I am an idiot. For four years in a row I had the opportunity to get paid for 8 hours of volunteering and didn't do it. Five years of failure was out of the question and for the start of the redemption tour, I opted to join a Washington Trails Association (WTA) work party for a big improvement on my normal Wednesday routine. We were slated to work on the Erinswood trail which will be an ADA accessible loop at the base of Heybrook Ridge but I got up early to try the relatively new ridge trail.
The first half mile is just dark, empty forest and switchbacks but given the day's agenda it was a good distraction to focus on how the trail had been built/routed. After getting onto the top, the trees thin out, the undergrowth returns and you get peekaboo views of the Index Wall. Things really open up when you get to the power-lines which lent a nice sizzle pop in the mist.
Back down at the trailhead while waiting for the work crew to arrive there were some great vintage shots of the area. The one below features the ridge on the left and the mountains I was hoping to see are in the background.
The Erinswood crew for the day was a mix of the retired, teachers, and medical staff. Out of the 15 volunteers, I was impressed to see that only two of us were newbies and one of our sub leaders, Pete, is a WTA legend who tallies his volunteer days in the thousands (1,900+). Our mission was to build a couple turnpikes and shore up a few points where the creek was overflowing onto the trail. Might have gone pretty quickly but you need to scavenge/mine for your own rocks and then top it off with mineral soil (what you find after you dig down below the organic layers).
Getting a trail up to ADA shape is a major commitment and although the trail was stroller safe even before we did our day's work, many more work crews will be required to bring in gravel to top the whole loop and ensure the grade is up to code.
Now I'm just waiting until 2020 and my chance to get paid for another day spent in the woods. If you happen to be in Washington, the WTA website makes finding/joining work crews super easy and they are very gentle with their volunteers (that might have just been me after they saw my anemic biceps). There are snacks and you get your own hardhat after 5 trail days!
