Sun Valley Guest Services Helps on the North Fork of West Pass Trail

Wednesday, September 10 was a perfect end-of-summer day. The morning felt like fall, with frost in some spots, but by the time the sun came over the ridgeline and this group of volunteers gathered, it had turned into a mild summer day.

The day and the group were a great match. As everyone gathered and made introductions, WRTC’s Carith says it felt more like catching up with friends and acquaintances than meeting for a volunteer workday. Somehow, the whole afternoon took on the feeling of a lazy summer day. Conversations wandered off on tangents as the group strolled up the trail toward the project site.

At one point, Carith wondered if they were going to spend most of the evening chatting—or actually get some tools in the dirt.

She should have known better with Mark and Marc bringing this group.

Without much hoopla or even a break in the banter, everyone grabbed a pick or shovel, paired off, and got to work. They moved a massive amount of dirt, but there was nothing frantic about it. Looking up and down the trail, all you saw was steady, efficient effort.

Before long, everyone had finished the sections they’d been assigned. The trail was wider, the backslope was smoothed, and the group had reached the point where starting anything new would mean pushing past their time and watching the sunset from the drainage. They all would have kept going, but instead they walked the section they’d worked on, checked out the section left for the next BYOC, and headed back toward the trailhead.

They made it back to the cooler with Jud in the lead, and everyone settled onto tailgates and into the shade of the trucks to enjoy a great end to the afternoon.

As Carith put it, hopefully we’ll see some of these folks at our other events soon.