Tiny tents and tool time: 20 years of marriage, 18 years of volunteering

By Holly Weiler

Spokane-area assistant crew leaders Mary Beth and Jim Fitzgerald celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary on-trail last fall by joining a day work party. While they met through their shared workplace, it was a shared love of the outdoors that has shaped their relationship and shines through in their commitment to both each other and to trails.

Mary Beth and Jim Fitzgerald celebrate their 20th anniversary at a WTA trail work party. Photo courtesy Mary Beth and Jim.

From the beginning, their relationship has had an outdoor component. The couple decided to tie the knot at the courthouse after work 20 years ago, and then take the next week off for a honeymoon — which happened to be a hunting trip together. Most of their anniversaries since have consisted of something outdoorsy. Mary Beth says she feels lucky that both she and Jim enjoy doing outdoor activities together, but is also especially happy that they found WTA as a focus for so much of their outdoor time together. 

The couple joined their first volunteer trailwork trip together in 2007 — a day work party on the Sauk River while vacationing on the west side of the state. They wanted to volunteer and give back, but at that time WTA didn’t have many work parties available in the Spokane area. The trip was appealing to Jim, and years later and after he retired, he sought out a work party in Spokane. Soon Jim became a regular attendee on Spokane-area projects, and in 2022 he became an ACL. Jim notes that he especially enjoys the problem solving for a good cause that happens in most work parties: from laying out a proper switchback to puzzling out the best method of clearing downfall during a log-out, all while enjoying the camaraderie of working with the crew.

When Mary Beth retired, she decided to attend a day work party along with Jim. She recalls deciding to try at least the day work parties since they would likely be rewarding, although she didn’t expect to ever join a backcountry response team trip. Originally Mary Beth was less certain she’d dive in as deeply as Jim, but as it turned out, she also really enjoyed trailwork: from the social aspect to the physical work, and giving back to the local recreation community.

In fact she enjoyed it so much that, as she puts it, “it escalated from there.” Mary Beth joined the ranks of the ACL community in 2024. At the time, she was adamant about drawing the line at day work parties, certain that she would not like BCRTs. 

Jim and Mary Beth on a hike near Lake Chelan. 

Eventually a car camping BCRT lured Mary Beth out for a longer trip, followed by a backpacking trip that had pack support to carry the tools, and by the end of 2024 she had even joined a “regular” BCRT where she packed in all of her own tools and equipment. Jim has long been a backpacking enthusiast, although originally he had only ever backpacked during hunting season, never during the summer. Mary Beth took a little longer to warm up to the idea of backpacking, but now enjoys it as well.

They note the key to partaking in either a backpacking trip or a BCRT as a couple is first and foremost that they enjoy each others’ company. Jim joked that while they “survived a smaller tent and are still together,” it’s even more enjoyable now that they’ve invested in a larger tent for multiday trips. Mary Beth shared that her favorite line to Jim is “all my great adventures are with you.” They are already looking forward to sharing their new, more spacious tent on backpacking BCRTs in 2025.