WTA Volunteers = New Trails + Great Work on our Public Lands

A look back at National Public Lands Day with WTA

• Smokey Bear spent National Public Lands Day at Mount St. Helens, where WTA volunteers put the finishing touches on the new ADA-accessible Volcano Viewpoint Trail near Ape Caves.
• WTA wrapped up a great season of work at Mount Rainier National Park with a work party on the Wonderland Trail near popular Narada Falls.
• A strong showing of volunteers devoted their weekend to improving the trail at Heather Meadows on Mount Baker.

• Volunteers in the Olympics improved the tread on the beloved trail to the top of Mount Townsend.
• Our annual Youth and Families work party was a huge success thanks to a bunch of Boy Scouts, several dedicated community members, and a group from the YMCA BOLD/GOLD Mountain School who worked on a new trail system under construction on Taylor Mountain in the Issaquah Alps.

Mailbox Peak grand opening

We also joined our friends at the Mountains to Sound Greenway and DNR for the official opening of the new Mailbox Peak Trail. Trip reporters are already raving about the safer, more sustainable route up this legendary mountain.

Trip reporter string cheeze had this to say: "Great job constructing the new trail. It's more interesting than the old route and it's still 4000 vertical feet. I'm an older guy an end up doing Mailbox two or three times a year, but my knees take almost a week to recover. Yesterday was long but as they say "No pain no pain". Knees felt great. Lots of younger first timers and kids on the trail. The more people who get the hiking bug the better. The more hikers the more support for good trails and good land use. You're not going to get solitude in North Bend anyway so the more the better."