WTA Marmot Lake Trail Work.

[Dave_Schuldt]

I know this isn't about climbing, but, without good traiils the climbs would be much harder to get to. This is a week long trip, a horse packer brings the food and tools in and out.

 

We met at the Cle Elum ranger station at 8:30 or so on 8/13 and drove to the end of the Cle Elum River Road. After signing in and a snack we headed for Deception Pass, the trail to Marmot Lake heads west along the north side of MT Daniel. The horse packer dropped out gear 1/2 mile short of out campsite so we had to cary the gear the rest of the way. We did a few trips Saturday and some more Sunday morning. Totally worth all the extra work. We camped in a large meadow with a pond under a cliiff. The trail had many boulders, braids and drainage issues. We dug drain dips, popped out boulders, built steps, filled braids, and built a retaining wall. There were a few places where the trail had slid down hill so we dug into the uphill bank to level it out.

Also destroyed a few campfire rings. (No fires above 4,000 ft.) We fixed up 1 mile of trail from the pass Marmot Lake. A Forest Service crew cleaned out towards culverts and logged out the trail from our campsite to the lake.

The wether was warm and sunny but cold enough at night to keep the bugs down. Good thing, because I took a chance and brought my Megamid tent. The only day of rain was on Wednesday, our day off. We hiked up to Marmot Lake and on to Jade Lake. This area doesn’t get much traffic because the trail is a dead end. This is a great place for those folks who like to wander the high country.

The Blue Berries were everywhere and made for some great snacks. With all the berries I though we would see bears but we didn’t evan see any turds. We did see deer, mice and an eagle.

This is my second week long trip with the WTA, I did one last year, and I must say it’s a great time. I want to learn how to build trails for mountain biking and this is a great way to do it. Maybe some day we can ride the wilderness......

On the way out we stopped at the Brick in Roslyn for beer and food. The beer on tap we had was only OK and low octane. Their own stuff, some thing dark, I forget the name.

A few factoids;

It took 9 of us 5 days to fix one mile of trail.

One mile of new trail can cost up to $50,000.

 

For more info wta.org

If anyone has any old cross cut saws the WTA or Forest Service could put them to good use.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 22, 2005 by Dave_Schuldt

[Otto]

Looks like a blast, Dave! There's nothing better than spending multiple days in the wild. You really got down into the dirt and bush, it looks like!

 

It is great to have maintained trails, better than not. My son and I recently spent a day with WTA on the Lake Dorothy trail, which was the best way to spend a rainy day! Also, I got skunked this summer trying to get up to a climb on an abandoned trail, on which we managed one and a half miles in four hours. We never saw the peak we went to climb. So, trail maintenance is Good!