They don’t take as much as, for instance, roads, but our trails still require a good deal of maintenance. When I was 15 I volunteered a summer with the Student Conservation Association constructing a four mile segment of the Colorado Trail which stretches from Denver to Durango. You might not think that spending a summer swinging a Pulaski and moving rocks would be something the average teenager would enjoy, but that time and the work and the place left an indelible mark on me. It’s amazing what you can accomplish with just a little, the CT is 483 miles of volunteer work.
Since then I’ve been active in trail building and maintenance organizations where ever I happened to have settled. Today I live and play in Washington State. Our house sits at the figurative threshold of Alpine Lakes Wilderness and this is a common destination for me because it’s so close. Washington Trails Association is my current favorite organization, the pages below detail my work with that organization during their annual Hike-a-Thon.
