After a 2-hour drive from Eugene, Oregon, I was headed up a trail with two dedicated trail volunteers to clear a tree. I had previously received a message from one of them, Ed Willson: “There’s a tree on the PCT about 6 miles from the Cascades Lakes Highway near Elk Lake. Seems like a lot of work for only one tree, but it looks like a good one.” As we left the parking lot, a few hikers thanked us for clearing the trail. Willson assured them there was no need for thanks – we were out there because we loved working on trails.
Ed is the trail steward for 18 miles of the PCT near Oregon’s Willamette Pass. This section of trail is used by the Waldo 100K – a race he has been involved with since its inception in 2002. The race directors initially recruited Willson because of his experience with trail work and tracking volunteer hours for a local organization.
He began by doing “tread” work on the Waldo course due to many of the trails not being maintained over the years, and some sections needed significant work. In addition to working on the tread, Ed began swamping (clearing debris) for Craig Thornley (current Waldo RD) as he used a chainsaw to clear blowdown off the trails. Eventually, Thornley gave him the saw and told him to clear a tree. “Oh man, it was ugly,” recalls Willson. After making numerous cuts and starting over multiple times, he finally got the tree off the trail. It might have been rough, but something about using the saw stuck with him.
A couple of decades later, Willson now organizes trail work for the Waldo 100K. Every year, on a weekend in July, volunteers clear the trails used by the race – and wouldn’t be maintained if it wasn’t because of this trail stewardship. But trail work weekend is not the only time that Willson is out on the Waldo course. During June and July, he heads out approximately three times per week to clear trees off the trails.
One year, on race day morning, Willson headed up the trail with one other volunteer. They were out to clear one last remaining tree from the trail. Due to the fire danger being too high to use a chainsaw, they needed to tackle the 3-foot diameter tree using a crosscut saw. After a couple hours trying without any success, Willson’s partner needed to leave. Tired and out of water, he continued cutting alone with the two-person saw. Checking his watch, he realized that the first runners would be there soon. With time running short, he asked a couple hikers if one of them would be willing to grab the other end of the saw, and one of them agreed. A few minutes later, the round fell out and about 100 runners had a clear course ahead of them, thanks to Ed’s persistence.
Hiking up the trail with Willson, he explained that to reroute a quarter-mile section of the PCT near Bobby Lake a few years ago, the Forest Service required a NEPA study, which is an environmental assessment of an area to determine the effect a new trail or rerouted trail might have. It is one of the behind-the-scenes requirements that goes into trail work, and this section in particular would straighten the PCT so that the Bobby Lake Trail would cross it directly, allowing bike traffic to access Bobby Lake (no bikes are allowed on the PCT) and creating less confusion at the intersection of the trails. Ed was largely responsible for instigating the improvement and building the new trail. When asked who paid for the NEPA study, Willson said, “The PCTA (Pacific Crest Trail Association)…and me.”
A few years ago, he was called into the McKenzie River Ranger District to discuss the future of trail work in the area. Recalling his conversation with the ranger, Willson told him, “We need volunteers because we can’t clear the trails without them,” pausing, he finished his thought, “What are you going to do to make it happen?” With 30-40 small groups in the area, it was difficult to create a unified effort to clear the trails in coordination with the Forest Service, as they didn’t have the manpower to organize all the volunteers. So Willson stepped in. It was a year of full-time work, or approximately 2,000 volunteer hours, he completed for the Forest Service.
“I kinda got drawn into that because I think it’s important,” he said. In addition to clearing trails and coordinating volunteers, Willson volunteers at saw training events throughout Oregon. Teaching new sawyers to safely use a crosscut or chainsaw allows him to pass along the skills he has acquired from years of volunteer work. Having personally worked with him, it’s not just about the knowledge he is passing along, but his passion for trail work that really makes him stand out.