Here is a trip report from Patrick S, who spearheaded club participation in a trail work / revegetation effort at Mount Rainier National Park. Thanks to everyone that participated, and thanks Patrick for your leadership!
Several Bushwhackers and families began the activity Friday night around the campfire. Joining in the outing were Rachel and Mark H with Elizabeth and Clara, Patrick and Celese S with Ian, and Jim P. We fueled ourselves with s’mores for the next day's work ahead.
Saturday AM began with a dedication by
the Mt Rainier superintendant of the rebuilt Glacier Basin trail, which many club members have used on the approach to Camp Shurman. It was constructed with thousands of volunteer hours, after the original trail was wiped out by the flood of 1996. After the ceremony, Jim Powell headed out for trail maintenance on the Wonderland, the rest of us to Sunrise to reveg an area that had once been a drive in campground (above)
The Rainier staff trained us in planting alpine plants - you bust up the soil a bit, then install 7 plants per square foot, of mixed varieties (left). The plants came in flats of 49 - the greenhouse folks germinate thousands of seeds from the same area over the year, then grow them
in individual pots. It's a huge effort. The 50 + people on our volunteer crew that day put in 10,000 plants. Occasionally Clara would remind us - "NEVER GIVE UP!" Right on, Clara.
It was a beautiful day out, and great fun to join in with the folks for such an accomplishment. The plants have a 90% survival rate - we hope to get back to see
the difference we made (right). It's a small step - it will actually take 10 years or more to return the area to its natural state.
We saw Jim again when we returned to camp. While we had spent the day digging holes with trowels, Jim had spent the day in a hole with a shovel. Nice effort! Be sure to think of Jim kindly as you walk the Wonderland Trail.
