IATC History- Chapter 31 (2011): Anniversary March Features
IATC HISTORY: Chapter 31, 2011
ANNIVERSARY MARCH FEATURES
By Doug Simpson
January – March: Park Closures
Washington State recreational opportunities were becoming more limited due to fund shortages. The Explore Washington Pass was being initiated, which was estimated to generate $5.5 million in annual revenue, based on a $10 day pass to a $30 annual use permit. Locally, Squak Mountain State Park was expecting to dramatically reduce or eliminate services.
Club President Steve Williams outlined possibilities for future improvements in the Mountains to Sound Greenway. He cited 14 possibilities from a Greenway study, including more bus services, visited trail guides, volunteer hosts at trailheads and wildlife observation blinds.
The ongoing problem of increased bike usage on trails was discussed, with DNR’s Sam Jarrett proposing stacked loops to provide increased biker opportunities. Yet IATC’s Larry Hanson was dubious, calling offending bikers “ungovernable.”
In his “Hiker’s Corner” column, Joe Toynbee noted that in a six-month study , the club had 63 hikes, averaging nine hikers per outing with men making up just 32% of the hiking participants.
Ken Konigsmark reported on the City of Issaquah’s 30-year plan for improving hiking and park use in Issaquah’s central area. The result: “a green necklace of connected parks, trails and open spaces, creating a circular network to provide improved access.”
Plans were underway for a 20th anniversary 9-day outing in July from Ellensburg to the Puget Sound waterfront. It will begin with three days of biking, then six days of hiking.
April – June: More Area Acquisitions
David Kappler assumed presidency of IATC at the club’s annual meeting January 28. Officers Ken Konigsmark, Doug Simpson, Cornelia Remy and Kathleen Petty were re-elected, along with board members Richard Mann and Karen Tom. Steve Williams succeeded Joe Toynbee to remain on the board.
Two land acquisitions were announced. The Greenway filled in the noted missing link with acreage between High Point and Preston, a $4.7 million project. And King County Parks finalized a 41-acre purchase of the Kissel-Gunn property on Cougar Mountain fronting Newport Way between exits 13 and 15 off Interstate 90.
Plans for stewardship of the recently acquired Park Point property on Tiger Mountain’s west flank were underway, led by Interagency Coordinator Margaret MacLeod and Issaquah Open Space Steward Matt Mechler.
Hikes and trail work projects held steady in 2010, with 120 hikes averaging 9.5 hikers and trail workers putting in approximately 2000 hours. Scott Semans contributed about 1000 hours and Ed Vervoort another 850 hours, for the majority of the work.
AmeriCorps, aided by members of the Washington Conservation Corps, had a crew of 21 volunteers, ages 18-24, that worked for weeks to “restore natural area, maintain parks and trails, and improve access to recreation,” mostly on Squak and Tiger mountains.
Geologists affiliated with the State Department of Natural Resources conducted extensive research in the Issaquah Alps to clarify area faults and potential earthquake sites. They examined amber and fossils, focusing on Tiger Mountain’s 15-mile Creek Trail.
July – September: Marches and Plantings
Details for July’s 20th anniversary march, nine days from Ellensburg to Seattle, were spelled out. Fees ranging from $35 to $450 depending on participant’s age and days of involvement were to be assessed. The first 26 miles of the 130-mile march will be on bikes.
President Dave Kappler reminisced about the original 1990 march and encouraged folks to volunteer for the event and/or other IATC activities.
Ralph Owen detailed IATC’s involvement from the 1990 march to the club’s sponsorship of two Grand Traverse 26-mile outings in 1989 and 1990. “The original march event,” Owen wrote, “was an example of the IATC’s method of putting people onto the trail to ‘vote with their feet’ for the public preservation and acquisition of habitat and passive recreation land.” (Years later we can say that the strategy was very successful.)
In April, the City of Issaquah hosted a tree-planting event at Squak Valley Park South “to kick off the initial planting for the Ruth Kees Grove.” The ten trees planted in Kees’ name honored the first ten recipients of the Ruth Kees Environmental Award for a Sustainable Community. Four of the honorees were active IATC members: Harvey Manning, Dave Kappler, Ken Konigsmark and Bill Longwell.
October – December: Comments on the March
Konigsmark discussed details of the July march; some 75 trekkers participated in the beginning, ranging from 8 to 78 years old. They covered the John Wayne Trail and the re-opening of the 2.3 mile tunnel under Snoqualmie Pass. Over 100 Greenway supporters joined the hiking portion of the trek. A night in Issaquah included a hot shower and a celebratory dinner. Day 8 was the toughest, 18 miles up and over Squak Mountain and then Cougar Mountain to Newcastle Beach Park. The last day ended on the Seattle Waterfront Park, and, as he wrote, ”We were friends, family even, who had endured and enjoyed a long, magical journey together.”
Doug Simpson detailed he last day’s ten-mile trek over bridges into Seattle and then down steep hills to the waterfront. “It was exciting to participate in the symbolic adventure that Issaquah Alps visionaries Jack Hornung and Harvey Manning dreamed of over twenty years ago.”
At the July board meeting, club leaders officially determined that in the future the club would not print more editions of its existing trails guides. Looking ahead after supplies were gone, the books would be sold for $5 for an electronic version and a $10 CD edition. Additional guides being produced and online hike descriptions were causes for the policy change.
Are there cougars on Cougar Mountain? A six-year study by wildlife biologist Brian Kertson discovered and put GPS collars on 34 of the shy cougars that avoid humans. He noted that the combined Cougar/Squak/Tiger area “just isn’t big enough to support more than two or three resident cougars.” In five years there were only 17 verified cougar sightings in his study area.
Fred Zeitler, in the first of a series, discussed his favorite hikes in the Issaquah Alps. They included Squak’s Debbie’s View, Cougar’s Bear Ridge and Waterfalls Loop trails, Tiger’s South Tiger Trail, the Twin Falls trail east of North Bend, and Malakwa Lake Trail off I-90’s exit 45.
The only new hike leaders is 2011 were Dori Ost and David Warner.