Summer Magazine 2019

Methow Trails | 17 Trail Karma We have continued to provide opportunities to add to both your trail karma and to the quality of the trails in the Methow Valley through our monthly “Third Thursday Work Parties” and other more impromptu work parties. It is awesome what can be accomplished with such a dedicated group of staff and volunteers. Each year we have over 2,500 hours of organizational support from members of our community. If you would like to join the movement and be a part of the pulse of the valley, please reach out to Methow Trails and we’ll get you on the list to be notified when there’s a work party. Email jon@methowtrails.org. Some of our latest karma-rich projects include: • Building a segment of “the climbing trail,” a new single-track mountain bike trail above the Chickadee Trailhead. This was in conjunction with Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance. • Conducting cultural and biological surveys of the Buck Mountain Trail and proposed improvements in preparation for making this trail a part of the USFS system. • Limbing, brush clearing, and rock picking on the much-loved Gunn Ranch Trail. • Methow Trails led a huge Lewis Butte “save-a-trail” project to construct a more sustainable trail up Lewis Butte. This work was in the name of The Methow Valley Trails Collaborative (MVTC) and in conjunction with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Methow Valley Backcountry Horseman, Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, the USFS, and other MVTC members. More than 130 volunteer-days make this effort to save this much loved local Winthrop trail a huge success. • Clearing, limbing, and chipping on the Little Wolf and Aqualoop trails. • Lot and lots of clearing, limbing, and chipping intercept trees on the Meadowlark Trail. • Removing rocks and limbing intercept trees on the Basecamp trail. • Replaced rotten bridge planks on the Cutthroat Lake and Pass trail. • Installed a cattle guard roller on Buck Mt trail, and The Methow Community Trail. • Picked rocks and spread mulch on a new berm at the Mazama Trailhead • Worked with the Access Fund to kick off the construction of a new Liberty Bell Climbers Trail. If you were part of these community projects, thank you so much for your support of the trails.