As the City of Yelm continues nearing closer to constructing the Fuller Footpath activated alleyway, Yelm City Council voted 6-1 to amend an agreement with SCJ Alliance and voted 6-1 to allow the use of Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) funds from Rep. Marilyn Strickland’s office to construct the project.
The legendary Yelm native, Faye Fuller, will see her legacy continue to grow, posthumously, nearly 70 years after her death. With Fuller Footpath, not only will she serve as the namesake for the revitalized alleyway, there will also be informational plaques about her legendary climb on Mount Rainier.
Fuller, a former teacher in Yelm, was the first woman known to summit Mount Rainier. Her inspiration to climb Mount Rainier dawned when P.B. Van Trump, one of the first documented people to summit Mount Rainier, visited her classroom.
Climbing in adverse conditions on Aug. 10, 1890, Fuller made her trek over Mount Rainier. According to the National Parks Service, Fuller set out from Camp Muir, reaching the summit at 4:30 p.m. She described the experience as “a heavenly moment,” and added, “nothing was said. Words cannot describe scenery and beauty; how could they speak to the soul?”
Sixty-eight years after her death in 1958, Fuller’s legacy continues in Yelm as the activated alleyway, dubbed “Fuller Footpath,” will soon be constructed.
During the Yelm City Council meeting on Tuesday, May 19, Cody Colt, Yelm Public Works Director, highlighted Amendment No. 8 to the public services agreement with SCJ Alliance. The amount is not to exceed the amount of $426,760.65.
Colt noted this project initially started out as the downtown couplets project and eventually broke out into smaller individual projects — like the construction of the downtown parking lot, the planned Fuller Footpath activated alleyway and more — and became amendments.
