Celebrating 10 years of real hikers writing for WTA
You may be familiar with the work WTA’s volunteer trail crews do, but did you know that the information for more than 1,000 trails on wta.org was written by volunteer writers? | By Anna Roth
Since 2014, I’ve been working with a group of Hiking Guide correspondents who have provided WTA with ground-truthed hiking and driving directions to help you get to your next hike.
These volunteers make time for this in lives already full of work, family, friends and even other WTA-related obligations — many also do trail work or are outreach ambassadors.
The team’s focus is on providing reliable information from first-person research. We offer specific details in the hike descriptions to enhance your hike.
You’ll likely learn something by reading them, like what flowers you’re hiking past, what that peak in the distance is or a bit about the history of the area. Read the driving directions, and you’ll get notes about easy-to-miss turns or the last spot for a flush toilet.
Whether you like shrub steppe, big views or quiet old-growth, our Hiking Guide has something for you, and it's likely a volunteer writer helped get the information you use to get there. Photos (l to r) by PJ Heusted, David Hagen and Wes Partch.
Each Hiking Guide correspondent has a notable voice or area of expertise. Botanists, historians, airline engineers, students and climbers populate the team. Their hiking preferences range from intense bushwhacks to low-key, close-to-town walks. And they live all over the state, so we can provide local knowledge for hikers across Washington.
They're meticulous, too. It's not uncommon for a writer to tell me they repeatedly visited a trail to get the information right. One writer has even drawn his own maps when they haven't been available! Check out the hiking guide entries for Walker Preserve or Marine View Park to see them.
Though some of the original team has moved on, new hikers have stepped up. Through 10 years of managing the team, I’ve met dozens of kind, energetic, passionate and community-minded hikers. It is heartwarming to work with such a lovely group of people passionate about living, working and playing in Washington.
To celebrate the anniversary, a few folks on the team shared what they do when they're not hiking, and what about being part of the team speaks to them. But this isn't all of them! There are many more, diligently hiking and writing away so you can embark on your next big adventure.
David Hagen
David has been writing for WTA for years, with a focus on Central Washington. Even before the correspondent team was formed, he was writing for the Hike It section of the magazine.
These days, he spends his downtime relaxing with a good book in his yard, re-energizing for his next hike.
“I think the fall, winter and spring hiking over here is so good and would like more people to know about it. … I have found that write-ups by locals who know the hikes well are generally more accurate, both for the route and for directions to the trailhead.”
Yasuhiko Obara
Yasuhiko (who goes by Yas in his author credit) has been part of the team since the beginning a decade ago and is excited for the next 10 years. His precise editing has been extremely helpful when he revisits locations to update details about where a trail goes, and the twists and turns that may have changed over the years.
“I’m a retired aircraft engineer. I was originally born in Japan and moved to the state in 1986. I absolutely adore the natural beauty Washington has to offer. I hope I still have many years left to explore."
Linda Roe
Linda Roe, a trip reporter and Hike-a-Thoner before she was a Hiking Guide writer, focuses on botany and Leave No Trace tips in her write-ups. She spends some of her spare time sewing hiking bandanas!
“Part of a hike, to me, is seeing (plants or notable geologic features) along the trail. I like to work a bit of that into the write-ups and hope to inspire other hikers to enjoy the journey on the way to the destination.”
Jennie Flaming
A guide in Alaska in the summer, Jennie also hosts a podcast with Craig Romano (on which WTA appeared this year!) In addition to these commitments, she does research for WTA as a correspondent and also writes trip reports when she hits the trail.
Her enthusiasm for research is matched only by her range — she's willing to explore many trails of many levels of difficulty to improve the information that is out there, and has contributed many updates to our wheelchair accessibility notes on some of the more popular trails in the state.
PJ Heusted
PJ Heusted is a Washington Conservation Corps crew member by day and a relatively new member of the team.
“I love getting to scratch my research itch and adventure itch at the same time by exploring hidden corners of Washington. It is so special to be a part of a team that breathes new life into lesser-known trails. Writing for the Hiking Guide is one of my favorite things to do and letting it inspire my hiking season makes every adventure just that much more rewarding.
Ken Giesbers
Ken's background in engineering shines through in the precision of his hike writeups. He hikes with an altimeter wristwatch, a GPS device and a cell phone. He also carries a small notepad and a Digital SLR camera. At the trailhead, he calibrates everything then sets out, recording a full track as well as waypoints for noteworthy landmarks, trail junctions, and campsites. But he doesn't forget to stop and smell the flowers:
"The time synchronizations of my devices make it easy to tell post-hike exactly where I took a particular photo. So I end up using the notepad just to describe the flora, trail conditions, and the like."
Susan Saul
A longtime WTA member and volunteer, Susan has been active for years protecting, improving and now writing about Washington's trails. Based in Southwest Washington, Susan is a major reason we have so many excellent writeups for hikes on either side of the Columbia River Gorge, as well as in the St. Helens and Mount Adams areas.
When she's not hiking, she's an avid genealogist, tracking her family history to record it for the future.
Rolan Shomber
Rolan Shomber volunteers with the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in addition to WTA, and he wrote the entries for many of the trails in the Methow Valley and surrounding area. His trips often involve log climbing or bushwhacking, and he documents both the trail and the maintenance needed to get it back into shape, using methods similar to Ken's. The meticulousness of his research is impressive; once he identified a location by cross-referencing a large rock in a trip report with the area on Google Earth!
“Starting in the late 1960s, I can remember how valuable my dad’s copies of the ‘100 Hikes’ books were in deciding where to go hiking. So, now I am happy to support the modern version of hike descriptions as part of the WTA Hiking Guide correspondent team."
Wes Partch
An exterior-markings designer for Boeing by day, Wes routinely takes on some of the gnarlier trails in Washington. He’s willing to head out to the far edge of the Olympic Peninsula with very little beta, and always comes back with a good story.
His research has provided insight into gorgeous rainforest hikes that rival the popular Hoh River and always writes a trip report in addition to his Hiking Guide write-up.
“I’m proud to be a part of the vast amount of goodness that WTA does."