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Click a trail link below to sign up for a crew.
Upcoming Crews
March 21: Slab Camp and Gray Wolf-Middle trails
Logout.
Volunteers list (full)
March 26: Deer Ridge trail
Small logout project.
Volunteers list (full)
April 15-18: Quinault Nature Trails
South shore nature trail maintenance.
Volunteers list (full)
April 22: Lower Big Quilcene trail
postponed from March 14 due to incoming snow
Logout - crosscut.
May 1-3 (Friday-Sunday): South Fork Skokomish (SIGNUPS COMING END OF MARCH! I will scout this area 3/28, and then I will know the required crew size based on the amount of work).
Lower and Upper forks
Will end Saturday if only two days needed to finish the work.
Camping at LeBar horse camp.
Sign-ups will be posted for these crews about 6-8 weeks in advance of the crew.
May: West Elwha (ONP) realignment (several one-day crews)
Trail re-alignment at mile 3. Tentatively during May, after the Skok weekend.
June: Lower Big Quilcene (ONF)
Trail re-alignment at mile 3.3. Tentative first two weeks of June.
June 20-26 : Duckabush (ONP)*
Clear from ONP boundary to as far west as we can go.
July 18-24: Wynoochee Pass / Graves Creek / Sundown Lake (ONP) *
Neglected trails needing logout and heavy brushing.
Won't have stock support. Human packers will be welcome.
August 5-11 Hoh Lake trail (ONP)*
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 is not already on the schedule:
Spring - Fall 2026
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, Tread repair from rootball pullout.
Mt. Muller trail system, including Snider Ridge and Kloshe Nanitch (ONF) - annual maintenance.
Kloshe Nanitch in particular has a bad spot for stock that we need to remedy, probably 3/4 the way up from the bottom.
Lower Big Quilcene (ONF)
Jolley Creek log-bridge replacement. Pending Forest Service approval which should arrive this season. Will schedule once approval is granted.
All trails: general maintenance.
In case you need inspiration ... a poem from Gray Wolf 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
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