Last Trail Building Day of the Summer

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This Saturday will be our last session of the summer. After taking August off we will resume work in September, on 9/13. We hope you'll put it on your calendar.

Our work on Bonnie & Clyde's is ongoing; we are pleased with our progress. Like last time we will meet at the switchback on Little Mountain Park Road at 10:00 am. On the attached map you will see where it is. Just follow the park access road going past the crosswalk, the one that connects La-Z-Boy and Huff-N-Puff.

We'll start our session with donated Starbucks Coffee and Haggen pastries. For lunch Jenny is providing sandwiches, chips and soft drinks.

We hope you'll join us Saturday, it is fun and we need your help.

Wildland Firefighting Class at Little Mountain

SVC 167 Team 1

On Sunday 3/2/14 SVC's Wildland Firefighting Class came out as a 'featured group', they were awesome. This was just part of the class, the morning van. They began work on a new connector trail on the south side of Little Mountain. Here's information on their class.

Here you see their crew at work, removing deadfall and duff. While it may look like a fire line, it's actually the beginning on a new trail. Their instructor, Steve Biggs, reached out to us a while back. Steve's other job is with the Department of Natural Resources and has had DNR trainees on Little Mountain with us the last few years. They did the initial clearing of deadfall and duff on Sidekick and a section of Bonnie & Clyde's.

SVC 133 Team 1

Sedro-Woolley Boys & Girls Club Help Out At Little Mountain

Last session (on 2/22) you might remember we had some pretty tough weather. Our crew leader Jerry Granahan, while smiling, was probably wondering (I know I was) if our "Featured Group" was going to make it.

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The short answer was yes. The Sedro-Woolley Boys & Girls Club is pictured here with a handful of our normal volunteers.

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Here a new volunteer, Bret Turner, shows us how to dig right in. He spent the day building a rock wall, widening a section of 'Sidekick' that was too narrow.

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Jake Logue and Stryker Magnuson, members of the Mount Vernon High School National Honor Society Club, have become valuable members of our crew.

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As it might appear, we had a lot going on that day at our biggest rock wall and corner. There were multiple teams working on varied tasks.

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We take a lunch break. Thanks, Jenny Sandbo. We had hot soup, Subway sandwiches, fresh pastries, and hot coco and coffee. A special thanks for our donors; the Mount Vernon Haggen Starbucks and the bakery at the Mount Vernon Haggen.

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After lunch we headed back out, finishing the big corner. The buckets, donated by Kaptein's Ace Hardware, are our secret weapon when building walls. It allows us to carry the crushed rock to the places we need it.

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Here the post-lunch work continued. This group was working at the trailhead end of 'Sidekick' and doing impressive work on a wet and cold day.

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The session with the Sedro-Woolley Boys and Girls Club was amazing. They worked hard, seemed to have fun, and spent the whole day working in snow and rain. Just another incredible session with some young people that were an absolute pleasure.

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Improvements on Julieann Trail + Bonnie & Clyde Trail Work Continue

You might recall that on our last session, February 8th, we had some cold weather. We had only a few less volunteers than normal, and as always it was a great session. In this photo you'll see a handful of our regulars, plus a couple new faces. This was one of our two teams; they were working on different projects. This group rerouted a section of Julieann Trail, increasing the space between it and our new trail called Bonnie and Clyde's. This helps to lessen the likelihood of shortcutting. Pictured are two new volunteers; Melissa & Keno, both from Skagit Valley College. We hope to see them and others from SVC in the future.

Group Shot

Here's the other team, they were building the last switchback on Bonnie & Clyde's -- and it is perfect!

Of special note, on the far left of the shot, is Alec Santiago. This was Alec's first time out, but he did a great job. The next day I saw him at the Bike Swap at the Seattle Center. His mother Bernie and I chatted briefly, the whole family was there manning their booth. She informed me that Skagit Cycle Center intends to have their shop represented at our future sessions. Pretty darn Cool!

Rock Team

Here you'll see Lyle Bishop dishing up Leslie Estep's amazing homemade soup. It may have been a chilly day but we were hardly roughing it.

Lunch

And as usual the Executive Committee met at the Porterhouse to discuss strategy. You'll see we're carefully studying our map of Little Mountain. What's being planned is the building of a trailhead on the south side of the mountain. We are pleased to announce that no beer was spilled - lol.

Planning