Spring Onto a New Trail, Meet a New Crew Member

What a spring we've had! Our trail maintenance program has been hard at work opening trails, building bridges, and improving trails in new areas.

Projects completed and new locations

Thanks to tireless efforts from a loyal group of volunteers, a ribbon has been cut on the Rock Trail at Larrabee State Park. New bridges grace the West Tiger Railroad Grade on Tiger Mountain, and volunteers are hard at work reviving the Wynoochee Lakeshore Trail.

The season's first work parties in Spokane have brought in as many as 30 volunteers each, while Vancouver-area volunteers spread to several new locations like Vancouver Lake and Whipple Creek. In Puget Sound, a new trail starts to take shape at Evans Creek Preserve.

Ozette Triangle hikers will be forever grateful for the slick boardwalk converted to turnpike by WTA's first volunteer vacation crew of 2014. The Duckabush BCRT kicked off a great season in the backcountry alongside two Chelan Lakeshore volunteer vacations. Collectively, we've racked up 25,000 volunteer hours so far this year!

New friends and familiar faces

Spokane-based Holly Weiler is helping WTA do more for hikers east of the Cascades as our new Eastern Washington regional coordinator. And Kayla Bordelon comes on board with great trail skills to pinch hit wherever she's needed, from North Bend to Mount Baker and beyond.

As we all look ahead to summer, WTA has a full 2014 roster of seasonal staff. You'll recognize several familiar faces among this season's chief crew leaders. We are thrilled to welcome back Jen Gradisher (Rainier), Alex Ray (Skykomish), and Charlie Romine (Olympics).

Ben Mayberry has been promoted to chief crew leader for North Bend, with Greg Friend at his side as assistant crew leader. Volunteer vacations are in good hands with Jane Baker, Lisa Black, Kathy Bogaards, Barbara Budd, Austin Easter, Jackson Lee, Janice O'Connor, and newcomer Kay Sadowitz.

Say hello to Ryan Schreiner, who will be helping out in our southwest region, and we're proud to announce that our roster of amazingly skilled and dedicated volunteer blue hats has just increased by four thanks to Lezlie Cox, Tom Griffith, Terry Lamp, and Ken Vandver.

Hats off to a great season -- we're just getting started!