Closing Gaps and Making Connections

September 9, 2025

It was a perfect day for a work party – overcast skies, temps in the low 60’s and no rain (at least, not until lunch was finished!). Members of Buckhorn Range Chapter – Back Country Horsemen of WA were joined by members of the Peninsula Trails Coalition, Quimper Trails Association, and neighbors of Anderson Lake State Park to build a short trail that extends the Olympic Discovery Trail into the Park. The ODT, which runs from Port Townsend to LaPush, has many sections of trail which don’t yet exist, and this event was part of the latest project to close one of the biggest gaps, between the Larry Scott Memorial Trail and Discovery Bay where the trail resumes. The little piece we worked on is an extension of the bigger project being completed between the LSMT, which ends at Milo Curry Trailhead, and the border of Anderson Lake State Park. This section is scheduled to open in November. “Our” trail is the temporary connector between the end of that project at the Park boundary and the Olympic Trail, part of the existing trail system in the Park.

We were very excited to be chosen to build this trail, as our chapter used to do a lot of work in the Park but haven’t been there in over 11 years. Our initial plan was to just go in there and get it done ourselves, but in talking with people about the project I realized that others wanted to get involved. I saw an opportunity to create an event that would give them an opportunity to contribute as well as build partnerships and connections in the community between the various organizations that work on trails and the community that uses them. With the support and planning of the Buckhorn Range Chapter Board we created a Work Party event, including a hot lunch, because as our Camp Cook Kim (who puts the ‘party’ in work party) likes to say, “If you feed them, they will come”. 27 folks showed up to dig in the dirt and work alongside their fellow trail enthusiasts. We got the first stage of the project done by working together, swinging pulaskis and using loppers to remove roots and grading and smoothing with macleods to make the tread ready for topping with crushed rock (which we will do at October’s work party). It went so smoothly that everyone got back to the trailhead before the chowder was quite done! The lunch was delicious and everyone agreed it had been a great day! Just as we were finishing our cookies the rain started falling, which motivated everyone to pack everything up and call it a success.