My first encounter with Ruth Ittner took place in the late 1980s, when she initiated and accepted the challenge of establishing a hiking trail as a Washington State Centennial legacy project. At first, Ruth had no trail site in mind, but after approaching the Forest Service with her idea in 1987, the abandoned route of the Great Northern Railway near Stevens Pass became a natural choice. Its rich history, natural scenic beauty and railroad grade made it made it a hiking trail worth developing.
At that time, Ruth was merely in her 70s, promoting the plan to all who would listen, as a member of Volunteers for Outdoor Washington. Her enthusiasm for the project coupled with her doggedness and can-do-attitude always grabbed the attention of audiences. Soon, Ruth became a fixture at gatherings of historians and museum folk, locally and around the state. She did not hesitate to lobby legislators for her cause and recruited myriad volunteers to make her dream a reality. Ruth devoted the next twenty years of her life to the trail by cutting through bureaucratic red tape, marshalling forces to remove fallen timber and undergrowth, and raising funds for constructing walkway bridges and installing interpretive signage.
Shortly after starting my job at 4Culture in 2007, I got a call from Ruth, inviting me to join her for a hike on the Iron Goat Trail. We met on a sunny morning in June at the Martin Creek trailhead, where she regaled me with stories of how the trail came to be and the many hands that built and continue to maintain it, all the while downplaying her role in the work. That was Ruth’s style, working for the greater good through support of causes she treasured. Ruth is gone now, succumbing at age 92 to the lymphoma that she battled so valiantly and stoically for years.
I cherish the memory of the day I spent with Ruth on the Iron Goat Trail, keeping pace with her as she hiked with the aid of two walking poles, and learning from her the history of the trail only she could know. An old proverb says, “When an old person dies, a library burns to the ground.” That is truly the case with Ruth’s passing. Her wealth of knowledge and her engaging personality will be sorely missed. But, her loss is tempered by the lasting legacy she leaves for the rest of us to experience on the Iron Goat Trail.
