Liesl Magnus

Wilderness Ranger Fellow

May 17 - June 6

Missoula, MT | Wilderness Gateway, ID | Sam Billings Memorial Campground, MT

Hi! My name is Liesl, I’m a Wilderness Ranger Fellow on the Nez Perce-Clearwater crew for the 2021 trail season. I’m sitting and writing the first part of this from a laundromat (shoutout Green Hanger) on the north-ish side of Missoula, charging my phone and my laptop while my clothes spin in the dryer next to me. It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks since arriving in Missoula and I’m here to tell you about it before the gang splits for the summer and heads off to their respective stations tomorrow!

This summer, there’s a dozen Wilderness Ranger Fellows and about the same number of trail crew workers, summer staff, and crew leads. Some of us are from the Missoula area, some of us (like me!) are from much further afield. Most of the fellows have been living at the KOA campground by the airport, which is a bummer when it rains but most of the time feels like a combination of summer camp and a college dorm. The weeks have alternated 40 and raining with 95 and sunny, keeping all of us on our toes and with our layers close at hand as May and June tend to do while we get ready for the season.

The first few days with SBFC were a blur of paperwork and new faces, lots of office time, and a true death by PowerPoint. Later that week, we loaded up the old vans--Deer Hunter, Hobbes, and Murphy for those that know SBFC--and headed up to Wilderness Gateway over Lolo Pass for a few days learning to work with pack stock and clear load after load of brush from the old paddocks so that the fences could be replaced and they could be used again.

At Wilderness Gateway the second night, everyone that had been involved in our projects the last few days stood in a loose circle around the fire as darkness crept down into the river valley. The shoulders of the mountains were shrouded in mist as they fell down to Boulder Creek and the Lochsa River, but around the fire conversation flowed through small groups and we were warm, full of the pleasure of good food and good company.

We spent all of the next week south of Missoula at the Sam Billings Memorial Campground in another blur of new names, new faces, and new skills for many of us. We went over how to swing an axe, how to double-buck and single-buck a log, how to judge tension and bind and compression in a fallen tree and maybe most importantly, how to do all of this safely. In the evenings we explored the elk trails that wound their way through the pine groves by the river and used our new axe skills to get wood for the fire. We swam in the river most nights, too, in and out as fast as we could while still scrubbing all the dirt off. Our skin tingled and our toes were pink with cold--the river was still flush with snowmelt and the full day of rain only made the river run harder. Warming up around the fire, we played riddle games as we sat around burning this and that, trying to improve the flavor of what remained of our food on the last night.

Trails week concluded with a half a day of learning to dig out water bars and brushing where needed and we headed back to Missoula for a much needed day off. While we had been in the woods, something resembling summer had settled in the city. We spent Saturday enjoying the sun, wandering the market and the downtown area of the city half-in and half-out of the things going on around us; my mind, at least, was still somewhere cross-cutting logs in the hills outside of Darby, Montana.

Sunday brought the beginning of Wilderness First Responder training for most of us. We reported to the city park bright and early and spent all of the next week learning the skills that would keep us and the people around us safe in the coming season. Throughout the week, the scenarios that we were presented with got more and more challenging and we learned the value (and the necessity) of staying calm in an emergency, but also that often the most valuable thing you can be (beyond competent) is kind. A week and a day later, we drove down to Lubrecht Experimental Forest for our final assessment (spoiler alert, we all passed!), and today everyone went their separate ways for the summer. I made the hour drive up to Lochsa Lodge and the Powell Ranger Station, and tomorrow we’re going back to Wilderness Gateway--full circle, really.

It was sad saying goodbye to Missoula, to the KOA, and to all the people we’ve come to know these last few weeks, but tomorrow brings the start of our first hitches and new challenges and new adventures ahead. We’re ready for this now, our time getting ready has been well spent, and I’m excited to see what the rest of the summer brings.

I’ll leave you with one final thought: These are good people. When I made the choice to leave New England and come to Montana, I wasn’t sure what I was walking into. I knew the work, understood the lifestyle, but I wasn’t sure who I’d be sharing it with. I knew trails people tended to be good--kind, openhearted, funny, and solid. These last three weeks have been proof of concept. At every campfire, under every array of stars that we have had the pleasure to witness, I have come to know this group of people as a good one. Good in the deepest sense of the word. Whatever happens this summer, we’ll be alright. I know it.

Thanks to everyone who’s been a part of the last three weeks, and thanks for reading,

Liesl.

Liesl Magnus

Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest | Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness

Saint Lawrence University

Double Major: Environmental Studies, Government

Liesl is a trail runner and competitive mountain biker from Holderness, New Hampshire. She grew up hiking, running, and skiing in the White Mountains and went to college in the Adirondacks. As an avid outdoor athlete, Liesl is passionate about the wilderness and all it can teach us. She has a great amount of respect for the opportunities afforded by a life spent outdoors and can't wait for her first season with SBFC!