Volunteers come together to fix muddy trail in Washington

Written by Doc Wesselius

In October, volunteers from three Back Country Horsemen of Washington chapters assisted the PCTA White Pass Chapter in correcting a drainage problem on the Dark Meadow Trail #1107 in the William O. Douglas Wilderness.

The Dark Meadow Trail is a feeder trail for the Pacific Crest Trail and part of a popular loop for rides and hikes out of the White Pass trailhead and horse camp. For years, a drainage that crossed the Dark Meadow loop trapped water in the trail. This created a dangerous muddy bog that led to many trail animals sinking up to their hocks.

BCHW members from the Lewis County, Tahoma and Wenas chapters partnered with PCTA volunteers, under the guidance of Bill Hawley, PCTA Regional Representative, and the Okanogen-Wenatchee National Forest Naches Ranger District to fix the problem by building a 34-foot-long turnpike.

A turnpike is a section of elevated trail lined by rocks or logs that is constructed in successive layers of large fitted rock, smaller rock, and mineral soil. The idea is to lift the trail tread out of a wet area. While building this turnpike, all three organizations agreed to use natural resources for the turnpike structure, safeguard and maintain normal stream drainage in the area, and adhere to working with non-mechanized tools in the wilderness. Jim Mathews, Wilderness Volunteer Coordinator at the Naches Ranger District, designed the turnpike.

Two days before the project, Tom Conner of the BCHW Lewis County Chapter helped the Forest Service by bringing in pack stock to set the framework. His animals hauled tools and supplies 1.5 miles from the trailhead to the construction site where a stable base for the turnpike was prepared.

Enter the combined efforts of BCHW and PCTA volunteers. Beginning Friday, Sept. 30, pack stock hauled the work crew’s cargo, five gallon buckets and all the shovels necessary to fill the turnpike with gravel and dirt. Volunteers hiked to the construction site and immediately went to work stockpiling appropriate material (rocks and gravel) for the various layers of the turnpike.

We laid ground cloth in the bottom of the wooden structure to hold the solid materials in place and prevent them from sinking into the soft soil. Then pack stock outfitted with gravel bags moved rocks and dirt to the construction site. Crew leaders directed this supply of fill material, calling out for grapefruit size rocks first then gravel. We topped off the rock layers with dirt, tamping it to make a solid but rounded surface for drainage.

The next herculean effort was to move 50- to 80-pound rocks that would stabilize the turnpike approaches and buttress the sides of the wooden structure. Dedicated pack mules hauled these from a nearby talus slope. Once the turnpike was completed, we rehabilitated the bog hole and solid material collection sites, returning the meadow to its natural appearance. Despite the expected three-day timeline, it only took the volunteers one and a half days to complete the project.

When the job was done and all the group photos were taken, the volunteers quickly headed downhill to the trailhead to avoid a looming cloudburst. Our crew took shelter under a large carport awning when the rain came, and there the BCHW’s Lewis County Chapter and the PCTA rewarded us with a warm lunch.

The comradery between our trail advocacy organizations was readily apparent as we enjoyed our lunch, relishing in the satisfaction of completing an important project that addressed a public safety issue.

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