In This Issue
- Meet our Trail Crews
- Get to Know our Crew Leaders
- New Volunteer Opportunities
- Summer Membership Drive
- Crown to Coast Photos of the Month
- Our June/ July Volunteers
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Assistant crew leader Carly Tryon leads our Eastern Pasayten Trail Crew
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Meet our 2019 Trail Crews
Meet the six hard-working trail crews that spend the summer working on the Pacific Northwest Trail.
Our
Performance Trail Crews
are seasonal trail maintenance and construction teams that keep the PNT open for everyone to enjoy. Each season, we train youth and young adults from trailside communities to tend trails and camp out in the backcountry. The experience is challenging, rewarding,
and can even be life-changing.
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Each summer, they travel to work wherever they are needed most,
restoring the PNT from nature’s toll and working to improve the trail system. Some projects take them deep into the backcountry to tend remote wilderness trails that may be a full day’s walk from the nearest trailhead.
This year, our crews are working across the trail corridor in Washington State from the Idaho border to the Olympic Mountains.
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Assistant crew leader, Thomas Gingrich leads our North Cascades Trail Crew
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Get to Know our 2019 Crew Leaders
Get to know all of our dedicated trail crew leaders at our blog. Each week, we’ll introduce a new member of our team!
During our short summer season, our crew leaders mentor and train youth and young adults who serve on our
Performance Trail Crews
, guiding them on long backcountry hitches in spectacular wild places while working on the 1,200 mile Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail.
Next in our series, meet Thomas Gingrich,
our Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest assistant trail crew leader. Thomas comes to the Association with considerable field experience as a biologist and Wilderness steward. We are so pleased to have Thomas lead our trail crews in Western Washington this year!
Thomas graduated in 2013 from Bluffton University with a bachelor’s degree in biology, and later spent three years working aboard commercial fishing vessels as a NOAA certified Fisheries Service biologist with the West Coast Groundfish Observer Program collecting data used for research and management of fisheries.
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He fell in love with backcountry camping after a summer spent serving with the
Student Conservation Association’s
Wilderness Ranger Corps
out of Darrington, Washington. Together, Thomas and his team surveyed over 800 hundred Wilderness campsites on the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. The SCA program provided them with training in Wilderness First Aid, CPR, team building, leadership and trail skills.
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This summer, Thomas will lead a PNTA Trail Crew in Western Washington that will restore the Pacific Northwest Trail on the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and in the Pasayten Wilderness. He looks forward to forming new friendships with his crew and seeing an amazing part of the country.
“I am passionate about ecology, natural resource management, and the positive effects outdoor recreation has on people. I’d love to change a young person’s life in the same way those amazing crew leaders with SCA’s Wilderness Ranger Program changed mine,” said Thomas.
When not clearing trails,
Thomas enjoys backpacking, disc golf and creating imaginative and detailed illustrations inspired by his travels.
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Reserve your spot for a volunteer trail work party at pnt.org
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New Volunteer Opportunities
Have you seen our list of volunteer opportunities?
Help us celebrate our
#trailversary
by joining us for a volunteer work party on the Pacific Northwest Trail this year!
You can join us for the day at a trail work party, or experience life on a backcountry trail crew by joining us on a backcountry trip and camp out on the PNT overnight, just like our Performance Trail Crews do!
Our volunteer work parties are a great way to show your love for the PNT and to build fellowship with other folks in our trail community. Volunteer trail stewards, from beginners to experts, will have the chance to work alongside PNTA crew leaders and help us make the most of the short season on the Pacific Northwest Trail.
Other Ways to Get Involved
There are many ways that you can show your love for the PNT that do not involve trail work. Volunteers also help out at PNTA events, photographers share their images, and others help the Association with fundraising, advocacy and administrative activities.
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Upcoming Trail Work Parties
August
Monday 8/19
Work Party: Mill Pond Restoration Project, Colville NF
Thursday 8/22- 25
Backcountry Trip: Shedroof Divide Trail, Colville NF
Monday 8/26- 30
Backcountry Trip: Boundary Trail, Pasayten Wilderness
September
Thursday 9/5- 8
Backcountry Trip: Swift Creek Trail, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie NF
Thursday 9/5- 8
Backcountry Trip: Boundary Trail, Pasayten Wilderness
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Join PNTA by July 31st for a chance to win!
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Summer Membership Drive
Now through the end of the month,
join PNTA, or renew your annual membership for a chance to win a free gift celebrating our anniversary!
These
limited edition 10th Anniversary Hydro Flask tumblers and bottles
are not sold in any store! Renew before September 1st to be entered in a drawing to win one of your very own.
Your support will benefit all who work and play on the Pacific Northwest Trail.
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Now, you can manage your membership online!
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Log in to pnt.org to manage your donations, downloads and access a 10% discount at our webstore.
All renewing members will now receive a PNTA patch - bearing our new logo - and a Pacific Northwest Trail patch as a small token of our appreciation.
Renew by September 1st to be entered in a drawing to win a limited edition 10th Anniversary Hydro Flask tumbler or 32 oz bottle!
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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!
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Briar Angelique Owen
@briar.angelique
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Justin Sprecher
@justin.sprecher
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Dyana Carmella
@dyanacarmella
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Our June and July Volunteers
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Skagit Whatcom Island
Trail Maintenance Organization
- Chuck Eaton
- Doug Shepherd
- Duane Melcher
- Ed Hanson
- Erwin Cado
- Hugh Campbell
- Hun Dokko
- Jarrod Ball
- Jerry Granahan
- Joan Melcher
- John Erbstoeszer
- Kip Jacob
- Lynn Postler
- Marina Ball
- Merle Underwood
- Owen Bamford
- Pat McGovern
- Pete Pehl
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- Bill Way
- Bodhi Ackerman
- Brandon Hein
- Carl Kostoff
- Charlie Bush
- Cristina Wirkala
- Dennis Ries
- Dwain Hendrickson
- Judy Dupree
- Leif Furman
- Michael Allan Edwards
- Nina Mesimovic
- Randy S Bierwagen
- Suzanne Bess-Wollborg
- Tim Main
- Tom Mix
Boy Scout Troop 4067
of Sedro-Woolley
- Elijah Gilmour
- Jacob Norris
- Jeffrey Fear
- Jennifer Fear
- Robbie Blair
- Robert Gilmour
- Timmy Duvall
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- Olympic Chapter of the Back Country Horsemen
- Eastern Washington Chapter of the Back Country Horsemen
- Ferry County Chapter of the Back Country Horsemen
- North Fork Trails Association
- North Okanagan Trails Association
- Washington Trails Association
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Follow us on social media for trail updates, pictures and fun!
Use the hashtag
#crowntocoast
and we'll share your PNT pictures.
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Support the PNTA While You Shop!
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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!
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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.
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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.
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