Jonny Ruth
Wilderness Ranger Fellow
Blodgett Canyon Trail #19
July 12-19, 2021
Bitterroot National Forest | Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness
This last hitch was a volunteer trip on the Blodgett Canyon trail. The main objective for this hitch was to clear the trees up to High Lake and to gather information on a rock slide that had occurred on the mountain side where the trail ran through.
On the first day of the hitch we were greeted with stock at the trailhead to help us pack in food and tools for the next 6 days. This was my first experience using stock on a hitch and I was quite excited for a couple reasons. The main reason was that we didn’t need to pack any food in our packs and we didn’t need to be carrying our tools with us. The food and tools will usually be the heaviest things you’re going to be carrying so it was nice to have the extra weight off our shoulders, especially for a 7 mile hike into camp.
Thumbs up, almost at the top.
The next day was pretty standard in terms of trail work. We all got up early in the morning for breakfast and coffee. We chatted about the day we had yesterday and what the plans were for today. We did our morning stretch routine and went over safety concerns that everyone had and then we set off on the trail. The hike to the junction where the High Lake trail splits off from Blodgett Canyon trail was about a mile down from camp. When we got to the High Lake trail we all quickly realized that there was some serious work that would need to be done. There would be many hours during the next few days spent on this trail brushing, clearing logs and hiking up a 2,700 foot vertical gain in only 2 miles. All things considered we did have a productive day of work and was able to clear all the logs off half of the trail.
Near the top, at a rock slide section on the trail.
The next day was quite different from any day I had before. It all started off normal: wake up, eat, socialize, stretch, and hit the trail. But a little after lunch there was a note that needed to be delivered to our crew lead that was scouting a rockslide about 1.5 miles from my location on the trail. The note was delivered to me with a sense of urgency so I had to keep that pace up in myself during my excursion. I didn’t take much with me besides my hat, sunglasses, and an objective. I started my ascent up the mountain within seconds of receiving the note. During my time climbing over rocks and looking for footprints to make sure I was still on the right trail I had realized that I was living a dream that I had when I was a young kid. I always loved being out on my own exploring new places over different kinds of challenging terrain and this was exactly that. The hike up quickly turned from me sucking wind and trying to maintain a solid pace into me having a good time and strategically having to plan every step to avoid slipping and falling. It was the perfect balance between physical and mental activity and gave me great memories of what it was like to be a kid again.
Picture of the valley looking north from the lake.
The views going up to High Lake were some of the most impressive I have seen in the Bitterroots yet. When you get out of the trees, the whole valley opens up into a perfect U and you can see every inch of it. I’ve included some pictures so you can get an idea of what I’m saying but I know they won’t do any justice for the real view. The lake itself looked like it should have been on another planet just based on location alone. It looked so isolated from everything else that it gave off an impression that no other people have really been down there before. Just having that thought alone was enough to make me appreciate the extremely fragile ecosystems that we are allowed into. The wilderness is not home to many of us anymore so when we go out and explore what it has to offer it is important for us to realize we are all just visitors and we need to keep it unchanged and respect it as much as possible.
Panoramic of High Lake and the valley.
Bitterroot National Forest | Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness
Boise State University
Major: Environmental Studies | Minor: Sustainability
Jonny grew up in Southern California outside of Los Angeles. He tries to spend time outside as much as possible, from playing sports to removing invasive plant species. Jonny is passionate about the wilderness and wants to work to take care of it in any way that he can.