It is always a treat to spend a week in a place with a regal name, and the Women’s Only Work Week left the Little Queen’s Valley ruddy and rugged, if a little grubby, having earned a few crosscutting crowns. Nine women, some friends from before but all friends after, cleared 126 trees from the trail, lobbed ceanothus that had previously hidden the trail, and restored parts of the old silver mining wagon road where gravity threatened to see the last of the trail wash into the river. Pauline Irish celebrated her first crew as cook, and kept everyone happy and well fed. Jess Evett regaled the crew with stories of leading YCC teams for weeks at a time. Tina kept the crew laughing, and Angie set the pace for everyone, a team player if ever there was one! Peggy’s engineering eye helped figure out leverage points and where logs would settle or rise, making moving the logs, once cut, easier. A royal push from the posterior gets the job done, for sure! One morning wild tromping roused the women from their tents, and while no one saw the actual scene, the fresh foot prints left in the dust fired everyone ‘s imagination and left us all with keener eyes, hoping to catch a glimpse of the wild and hairy things that share the beauty of the valley. All agreed it was a great week, made better by the careful packing by Dan and Marja with Backcountry Horsemen and, of course, by the somewhat reluctant trail work by burro Pedro who, of course, gets our vote! Thank you Idaho Trails Association for a great week. And thanks, in advance, from the through hikers hoping to round the corner from Queens to little Queens and vice versa. Still more work lies ahead, but we are getting to the crown of the valleys and the jewels of the alpine lakes!- Liz Bridges, ITA Board Member and volunteer

Photo credits: Pauline Irish, Morgan Baker, Elizabeth Bridges, Cindy Walker, and Angie Fuller