Dirt Work «

Dirt Work

July 19, 2018January 14, 2019
by Ashley Gossens

There is nothing like getting your boots and gloves dirty on the trail. This month we did just that by volunteering with the Washington Trails Association and reading Dirt Work. The book is a memoir by a self-described “traildog” who has worked trails in several National Parks. From the beginning Christine encounters sexism. In order to prove herself, she has to quickly learn how to use a saw and to endure long days of difficult physical labor. It’s a long road, but she finds that she thrives as a traildog, despite the wear and tear on her body.

Our dirt work day was quite different than Christine’s typical day on the trail. Our group was enthusiastically greeted by the WTA crew and they wanted to know all about the book we read. We stood in a circle and introduced ourselves and the crew leader asked us, in the spirit of the book club, to share our favorite genre of book. This made me very happy and it was something that I assume would never happen in one of Christine’s trail briefing.

Our major goal for the day was to brush out the Snoqualmie Lake trail. The salmonberry bushes were encroaching the trail making for low visibility and wet clothes for hikers in the rain. We were sure to snack on the ripe berries before we “lopped” them to oblivion, sometimes digging them out completely. We unceremoniously slung the poor victims into the depths of the forest to turn to dirt. It seems callous and wrong, but man, it is satisfying. We did a heck of a job.

Some members of our team worked on tougher tasks like digging drainage and moving large builders to support them. We were also tasked with “popping rocks” which is the glamorous job of digging up rocks in the middle of the trail that may be a tripping hazard. Have you seen a trail in the Cascades? Someone could literally spend a lifetime popping rocks on the trails here. Not nearly as satisfying as brushing, but it’s fun to say.

The thing about the book that stood out to me the most was how Christine really appreciated the female companions and teachers she had on the trail. It is nice to feel supported on the trail and like you belong there. WTA does a fantastic job of making you feel at home (no matter the gender) and they really take the time to make sure you are taken care of. This day was made even more special with the support of our fabulous book club crew and from my sister who was in town visiting and was brave enough to join us for the day.

Trailwork is not fetish, hiatus, or a meander off a truer path. Through two decades of changes, years of both drudgery and stimulation, trailwork has been an unexpected constant, the magnetic pull that swings my inner needle true, the thing that has taught me, in a way, how to live.