MEET THE CREW

Christine Byl
​Co-owner

Christine Byl has been working on trails since her first season in Glacier NP in 1996. She and Gabe started Interior Trails in 2008. See more here. 

Gabe Travis
​Co-owner

Gabe Travis got his start building trails in Glacier NP in 1996. 2024 will be his 29th field season. See more here.
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2024 Trail Crew

Our crew hails from around the state of Alaska and has a wealth of work experience in rugged locations and challenging conditions. This year we will finish up a project that has spanned 4 seasons: the Curry to K'esugi Trail. We're really glad to have these all-stars on board to build this one-of-a-kind trail on Dena'ina lands.

Blaine Smith 
Crew Foreman

Blaine Smith is a lifelong Alaskan who enjoys being outside for work and play. His first trail job was in 1976 as a teenage boyscout working in the recently formed Chugach State Park, and he retired as the trails foreman of Chugach State Park. Blaine is a carpenter, mountain guide, avalanche skills instructor, trail worker, and much more. Based in Palmer, he's been with Interior Trails for 3 seasons and is an invaluable member of our team.

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​Luke Konarzewski 
​​Crew Member

Luke has been with IT for 3 seasons. He originally hails from the flatlands of the
​Midwest. Upon graduating early from high
school, he bought a van, put a bed in it, and
drove to Alaska. He spent three years working
on the Curry Ridge trail with Alaska State Parks before joining Interior Trails and knows just how special the place is. When he's not
working, his life revolves around travel,
photography, backcountry skiing, and all things
​climbing.

Kristen Mrozowski 
Crew Member

Kristen Mrozowski has spent three summers working for Interior Trails, and three summers prior delving into the program and project management side of trail work with Alaska Trails in Anchorage, as well as working towards a career in nursing in the off-season. Prior to arriving in Anchorage, she spent seasons working trails in Kachemak Bay, Southeast AK, and in many locations in the Lower 48. Kristen is from Michigan and loves running, hiking, Nordic skiing, water, and waking up in a tent as many mornings as possible.  ​  

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​Rachel Jensen
Crew Member

​Rachel currently lives in Eagle River and this will be her second season working on the IT trail crew. Originally from Northern Michigan, she came to Alaska in 2015 as a member of the Air Force. She is now an Outdoor Studies student at Alaska Pacific University with a concentration in Land Management. In her free time you can find her exploring with her dogs Olly and Arlo, cycling, or skiing

Jeff "Country" Gillespie
Logistics/Camp Manager/Cook

Jeff Gillespie, “Country,” is new to IT his year. A career boatman and guide, he wears many hats - location/safety manager, boat captain, heavy equipment operator, builder, timber framer, sawyer and tree planter. He has proudly planted more than a quarter million trees, by hand! Country grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of SC near the Wild and Scenic Chattooga River and first came to Alaska in 1995, seeking more wild and scenic rivers to run. He ended up on the Nenana River in Denali National Park where he currently lives with his wife Molly. Country loves all things that involve trees, rivers, mountains and being in the land.

​Lesley Seale
​Crew Member

Lesley is new to the crew this year but has been doing trail work in Alaksa since 2011 from Kodiak, to Skagway to the Anchorage area and beyond. More recently she has been working as a nurse and looking for excuses to be back in the dirt. She loves any activity that allows her to move through our vast Alaska landscapes - running slow for long distances, ski traverses, packrafting, or biking.

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Crew Alumni
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Some of our employees move on for a season and return,
​or pinch hit and provide short term assistance on special projects.
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​Anne Beaulaurier 
Logistics/Camp Manager/Cook
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​Bill Byl
Crew Member/Trainer

Anne Beaulaurier has spent the past twenty years
working jobs in far flung places between Greenland
and Antarctica, but calls Denali National Park home. 
A self-described Jane of Many Trades and master of
none, she can often be found baking croissants,
boiling down stock, tending her garden, swinging a
hammer, leading natural history trips, working
logistics with fixed wing or helicopter aircraft supported
camps, or running (or skiing!) for the mountains to try
​ to make sense of it all.

​Bill Byl lives in Anchorage with his wife Emily and rescue huskies, Kim & Filbert. He moved up to Alaska in 2016 from Michigan, where he spent 17 years working as an arborist, tree climber, equipment operator, IPM technician and general manager for a mid-sized tree company. He started his Anchorage-based business, Boreal Tree Care, in 2021. When he isn’t working on the house or in the trees, he spends his free time soaking up as much of the wild spaces as he can; back packing, Nordic skiing, split boarding, hunting, fishing and biking. He has worked for Interior Trails as a crew member, a sawyer, and a chainsaw trainer.

Julie Howk
Crew Member

Julie Howk started building trails for Denali State Park in Alaska before
working for Interior Trails for 3 seasons. She's passionate about the outdoors
and can often be found hiking, splitboarding, rock climbing, and pack rafting
in alpine lakes. She's also an artist and loves world travel. She recently
​volunteered with the Freya Foundation on a trail project in Patagonia.