A Royal Trip - Washington Trails Association

www.wta.org September 2008 » Washington Trails WTA at Work «
Trail Maintenance »
Volunteer Richey Morgan poses with rockbar and a sizeable boulder on the Royal Basin Trail. This trip
was one of WTA’s Backcountry Response Teams, in which hardy volunteers backpack to work locations.
Photo by Mike May
A Royal Trip
A volunteer’s tale of a WTA Backcountry Response Team to Royal Basin
Wow! What a tremendous and wonderful
experience with the volunteers of WTA! I was
fortunate enough to be one of ten volunteers
making up WTA’s Backcountry Response Team
(BCRT) at Royal Basin in July. A WTA BCRT is
an extended, self-sufficient work party that carries
out trail maintenance on trails further up in
the backcountry. This is a much-needed service
provided by super people on trails that receive
seemingly less and less government support
every year. It felt great to give back some of my
time and labor in return for hiking the wonderful
trails in the Pacific Northwest.
The Royal Creek Trail (some call it the Royal
Lake or Basin Trail) consists of a dense forest
hike along Royal Creek in the eastern Olympics.
Old-growth forest, meadows, wildflowers,
waterfalls, mountain goats, deer, a mountain
lake—and if you’re really persistent—a mountain
tarn and access to Mount Deception, the thirdhighest
peak in the Olympics. However, it was
our task to restore the trail after recent seasonal
rockslides, blowdowns and water erosion.
These tasks required considerable knowledge
and effort, and the wonderful WTA volunteer
crew leaders were very wise in the ways of
trail maintenance and experienced with many
of the challenges that faced us.
After arriving at the trailhead we were
briefed on safety, tools and our task. Then we
slung on our full packs and put Vibrams to the
dirt as we headed to our base camp, one mile
in. Our ten-volunteer work crew consisted of
the following volunteers: Laurie (crew leader),
Jessi (assistant crew leader), Mark, Don, Cheryl,
Mason, Richey, Nathan, Katie, and myself. It
was great to see some of today’s youth learning
stewardship of our natural resources. We
thought twelve-year-old Katie, who has volunteered
over 25 times, might make a great future
Sierra Club president.
Arriving at the fork that leads hikers to either
the Camp Handy Trail or the Royal Creek Trail,
we established our camp at the convergence of
the Dungeness River and Royal Creek. Plenty of
pure, cold, fresh water and enough background
ambiance to overcome any nocturnal snoring!
Given adequate time to establish camp, we
then gathered to go over the trail conditions
report to determine our maintenance priorities.
We split into roughly three groups throughout
the weekend (depending on experience) to work
Want to
Volunteer
For more
info on WTA’s
Backcountry Response
Teams,
visit www.wta.
org and click on
“Volunteer.”
Mike May
Mike is a WTA
member and trail
work volunteer from
Bremerton.

» WTA at Work September 2008 » Washington Trails www.wta.org
Photo by Mike May
Royal Lake, Olympic
National Park.
WTA’s Backcountry
Reponse Teams
take backpacking
volunteers deeper
into wilderness than
most trail work parties.
on the various blowdowns, rockslides and trail
restorations.
And before you know it, we were headed up
the trail like ten singing dwarves, with tools
over our shoulders, happy to go work on the
trail. The maintenance demanded a lot from
us, but we were glad to be contributing to the
preservation of the trails that many of us have
come to enjoy.
I can’t say
enough good
things about our
leaders, Laurie
and Jessi. They
were absolutely
fantastic.
Whether it was
leading us in the
best way to create
new drainage,
teaching us
how to properly
saw a downed
tree with multiple
tension
points, or supplying
us with
the right amount
of Gummi bears,
praise, encouragement
or instruction, they did it all very well.
Having the right type of leadership can make
or break a project. These leaders were so great
that I definitely will be doing more volunteer
work with the WTA. Plus, Laurie makes a mean
breakfast burrito!
It was several days of fun times making the
trail better. We would complete a drainage
project and see the results of drier ground the
next day. Some of us, walking down the trail
the next day, would have to ask where the
blowdown trees had been cut. The tree cutting
gang work was so good that the trail seemed
seamless as we hiked unimpeded upwards
to Royal Lake. Most of the weekend hikers
enjoying the trail would stop and share their
appreciation of our efforts. I’m sure there will
be some who come out to a WTA trail maintenance
outing. Also, the summer park rangers
were kind enough to stop by and update us on
surrounding trail conditions and thank us for
the valuable service we were providing.
It was great to be out enjoying ourselves in
beautiful Royal Basin. Deer came within fifteen
feet of Katie. Laurie and her apprentice were
lucky enough to see a mountain goat on the
trail as they were cutting a downed tree. Many
of the alpine flowers were in full bloom, including
foxglove, wild rose, tiger lily, cow parsnip,
phlox, paintbrush, larkspur, and harebell (big
thanks to Laurie for her patience with all my
flower questions!). The weather was a supportive
65–80 degrees throughout the weekend,
with an occasional white fluffy cloud to
enhance the skyline.
After our work had been accomplished, we
felt very satisfied having made the trail better
for the next hiker to wander on. We had made
many improvements. Many were not visible to
the average hiker, which is WTA’s intent. The
hard-working volunteers had made some big
improvements, especially in the rockslide areas,
that made the trail an actual trail again.
Everyone gave 100 percent, but I will single
out the effort of Richey, who labored tremendously
to remove a rock from the path. What
had started out as an approximately 50-pound
rock became something like an iceberg as
he dug and dug deeper to get it out. In the
end, the boulder must have weighed over 400
pounds. It was an outstanding effort by all who
helped!
A Caring Organization
WTA cares for the environment, trails and people
Larry
MacDuff
Larry is an assistant
crew leader for
WTA. He lives in
Port Ludlow.
Growing up in Indiana, I had no opportunities
to experience the mountains and the
beauty of trails. This changed at the age of
thirty when I was transferred to Colorado and
then California with work assignments. So I
was a late bloomer, but I never looked back and
have since enjoyed the mountains of the world.
Over the past thirty-two years I have hiked
and backpacked in Peru, Nepal, New Zealand,
Scotland, the Alps, Canada, Alaska, Hawaii,
Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, California and
here in Washington.
During these many miles on the trail I was
impressed that so many miles of trail in our
state are maintained by volunteers. I thought
to myself during those trips that this was
something I would like to do in my retirement.
Three and a half years ago my wife, Karen, and
I chose the Pacific Northwest for retirement and
moved to Port Ludlow. I was soon introduced
to the wonders of WTA and have enjoyed my
association over the past two and a half years.
Last year I was invited to become an assistant
crew leader (ACL) along with Wayne and Peggy
Siscoe, and we all obtained our orange hats.
2008 started with a bang as I participated in
four days of work on the Barnes Creek Bridge in
Olympic National Park, two days on the Miller
Peninsula Trail and bridge repair in Dosewallips
State Park. I was energized and ready for

www.wta.org
September 2008 » Washington Trails WTA at Work «
Join a WTA
Trail Work
Party
Sept 3 Wednesday Barclay Lake
Sept 5 Friday Barclay Lake
Sept 5 Friday Bare Mountain
Sept 6 Weekend Indian Race Track
Sept 6 Weekend Scott Paul
Sept 6 Saturday Bare Mountain
Sept 7 Sunday Bare Mountain
Sept 9 Tuesday Lower Dungeness
Sept 9 Tuesday Barclay Lake
Sept 10 Wednesday Barclay Lake
Sept 13 Saturday Lake Lillian
Sept 13 Weekend Nooksack Cirque
Sept 14 Sunday Lake Margaret
Sept 16 Tuesday Mount Pilchuck
Sept 16 Tuesday Mount Walker
Sept 17 Wednesday Mount Pilchuck
Sept 17 Wednesday Skyline Divide
Sept 18 Thursday Skyline Divide
Sept 19 Friday Windy Gap/Twin Lakes
Sept 19 Friday Mount Pilchuck
Sept 20 Saturday Windy Gap/Twin Lakes
Sept 20 Weekend Mount St Helens
Sept 20 Weekend Hidden Lakes
Sept 21 Sunday Windy Gap/Twin Lakes
Sept 23 Tuesday Windy Gap/Twin Lakes
Sept 24 Wednesday Windy Gap/Twin Lakes
Sept 26 Friday Grand Ridge
Sept 26 Friday Bare Mountain
Sept 27 Saturday Public Lands Day!
For a complete schedule
visit www.wta.org
To sign up or find more info » This is a selection
from our extensive list of volunteer
opportunities. To find more trips, and to
sign up, visit our website at www.wta.org
and click on “Trail Work.” No experience is
necessary. Sign-ups close two days before
a work party, and work parties often fill
up quickly, so reserve early. Trip dates and
locations are subject to change.
a full year of giving back through trail work.
However, in mid-April a new and unexpected
fork in the trail appeared. I was diagnosed with
cancer.
What occurred next has brought me much
comfort. About three weeks after the diagnosis,
I contacted Janice O’Connor, crew
leader extraordinaire on the Olympic
Peninsula. She was also my
first contact with WTA, in 2006,
and had introduced me to the joys
of slinging mud, eating candy
and having contact with kindred
spirits. I wanted her to know that I
hadn’t dropped off the edge of the
earth and lost interest in WTA. So
I told her about my health issues,
and she told me that I’d qualified
for my twenty-five work party trail
vest.
The vest not only represented the joys of
WTA but will also make a wonderful legacy gift
for my five-year-old grandson, Giovonn. Gio, at
age three, met Janice and many others during a
work party. I brought him over to the site, kept
him safe and out of the way, and everyone was
wonderful with this little boy. He still asks me
about my friends who work in the forest and
wants to visit once again. Since he calls me
Grandpa Mac, that’s the nickname on my WTA
orange hat. Janice told me she would get me a
vest, and so I expected to receive it in the mail.
In the meantime I began receiving cards of
support and phone calls from folks in WTA,
including Wayne and Peggy Siscoe and Don
Stoneman. I also received a phone call from
Janice, which surprised me. She said that the
vest was in and that she and crew leaders Don
Stoneman and Richard Tipps wanted to handdeliver
it to my home. Remember that those of
us on the Olympic Peninsula do not live close
to each other. All three of these folks live more
than an hour from Port Ludlow.
The day arrived and I looked forward to
their visit, since my routine had become one of
daily radiation and many chemo sessions. What
a wonderful visit, almost two hours of WTA
updates and sharing. Don brought along his
harmonica and played and sang a Scottish tune
for me, since he knows how much my Scottish
heritage means to me. Janice presented my
vest which had an embroidered Grandpa Mac
on the right front breast. My wife and I were
speechless.
What brought us into WTA and this wonderful
organization was a love of nature and trails.
But what keeps us coming back are the great
friends we make as we work. Yes, WTA cares
about the environment and trails, but it also
cares about people.
Janice, Rich, Don, Wayne and Peggy, thank
you so much for making a difference in my life.
I expect to see you all once again on a work
party—look for Grandpa Mac.
Meet Our
Members!
The “Vested”
Left to right: Jane
Baker, Jaime Ramos,
Rebecca Collins,
Sandra Hays
and Bob Adler.
Many first-time
volunteers who
spend a day as
part of a trail crew
get hooked. Each
year, WTA awards
hundreds of shiny
new hard hats to
folks who have
participated on
five or more work
parties. Those who
are really hooked on
trail work (twentyfive
or more work
parties) earn a
cozy REI fleece vest
embroidered with
“WTA Trail Crew.”
This summer a crew
of twelve volunteers
participated
on a Volunteer
Vacation to improve
trails near Goldmyer
Hotsprings. In the
midst of a week
redirecting streams,
removing windfall,
and repairing slide
areas, five of those
volunteers met or
surpassed a total of
twenty-five days on
trail. Just a drop in
the bucket for many
of these folks, but
WTA can not thank
them enough!