Blog Posts of the Pacific Northwest Trail Association

Performance Trail Crew - restore pasayten

REI Awards PNTA Grant to Restore Pasayten

On December 2nd, 2018, REI, the national outdoor specialty retailer and the nation’s largest consumer co-op with 6 million active members, announced grant recipients of their National Trails System Act Grant program. The Pacific Northwest Trail Association was awarded $25,000 in grant funding to support trail restoration on the Pasayten Wilderness and to strengthen…

Hydro Flask Awards PNTA Grant

On Giving Tuesday, Hydro Flask, the award-winning leader in high-performance, insulated stainless steel flasks and soft good innovations, announced grant recipients of their 2018 Parks For All Charitable Giving Program. In total, the company donated over half a million dollars in 2018 to preserve, maintain and provide better access to green spaces and parks of…

Youth Crew Heroes Campaign

At PNTA, we love to build great trail, but we also love to build great youth. Last November, Pacific Northwest Trail supporters came together to make our fundraiser for the PNT, the Thunderbird Campaign, a huge success. Thanks to you, PNTA purchased 500 new trail markers, bearing the iconic Thunderbird logo. Your donations also helped to fund…

New Leadership in Trail Operations

Following 14 years of service, the PNTA’s Director of Trail Operations, Lewis Trout retired this September. His departure will create new opportunities within the Association and allow for organizational changes in the trail’s management. Executive Director, Jeff Kish will continue to provide oversight, and two new Regional Coordinator positions will allow the Association to…

Hiking East Against the Grain

An Interview with Two Eastbound Hikers “Although most use of long-distance trails is for day hiking, the romantic lure and ultimate justification of such routes lie over the horizon.” -Ron Strickland, The Pacific Northwest Trail Guide, 1983 Even before trail founder, Ron Strickland had proven a path for the Pacific Northwest Trail, he imagined that…

Save the Land and Water Conservation Fund

The Land and Water Conservation Fund is America’s most important conservation program, yet without action from Congress, it will expire on September 30, 2018. For over fifty years, the LWCF has provided vital funding to protect irreplaceable lands, and create access to outdoor recreation opportunities in nearly every state, including Montana, Idaho and Washington.…

QRC Takes Youth Outdoors

Back in 1992, before smartphones and life online, the US Forest Service created the Quilcene Ranger Corps program. Middle school students from Quilcene, a small town nestled between the Olympic National Forest and Hood Canal, could apply to the free program, which offered the chance to spend the summer working outdoors with schoolmates. Together, they…

Crew Volunteers to Conserve Whitebark Pine

The Association’s Performance Crew took a day off from trail work this month to help volunteers with the Lands Council and Kettle Range Conservation Group with whitebark pine conservation efforts at the annual Kettle Range Rendezvous. The Kettle River Range is one of several mountain ranges along the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail. On…

PNTA Works in the Pasayten Wilderness

Restoring the Pacific Northwest Trail in the Pasayten Wilderness after last year’s Diamond Creek Fire is a priority for the Association and our partners in 2018. Nearly 100 miles of the PNT falls within the 531,000-acre Wilderness, a highlight of the trail in Washington which offers the longest roadless stretch of the National…

Forest Service Publishes PNT Fact Sheet

Do you have questions about the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail (PNT)? The Pacific Northwest Trail Association has a long-standing partnership with the US Forest Service in the management of the Pacific Northwest Trail. As the lead agency responsible for the administration of the PNT, the Forest Service is responsible for providing trailwide coordination,…

Thru-hiker Gives Back

After thru-hiking the Pacific Northwest Trail from end-to-end last year, Christian “Blues Clues” Frey returned to the PNT for his Fourth of July holiday, not to hike the trail, but to lend a hand with maintaining it. Thoughtful and unassuming, Christian earned the trail name, Blues Clues for his ability to reunite other thru-hikers…

Significant Wildfire Potential in 2018

If NICC forecasts prove to be accurate, fire danger ratings could become elevated across the Pacific Northwest Trail this year. Areas from the Rocky Mountains to the North Cascades are expected to have “significant wildfire potential.” Yet, with a few basic precautions, elevated fire danger does not have to lead to a wildfire. Although wildfires caused by lightning…

Blog Posts of the Pacific Northwest Trail Association

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