Saving a trail, crews work to reclaim a popular route into the wilderness

The briefing

Volunteers and professional crews spent this summer reopening the Hatchery Creek Trail west of Leavenworth, nearly impassable for six years after the 2014 Chiwaukum Complex Fire. The Alpine Lakes Foundation obtained a $20,000 Norm Winn Memorial Conservation Grant, matched it and funded two professional Washington Trails Association crews plus volunteers. Crews cleared about two and a quarter miles and 240 logs, working with crosscut saws because chainsaws are banned in wilderness areas.