Embedded Files
Click a trail link below to sign up for a crew.
Upcoming Crews
February 21: West Elwha
Turnpike, small crew.
Volunteer list (full)
March 21: Gray Wolf - Middle
Logout.
March 26: Deer Ridge
Small logout project.
Sign-ups will be posted for these crews about 6-8 weeks in advance of the crew.
April (dates TBD): Quinault Nature Trails (south shore)
South shore nature trail maintenance.
Camping and (hopefully) bunkhouse lodging. Group meals.
May 1-3 (Friday-Sunday): South Fork Skokomish
Lower and Upper forks
Will end Saturday if only two days needed to finish the work.
Camping at LeBar horse camp.
June 20-26 : (Tentative) Duckabush *
Clear from ONF-ONP boundary to as far west as we can go.
July 18-24: Wynoochee Pass / Graves Creek / Sundown Lake *
Neglected trails needing logout and heavy brushing.
Won't have stock support. Human packers will be welcome.
August 5-11 Hoh Lake trail *
Hike in from ONP Hoh visitor center, then start work from near Olympus Guard Station at mile 9.
* Finalized trips may end up as a day shorter or longer once we get a better handle on the workload.
* If you can only make part of a trip, that's cool. We will put you to work for the time you're there. However, note the requirements below.
* To join these extremely rigorous back-country crews:
> You've done at least a few GWTC crews so we know each other.
> You are experienced in the backcountry.
> You can hike high miles with weight and deal with long days and sometimes adverse (hot/cold, wet/dry) weather.
> You are able to independently hike in or out if your dates don't align with the crew's start and stop dates.
Future Crews
Here is what you have to look forward to (that we know of at this moment)
Winter 2026
West Elwha: General maintenance is done. Next up is a short turnpike and a possible 500-foot realignment of the tread (need to seek approval for that first).
Spring - Fall 2026
Smokey Bottom (ONP, formally known as West Lake Mills). One or two separate days. Late May or early June, to try to coincide with the lupine blooming in the reclaimed Elwha valley. If the trail has a lot of work needed, we'll do it early and not wait for the lupines.
Little River (ONP), a top-down logout. Will have to be late spring or early summer to avoid snow at the Hurricane Ridge level (if there is snow - seems unlikely this year). One day with a second one as needed.
Elwha-Hurricane, one day to finish up the brushing and tread work that we were going to do last fall before the shutdown.
Slab Camp, Deer Ridge, Lower Big Quilcene, Lower and Mid Graywolf (ONF) - check for and do annual maintenance.
Lower and Upper S. Fork Skokomish (ONF) annual maintenance.
Mt. Muller (ONF) - annual maintenance.
Lower Big Quilcene (ONF) 366-foot re-alignment of a steep section at mile 3.3. Jolley Creek log-bridge replacement. Both are pending Forest Service approval. Will schedule once approval is granted.
Duckabush - a major push to try to remedy some problematic areas for stock passage in the ONF portion.
In case you need inspiration ... a poem from Graywolf Trail Crew member, Sonya Langford, written on the Appleton Pass backcountry crew on about day 4 out of 6 ...
Trail Crew
I'm a wolf now
A Gray Wolf to be exact
The pack brought me in
To climb and brush, pack and laugh.
They said Come along, arms open wide
Hiking and toiling for hours
We stand side by side.
The rugged trails we love
These forests we revere
Make us face our shortcomings and fears
All the long rehearsed stories
We have in our heads
Follow us like shadows
Sometimes bringing dread.
All the I can'ts and I won'ts
All the Nevers. Not me!
Can fade into the past
When we don our packs
Choose our tools, and tackle the trail
Whatever it holds
Gray Wolves finish without fail.
The miles add up
When the work lies ahead
But the path soon reveals
where footfalls will tread,
Opening vast wilds
For intrepid explorers who dare
Enter this timeless wilderness
Where Wolves have shown skillful care.
For each trail, pass and peak
Everyone has stories
Retold each evening
All their foibles and glories.
They aren't here for money, or for fame
But their pride in their efforts
Pushes me to up my game.
For all who want adventure
And love these remote places too
They can now access spaces
To feel grateful, renewed
With a sense of awe and wonder
They can enter this wild realm
All because the Gray Wolves
remain at the helm.
Sonya Langford
Appleton Pass August 2025
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse