PNTA Performance Crews Successful at Reopening North Cascades Closure

For the past three years, six miles of the PNT within North Cascades National Park have been closed due to a wildfire in 2022. This closure has prevented trail users from enjoying the beauty of the North Cascades whether they’re passing through on a day hike, or unable to traverse through the park on a thru-hike. Finally, after three years of dedicated trail work, the Brush Creek Trail is open, connecting the North Cascades section of the PNT once again.

Some crew members have worked multiple seasons clearing countless blowdowns from the burn zone and repairing miles of tread, as shown on the right. These crew members have spent hours covered in soot and sweat, developing a strong appreciation and connection to the land they maintain. These old (hard) hat crew members include Ray, who has been a passionate member of the Pacific Northwest Trail Association’s Performance Trail Crews for the past two years. 

“It’s really powerful that two of the crews I worked on contributed to the opening of the section.” Ray said, “We all worked so hard doing rock work on the trail and it’s amazing to know it has truly paid off. Being able to see the progress throughout a year and a half has been eye opening. Now, hopefully more people will be able to see the gorgeous area I called my second home last summer.”

This closure has thrown a logistical hurdle in thru-hikers’ plans as they made attempts to traverse the entire 1,250 mile long trail. Deanne Hart completed a thru-hike of the PNT this past summer with her partner, Robin Rapplinger. 

“The North Cascades was one of the main reasons we did this hike,” Deanne said, “The closure added quite a lot of extra time — including hiking time, shuttle time, as well as logistical planning time for how to get around it. It also added up in cost: we paid two different drivers to shuttle us from Ross Lake to Lyman and from Lyman to Hannegan Pass Trailhead since we wanted to see as much of the trail as possible while avoiding the closure.”

From now on, thru-hikers will be able to hike through the six miles again and enjoy the wild beauty of the North Cascades without the logistical complications.

Other crew members who joined in the effort to re-open the North Cascades this year still found meaning in contributing to something larger than themselves, as Alora recounts her experience in the burn zone:

“It feels special, exciting, and meaningful to be a part of this effort. I know so many other people have been here before me, slowly rebuilding the entire tread of the trail for years. You walk through and see these impressively large and complex projects that many individual people have worked on, all coming together for this combined effort years in the making. My hands and work are just a small but meaningful part of this project that will continue even after the trail is opened. There is still lots of work to be done!

It also feels cool to work on a restoration project that has a unique relationship with fire. Working in fire suppression, I only saw one side of the story and the one that feels the most devastating to us. You start to lose hope that anything could ever recover, but working in these post-burn areas restores that hope. Even if it’s just a little seedling in a patch of bare soil, you get to be part of and bear witness to that early process of growth and regeneration. This section of trail is recovering beautifully, and honestly overflowing with life. I’m excited for hikers to return and be able to see and appreciate it for themselves.”

As Alora said, the PNT is more than just a strip of dirt, it’s a historic line connecting several decades of devoted trail work — from the late seventies when it was first conceptualized by Ron Strickland to the present day when trail crew members are fighting to keep it alive. Every time a trail crew member digs a mattock into the side of the trail to dig a drain or pulls a crosscut saw through a blowdown, they carry on a legacy of stewardship and passion for the natural world that has been upheld by generations of trail workers before them. 

With all of the months she spent working on trail crews this past season, Alora (shown on the right, standing next to Ray) encouraged others to join in ways they can give back to our trails system.

“We have to continue to make our voices heard and fight for funding and recognition that trails and recreation and important to the American people and deserve to be invested in. These jobs ARE meaningful jobs. They are hard, they challenge us in the right ways. Our public lands are where we go to move our bodies, to find real meaning in the world, to connect with ourselves, each other, the landscapes, and everything else around us. Everyone who has ever spent any time outside knows this deep in their core. Keep speaking up and voting for public lands. Donate your time to public lands if you can. They’re something we cannot afford to lose.”

Help their ongoing efforts to rehabilitate the North Cascades by donating at this link!