OLYMPIC National Park Sequim Gazette
From Leif Nesheim
Volunteers cross the country to help Peninsula parks

Covered in dirt and grime earned in the Kirner Pit preparing a bridge for the Olympic Discovery Trail, a dozen young volunteers from around the country cooled off in the chill waters of the Dungeness River July 21.

"This is crazy cold water," said team leader Jennifer Merz, a teacher from Romeo, MI. Although Merz merely wet her feet and ankles, some of her charges dived right into the frigid water - still garbed in their work-soiled clothing. The volunteers, high school sophomores, juniors and seniors from around the country, came to Clallam County for a two-week stint working on various projects for Landmark Volunteers, a nonprofit summer service organization. They each paid for their own travel expenses and the cost of the program.

The organization has had a presence for several years in the area at Olympic National Park, but this was the first time its volunteers were assigned to help the county, said Kathe Smith, volunteer coordinator for Clallam County Parks. "We have a real backlog of projects," Smith said. "It's very fortunate that we got to work with them."

The volunteers scraped and prepped the bridge for painting so it can later be placed as the final piece in the Olympic Discovery Trail between Port Angeles and Sequim. They also spread wood chips on trails at Robin Hill Farm county park, pulled weeds by the Olympic National Park visitor center, and will be painting stalls for the upcoming county fair and pulling weeds at Siebert Creek with Pacific Woodrush, a non-profit volunteer group that specializes in habitat restoration on the creek.
"It would've taken us months to do (these projects) without these guys," Smith said. "They're fantastic." Not only were the local volunteers pleased to receive extra help, Smith said they enjoyed spending time with the visiting group. It was a feeling that was reciprocated, especially about the bounteous lunch spreads prepared by the park's regular Tuesday volunteer crew.
"You get to show people that you actually work hard," said volunteer Erica Borg of Great Falls, VA. between bites of a hamburger grilled at Robin Hill.
Borg, like most of the volunteers, had never been to the Northwest before. Most were from the East Coast as the group was founded 14 years ago in Massachusetts and draws many of its volunteers from more easterly states. What attracted them to the Olympic Peninsula? The consensus among many was the picture of the ruggedly scenic Olympic Mountains in the program's brochure.
"The picture in the brochure was really pretty. I think everybody's been saying that," said Jessa Dickinson of Lexington, MA.
"I was looking for something to do this summer," said Addie Franz of Buffalo, NY. "This one sounded very nice." Although many of the volunteers said they expected to do more work in Olympic National Park itself, they said the experience was by no means disappointing.
"The fact that we didn't get to work in the park much wasn't terribly disappointing because we got to check it out in our free time," said Charles Schopp of Sheffield, MA.
Between days of labor - including the scraping of the bridge that Abigail Barnes of Chappaqua, NY described as "brutal" - the volunteers visited Hurricane Ridge and Salt Creek County Park, bicycled the Olympic Discovery Trail on bikes loaned by friends of Smith and Mike's Bikes, and visited the Makah Cultural Center and Tribal Museum in Neah Bay where they met participants in a paddle journey up the Pacific Coast. They are also scheduled to see the Hoh River and the two Elwha Rive dams.
"Kathe's been really great about letting us work really hard and then letting us check out what the Peninsula has to offer," Barnes said.
"We have a pretty good balance of free time and work," agreed Phillip Wu of Arlington, TX.
The group stayed at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Port Angeles and the Port Angeles YMCA donated the use of its showers. They took turns cooking meals in groups for each other and worked on making friendships and sharing experiences that will span the country.
"I think you get a better sense of an area by living and working in one spot versus sightseeing and moving on," team leader Merz said.
Smith told members of the group that she hopes they can all come back with their families to see the other sights of the Olympic Peninsula that they didn't get to experience on this trip.

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