Hanna Kirkland
Utah State University
Big Horn Crags
August 7- August 10
Salmon-Challis National Forest
Pictures do not fully show the beauty and magnitude of the Big Horn Crags. I have personally never explored the Salmon- Challis Forest prior to this internship. The Frank Church Wilderness provides many jaw dropping scenes, but by far I must say the Big Horn Crags ranks #1 in my book. Unlike other hitches, I was only able to stay in the area for a few days. The drive from Challis, ID to the Crags campground felt like a literal rollercoaster. Briana, the other intern I have been working with this summer, and I got car sick from being jostled around because the road was so bad. The first day mostly consisted of getting to the Crag campsite, meeting the volunteer group and setting up camp. The next morning, we packed everything up and took an 8-mile hike to Bird Bill Lake. If you don’t know much about the Crags, the only thing I can describe it is that there is A LOT of walking uphill. Briana and I would joke about dying a little every time we saw that we had to climb ANOTHER mountain. I guess the saying “beauty is pain” is true. Even though my legs were noodles by the end of the hike I was glad I could capture and witness the beautiful scenery. The next day our group went towards Ship Island to work on some trail rerouting. Half of us cleared off rocks and trees while the other half worked with Pulaski’s to create the new tread. Briana and I may have spent an hour removing a huge boulder that was in the middle of the new trail. Was it absolutely necessary? Probably not haha. The thing that I have come to learn and appreciate in this line of work is the ability to work hard, connect and work with others, and enjoy the tender mercies. Something simple like a slight breeze, fresh water, a piece of chocolate can make your day. I think we forget to recognize those things in our crazy lives and the wilderness helps remind us of those tender mercies. I am grateful for the lessons and skills I have learned through this internship, and hope I can continue to inspire others from it.
Hanna Kirkland
L2R - Hannah, Josh Page (SBFC Frank Church Wilderness Steward), Briana (SBFC WR Intern)
