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Ryan and I signed up to do trail work with the WTA (Washington Trail Association) for Earth Day this year. This was my first time ever doing anything like this!! I don't even do yard work, don't have a yard. :-) Gardening....nope. So wielding a shovel and/or an adz would be a new experience for me. I do the hike-a-thon for the WTA every August to raise money to help out the trails in Washington State, but I have never actually gotten my hands dirty doing the work. So Earth Day seemed like the perfect time to get outside and give back!
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My Hike-A-Thon Page
We signed up to do work on the Skookum Flats Trail near Greenwater, WA. This trail is used by mountain bikers and hikers.
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Skookum Flats Trail
We drove up early in the morning in order to be at the trailhead by 8:30 am. On the way through Greenwater, WA we saw an Elk by the side of the road. This is common in places like Yellowstone, but I am not used to seeing Elk wandering around in Washington!
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My first job on the Skookum Flats Trail was to clear it of storm debris and reduce the grade in a section very near the trailhead.
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Then I went to another area to clear a place where a tree had fallen. The day before, guys with chainsaws had come through and broken up the tree into pieces, but we still had to reroute the trail around a huge rootball.
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I dug out beautybark...sawed off part of a root and worked on tread... I have many before and after photos here...We had a great day doing trail work and we will definitely be back out here again in the future!
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On the way home away from Greenwater I took this photo of a lovely Trillium.
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