Hiker Headlines: WTA is hiring, guided snowshoes at Mount Baker, rain and snow this weekend

It’s Jan. 29. WTA is hiring an assistant for our Outdoor Leadership Training gear library! It’s the EXPLORE Act’s 1-year anniversary. Reservations for guided snowshoe trips with Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and avalanche awareness walks with the Northwest Avalanche Center are open. And there’s rain and snow in the weekend forecast. Here’s some news you may have missed while out on trail this week.

It'll likely be a gloomy, gray weekend in the mountains. Photo by trip reporter Eric Katanaboy.

Now hiring: WTA is hiring for a temporary part-time Outdoor Leadership Training gear library assistant! The position’s primary responsibility is to assist community partners with borrowing gear at WTA’s gear libraries. The role is based at WTA’s Seattle Gear Library and will require travel and occasional work at WTA’s South Puget Sound Gear Library in Puyallup. The expected work schedule is 20–30 hours per week, between April 14–Oct. 30. The priority application deadline is Feb. 23.

EXPLORE Act: It has been 1 year since the EXPLORE Act was signed into law. The EXPLORE Act (Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences Act) passed with resounding support from Congress and represented the first comprehensive update to recreation policy in decades. The House Natural Resources Committee held a hearing to mark the 1-year anniversary and report on progress to implement the law. Louis Geltman, a close partner of WTA through his role as vice president for policy and government relations at Outdoor Alliance, was an expert witness at the congressional hearing.

Guided snow trips: Reservations for ranger-guided snowshoe trips with Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and avalanche awareness walks with the Northwest Avalanche Center are now available online for February and March. Snowshoes and poles are provided but reservations are required to join these events. 

Gray weather on the way: It’s been a couple of dry weeks across many parts of Washington, but there’s rain and snow in several regions this weekend! Some mountain passes have gotten snow and will get some more rain and snow, and you can expect rain in lowland areas as well. Be sure to bundle up and have waterproof layers when you hit the trails, and check the weather conditions before you head out. (It’s also always a good idea to check avalanche conditions before you head out in the wintertime!) 

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