winter adventures and come back safe and sound.
• Use trip reports to check on the status of trails — and if you get out, be sure to file your own trip report.
• Now, safety firmly in mind, don’t forget to also have some fun. 

Kids belong outdoors: Washington Trails Association signed onto a letter with the Outdoor Alliance for Kids to encourage the U.S. Senate to pass the Every Kid Outdoors Act, which would make the Every Kid in a Park program permanent. The program provides free national park passes to every fourth grader in the country.

Plan for permits: Dreaming of a trip on the Wonderland? Want to climb Mount St. Helens or see the stars from the Enchantments? Now's the time to start thinking and planning. Permits are required for all of these, and more locations around the state. The first permit process, for the Enchantments, opens next week. 

The best kind of news: Somewhere, someone is building a snowman.

BE IN THE KNOW

• Keep up to date with Trail News, our monthly email newsletter. 
• For the most up-to-date information on trails, check out our trip reports. And then write your own.