Skagit Trail Builders

Mount Vernon Trail Builders has become Skagit Trail Builders.

We’re pleased to announce that we are working with Skagit County Parks and Recreation, so we have the potential for other trail projects.  But potential trail projects only come to fruition when there is public support…

Please show your support for trails this Thursday – May 10, 2018 at 6:30 pm.  The meeting will be hosted by Skagit County Parks and Recreation, and will be held at the Mount Vernon Senior Center, located at 1401 Cleveland Street.

This is the second meeting of Skagit County Parks and Recreation’s Comprehensive Planning process, and it is very important!

Not everyone supports trails, and that small constituency is vocal and they always show up.  Please stand with us, showing your support for trails – even if the weather is really nice.  Great weather can be distracting to trail lovers…

We sincerely hope to see you there!

Here (above) we’re at our safety meeting. A couple families joined us for their first time, which helped to double our turnout. Weather was tough again, which slows progress. But with twenty-four (24) volunteers we got a great deal done.

In this image (above) you’ll see some of our new volunteers, wet and dirty…

You can see (above) the work we’re doing on the Rooty Re-route.

As always (above) our young volunteers had fun and were a hoot.

After a session like this you can see what it takes clean up (above) …

We hope to see you this weekend, Saturday 2/13/16.

We again had twelve (12) volunteers. The weather was much better. Above you’ll see some of the work we did. Working on the Rooty Re-route continues.

In this image (above) you’ll see Ms. Gray carefully cutting a root. At the upcoming session she and her dad will receive the MVTB volunteer shirts they earned.

And in this third image you’ll see that the Estep family’s soup can be enjoyed in more than one way. It was a great session, thanks everyone.

Here our volunteers are shown (above) at the beginning of the 12/12/15 session. The weather was terrible, yet we had two families join us for their first times. There were twelve (12) of us volunteering, darn good given the weather. Our volunteers were all impressive, and they smiled a lot.

In this image (above) you’ll see two of our younger volunteers at work.  They were raking off the organic material.  They worked ahead of us, and worked really hard – we were digging and shaping right behind them.

Below you’ll see the tread being shaped, most of the volunteers in the foreground of this photo are the Fowler family.

Below more tread work is being done.

In this fifth photo (below), is the Grey family.

And in this last photo (below) our Youth Coordinator Bret Turner was coaching Ms. Grey.  She was everywhere, and always smiling…

This was the last session of 2015. Since we began we have put in more than 12,000 volunteer hours on Little Mountain. This year alone we amassed 1,936 volunteer hours…

Please make a New Year’s resolution; you can help by volunteering in 2016, or by making a tax deductible donation (to donate please click below):

http://mountvernontrailbuilders.com/donate/

Thanks, and Happy Holidays!  Our next session is January 9, 2016.

On Wednesday (11/18) the Skagit Audubon Society held their annual Little Mountain hike. In the following image you’ll see they were out in force…

Tom Ozretich, a club member, said there were thirty-one (31) of them!

At the same time, on the Nature Trail, Jerry Granahan worked away…

And (below) on the Heart of the Park (HOP) Connector Trail John Erbstoeszer was doing the same.  Over the next few days they volunteered more than thirty (30) hours removing leaves at Little Mountain.

Thank you gentlemen!

Did I mention there will be another Heart of the Park Fundraising Party? It will be held next year on National Trails Day, which is June 4, 2016.

Please put it on your calendar. We’re looking for donors and sponsors…

As always our November 14th session started with hot Starbucks Coffee. And this session, since it was wet and cold, it was really important.

A special thanks to the Mount Vernon Haggen location of Starbucks Coffee, they’ve donated our coffee for over five years now…

In this second image (below) you’ll see our crew at the beginning of the day. There were only ten (10) of us but we accomplished a great deal.

Maybe not everyone understands that sessions are “rain or shine.”

Below John stands on the trail called Rooty.  We worked on the north end of this trail extension.  In the background you can see Bret and Nicholai.

We got enough work done that next session we will work from the opposite end of this trail.  We will set-up next to the mid-mountain map kiosk, it is there at the crosswalk on the main access road.

Following, you’ll see Bret and Nicholai.  They were in the background in the above photo.

In this fifth photo (below) CJ is further north packing down the trail tread.

Below Alex gets to develop some new skills, driving the power wheelbarrow.

And so did Nicholai, that’s the upside of volunteering on low turnout days.

When the session ended we were all tired.  It was a solid session, thanks everyone.  We hope to see you next session, December 12th…

And remember: layer your clothing, and bring a hat and rain coat!