Mount St. Helens Jamboree: 3 days of heat, trail work and fun

WTA recently partnered for the first time on a weekend work party Jamboree with Mount St. Helens Institute. The three-day event was a rousing success. In total, crews brought over 7 miles of trail back to hikeable condition, several of them trails that hadn't seen work in years.

A map of our work over Jamboree weekend at Mount St. Helens. Courtesy Stasia Honnold.

What they got done

• Removed overgrown foliage and re-established trail along 1,060 feet of the Independence Ridge Trail starting from Norway Pass junction and working south. The trail hadn't seen maintenance in so long that approximately 500 feet of this work was essentially new trail construction.
• Reset the sign post at the junction for Norway Pass Trail and Independence Ridge Trail that had fallen over.
• Re-established trail, removed foliage and improved drainage on Independence Pass Trail to the Independence Ridge Junction, and then from the junction up toward the intersection with Norway Pass. Making for 1.1 mile of continuous maintenance.
• Cleared the Boundary Trail of overgrown foliage starting at Norway Pass trailhead and working east toward Bear Meadows for 0.6 miles.
• Removed overgrown foliage along all of the Ghost Lake trail and removed 5 small logs.
• Removed 20 logs from the Boundary Trail starting at Bear Meadows towards the Ghost Lake junction. This work essentially reopened the entire length of the Ghost Lake trail.
• Crews also worked east on the Boundary Trail from Bear Meadows for about 1.3 miles.</>
• Maintained all of the Harmony Trail that leads down to Spirit Lake. This trail is approximately 1.2 mile, and the team kept a more intense focus on the 920-foot brushier section in the middle.

In the afternoon and evenings, the crews enjoyed a campout and potluck at the Wakepish campground. Mount St. Helens Institute representatives Pat Pringle and Rick McClure gave presentations on the geology of the area and indigenous trails, and WTA crew leader Ryan Ojerio brought a pickleball setup for anyone who had any energy left.

And at the end of each night, crews got creative making s'mores with a myriad of ingredients, including Reese's and bacon, which Southwest Regional Manager Ryan Ojerio was excited about:

"Bundling these activities into a package with a Jamboree atmosphere is a fun way to field more crews in a remote part of the Forest. We got a lot of things done and learned a great deal too - bacon s’smores? I’m adding that to my repertoire.”

Mount St Helens Institute staff were thrilled about the work as well. Sarah Koppelman, Volunteer and Community Engagement Manager said:

"This event was such a fun way to bring our communities together, share in good times and learning, and make a real positive impact on Mount St. Helens trails. The trails on the northeast side of the volcano are deeply loved by the hiking community, but their remote location and placement within the dynamic blast zone of the 1980 eruption means that they can always use more maintenance. We're so thankful to all the volunteers who came out to help care for these special trails!"

We got a ton of photos from it (all provided courtesy the volunteers and crew leaders who attended), and we wanted to share the energy and accomplishments from the weekend.

Every day, the crew was split into teams to efficiently tackle all the projects they had to do.

Assistant Crew leaders taught newer volunteers how to use tools, including our mechanize brushers (left). Some folks took to them right away. (right)

Mechanized brushers make quick work of thick brush...

...but there was a LOT of stuff to throw off trail after they came through.

In spite of the heat, crews were all smiles as they worked.

Back at camp, we made food and enjoyed presentations from MSHI volunteers.

Presentations on Friday and Saturday night included talks about the indigenous trails in the area...

And the unique geology of Mount St. Helens.

Then we made smores!

We said goodnight, and recharged, hit the trails the next day.

The crew wrapped up at Ghost Lake, satisfied by a few hard days work.

Another satisfied crew!

Happy to be wrapping up a long, fun weekend at Mount St. Helens.