My name is Karen. I am originally from Scotland, but lived for a while in England and California, before moving to Oregon in 2020.

I was introduced to Trailkeepers of Oregon (TKO) by my husband, Neil. Neil is a trail runner, and for some of the longer races there is an entry requirement that you have to do a set number of volunteer trailwork hours before you can run the race. While we lived in California, Neil volunteered with a group called the Trail Center to get his hours, then kept going back because he enjoyed it. At that point, I had other things that I was involved in, so never went with him. 

When we moved up to Oregon, one of the first things Neil did once we were settled, was look for a similar organisation where he could volunteer out on the trails and he found TKO! After a while, Neil managed to persuade me to join him and I nervously went along. My first trail party was in June 2022 at Wahkeena Falls with Josh. I found that I really enjoyed the experience and it wasn’t long before I signed up for another event, again at Wahkeena with Josh! Since then, I have signed up for more and more events and, in less than 3 years, have done over 250 trail parties! I have learned so much! I got my A-cert in crosscut, advanced to become an Assistant Crew Leader (ACL) and I am now also a Crew Leader (CL).

One of the main things that keeps me coming back to TKO is the people. I mentioned that we moved to Oregon in 2020, it turns out that mid-pandemic isn’t a great time to move to a new state where you know no-one! There were very few opportunities to get out and meet people, so I felt fairly isolated until I started volunteering with TKO. I am quite an introverted person, so meeting new people can be difficult for me, but I instantly felt welcomed by all of the other volunteers and staff and was comfortable enough to keep going back, both with Neil, and on my own.

Neil and I are a bit odd, in that we don’t have a car! Most trails are difficult, if not impossible, to get to on public transit. My third trail party was at Milo McIver State Park with Pat and Elaine. On that day, we got the bus to Estacada and walked/ran from there to the meeting point for the trail party – a distance of about 4 miles! The other volunteers were amazed with how we had got there, and they refused to let us head back to Estacada on foot, insisting that they would give us a ride. They also shared their contact info with us and said to get in touch if we ever wanted a ride to or from an event. With out the willingness of so many kind volunteers and staff members, I would have really struggled to become so involved with TKO.

I am so grateful that Neil persuaded me to go along with him to Wahkeena for my first trail party. I have made some amazing friends through TKO and I am happy to be surrounded by the TKO community, it feels like a family.