People (and Especially Hikers) Are Awesome
Here at Washington Trails Association, we see a generosity of spirit in hikers and volunteers every single day. We're constantly blown away by hikers' highly developed sense of kindness, adventure and fun. So, we're sharing four little stories that prove, once again, that people are awesome.
People are awesome. If you read the incredible stories in trip reports or know Washington's hiking community at all, then this should come as no surprise.
New parents load up their babies and go backpacking. Volunteers put on a hard hat and go to work fixing trails. Trip reporters keep each other safe and in the know. Here at Washington Trails Association, we see a generosity of spirit in hikers and volunteers every single day. We're constantly blown away by hikers' and volunteers' highly developed sense of kindness, adventure and fun. Every now and then, we think we should stop and celebrate that.
So, we're sharing four moments that prove people (and especially hikers) are awesome.
Four volunteers, 330 years of total experience
On a recent volunteer vacation at Mesatchee Creek in the William O. Douglas Wilderness, the four volunteers pictured below helped build a beautiful new bridge. The combined ages of these spry gentleman add up to 330 years. (That's an average age of 82 and a half.) The lesson here? Take care of your knees; you might need them on the volunteer vacation you take when you turn 82.
Thanks, guys, for all your amazing hard work and especially for keeping our hiking boots high and dry with that sweet new bridge.
Surprise find on Mailbox Peak summit
When one WTA member decided to send us a contribution, he wrote a check, slipped it in an envelope, sealed it, stamped it, and ... hiked 6 miles up 4,100 feet to the summit of Mailbox Peak to post it. Donating to protect trails is awesome enough, but we loved that this particular piece of correspondence made its way to the top of a mountain before hiker Lynette Alber happened to spot it and deliver it to us via a more traditional mailbox.
- Lynette Alber found some correspondence to WTA in the Mailbox Peak's iconic mailbox.
Hiker returns to hike his very first hike, 60 years later
Trip reporter George & Sally celebrated a pretty incredible milestone on a recent hike to Heather Lake. Anyone who writes trip reports gets a high five from us to begin with, but this story about celebrating a hiking milestone is pretty rad. It should also give some comfort to parents who are taking their kids hiking now in the hopes that it leads to a lifelong love affair with the outdoors.
"Sally and a group from the Northshore Hiking Club accompanied me on this trip where I first hiked to Heather Lake in 1953 with my dad and sister as a 4 year old." >> Read the rest of the Trip Report
Hike-a-Thoners spread the word in Sultan
WTA board member (and Hike-a-Thoner) Rob Shurtleff recently spotted a bunch of other Hike-a-Thoners in Sultan. He stopped and snapped a photo and sent it to us. We recognized longtime Hike-a-Thon team We Trip We Fall (led by team captain, the awesome Angela Weiben) right away.
"Thank you to everyone who stopped by and had their cars washed while we were at the Mt. View Chevron in Sultan," said Angela. "Also a big thank you to the hikers who stopped by to just donate to a good cause, without needing a car wash. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!" Indeed it is. Thanks, team We Trip We Fall, all of the 190+ Hike-a-Thoners, and their awesome sponsors for helping protect trails.
- We Trip We Fall run a car wash as part of their August Hike-a-Thon. Photo by Rob Shurtleff.
Comments