September eNews
In This Issue

  • Clearing a Path Through the Pasayten
  • Get to Know our Crew Leaders
  • Six Moon Designs Donation
  • Congrats Class of 2019
  • Our August Volunteers
  • Crown to Coast Photos of the Month
The US Forest Service - Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest provided pack support to PNTA trail crews working in the Pasayten Wilderness. Photo by Michael Sawiel.
Clearing a Path Through the Pasayten

With the help of the US Forest Service and our partners with the Back Country Horsemen of Washington, Washington Trails Association and the Pacific Crest Trail Association, the PNTA worked out a high-reaching plan to restore over 200 miles of fire-damaged trails this season.

Despite strong efforts to restore access in recent years, many trails in the Pasayten Wilderness in northern Washington have remained inaccessible to stock and all but the most determined hikers.

Nine major fires have contributed the maintenance backlog, including last year’s Holman Fire , which closed the PNT in the Pasayten for a second year in a row. In 2018 , it sent trail crews and visitors alike scrambling to evacuate the area under a closure order, and to abandon their carefully made plans for the season.

This year, we prevailed with the help of our partners. Critical help also came from a National Trails System Act Grant provided by REI Co-op , and from people like you.

Supporters of our Youth Crew Heroes campaign last year helped to provide funding for an additional trail crew this season   – meaning more work was performed on the PNT and more youth and young adults were able to spend a summer working outdoors.

By mid-September PNTA Performance Crews contributed nearly 6,000 hours of work towards maintaining the Pasayten Wilderness portion of the Pacific Northwest Trail.

Visit our blog to learn more and meet the hard-working trail crews and volunteers that spent the summer restoring access to the PNT.
Assistant crew leader, Carly Tryon leads our Eastern Pasayten Trail Crew and the on-the-ground-effort to restore access to the Boundary Trail this season. Photo by Sean Miller.
Get to Know our 2019 Crew Leaders

Get to know all of our dedicated trail crew leaders at our blog. Throughout our trail maintenance season, we have introduced several new members of our team!

Meet Carly Tryon, our Eastern Pasayten assistant trail crew leader. The Association is deeply fortunate to have Carly join our team between semesters at Western Washington University, where she majors in Environmental Science. 

Carly’s wide-ranging experience working in the outdoors includes many years of working on farms and ranches as a riding instructor and stable manager, conservation work with the Nature Conservancy at the Cascade Head Nature Preserve in Oregon and serving as a certified member of Pierce County Explorer Search and Rescue.
She also comes to the PNTA with considerable knowledge of the Pasayten Wilderness having conducted week-long patrols on foot and horseback as a Wilderness Ranger with the US Forest Service last year. 

With the charge of leading backcountry excursions into the most remote areas along the Pacific Northwest Trail, Carly’s first-hand experience with the area will help
guide her team as they travel deep into the Pasayten Wilderness this summer with the goal of clearing 75 miles of trail left impassable to stock by a series of wildfires in recent years.

“I feel deeply fortunate to have been raised with the natural world as a crucial part of my identity and know from personal experience the potential that recreation in the outdoors can do for one’s personal development,” said Carly.  

This summer, she looks forward to a delightful and rewarding season caring for wild places and inspiring others to do the same.

When not leading our youth trail crews, Carly spends her time rock climbing, weight lifting and experimenting in the kitchen.
Lightweight tents and backpacks donated by Six Moon Designs will help make our Performance Trail Crew Program more accessible to all. Photo by Thomas Gingrich.
Six Moon Designs Donation

This August, Six Moon Designs, manufacturers of lightweight, high-quality, affordable backpacking equipment, made a generous donation of outdoor gear to the Association’s Performance Trail Crew program. 

The PNTA is proud to accomplish the majority of the trail work needed to maintain the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail through our paid Performance Trail Crew program . Our program provides local youth and young adults from trailside communities with a living wage, transportation, and meals to help break down traditional barriers to inclusion.

With the help of corporate partners, like Six Moon Designs , PNTA is working to build an outdoor gear library to ensure that anyone who aspires to work in service to our scenic public lands can do so   –  and thrive with access to gear that can work as hard as they do . 
2015 Thru-hikers celebrate at Cape Alava, the western terminus of the Pacific Northwest Trail. Photo by Alex Maier.
Congrats Class of 2019!

Pacific Northwest Trail hikers have a lot to celebrate on this special anniversary year .

Ten years ago, the PNT earned congressional designation as a National Scenic Trail and officially earned its place alongside the world-renowned “triple crown trails” which have become household names today. The Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail celebrated their 50th Anniversaries last year, and the Continental Divide Trail, it's 40th.

On your Crown-to-Coast adventures this year you surely have discovered part of what makes the Pacific Northwest Trail so special today – the charm of a relatively young National Scenic Trail that’s still a little rough around the edges.

In accordance with tradition, we at the Pacific Northwest Trail Association would like to express our heartfelt congratulations to each and every 1200 Miler who finished the trail this year, and to welcome you to join our online register at: www.pnt.org.
Twelve Hundred Milers Project
In 1977, Ron Strickland began tracking the first exploratory thru-hikes on the PNT, but over the last forty years, many finishers’ accomplishments have been lost to history .
To help honor the achievement of all who have walked the trail from end-to-end, the PNTA created an official list of PNT finishers in 2017 . Learn more about becoming a 1200 Miler and s ee this year's list of finishers online at: www.pnt.org.
Crown to Coast Photos of the Month

It looks like the Class of 2019 is having a great year on America’s most rugged National Scenic Trail! Thank you for sharing your photos and stories from the PNT with our trail community.

If you have you ever wondered what it’s like to go the distance on the Pacific Northwest Trail, you can follow along with their adventures on Instagram , and at the links below. And b e sure to use the hashtag #CrowntoCoast if you’d like to be regrammed!
Matt
@clean_sweep
Nick Sampson
@send_marmots
Samantha Matthews-McCarty
@sam_don_hike
Our Sponsors
Our Volunteers
August 2019
Skagit Whatcom Island
Trail Maintenance Organization

  • Anita Gras-Byrant
  • Chuck Eaton
  • Doug Shepherd
  • Duane Melcher
  • Jerry Granahan
  • Joan Melcher
  • Keith Magee
  • Kip Jacob
  • Lynn Postler
  • Owen Bamford
  • Pat McGovern
  • Pete Pehl
  • Susie Stevens-Briody
  • Tom Kress
  • Bodhi Ackerman
  • Dwight Noren
  • Jason Ridlon
  • Jerry King
  • Jon Booth
  • Marcy King
  • Michael Sawiel
  • Suzanne Bess-Wollborg
  • Tim Main
  • Olympic Chapter of the Back Country Horsemen
  • North 350 Blades
  • North Okanagan Trails Association
  • Washington Trails Association

Follow us on social media for trail updates, pictures and fun!
Use the hashtag #crowntocoast and we'll share your PNT pictures. 
Support the PNTA While You Shop!
You can support the Pacific Northwest Trail Association just by shopping at  REI.com  and  REI-OUTLET.com . All you have to do is click on the REI logo in this email and shop!
Fred Meyer Community Rewards  is "where shopping and giving unite." You can support the Pacific Northwest Trail Association just by shopping at Fred Meyer with your Rewards Card. All you have to do is link your Rewards Card and scan it every time you shop at Fred Meyer.
AmazonSmile   is a simple and automatic way for you to support the Pacific Northwest Trail Association every time you shop, at no cost to you.