Hannah Caram
Wilderness Ranger Fellow
Hitch #4: July 19-26 (Bass Creek and Lappi Lake Trails)
Bitterroot National Forest | Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness
A picture of me looking through binoculars.
Rather than waking up to the harsh, raspy chatters of the black-billed magpie in Darby, the Bitterroot Crew returned to the aspen colony along Bass Creek trail. Many mountain chickadees, Swainson’s thrush, and pine siskins among countless others call this grove home. The organism teems with both life and death and would be our home for yet another week in our mission to clear the Lappi Lake trail—a trail that has not been cleared by the USFS since approximately 2003.
A panoramic view of Lappi Lake (11 July 2022)
Joining us for this daunting task was the youth of CatRock Ventures, a non-profit organization that brings inner-city kids from New York to wilderness areas and exposes them to outdoor recreation activities. I could tell most of them were apprehensive about being in Wilderness for so long in addition to the large amount of physical labor they were about to do. I remember feeling similarly during our first hitch. Am I cut out for this? Will I be strong enough to lift my pack? What will happen to my mental health? What if I get hurt? Or sick? Even after four hitches into the season, these questions still eat at my confidence in the depths of my mind. Trail work is much different than my typical time spent studying animals in the lab.
Relaxing during our first break.
Teaching the CatRock members how to tread and cut properly solidified my own skills. Seeing them head up the trail after completing a section of tread was very rewarding. They still smiled and laughed despite being in a completely different environment then they are used to. I enjoyed having another presence in addition to my crew. The afternoon snack chats were my favorite. I was reminded of my younger brother once I discovered one of the members shared my love for Jurassic Park, dinosaurs, and videogames. Following dinner, the delirious silliness and giggles would come out. Even after a long day of working in the sun, the kids still had the energy to goof around and tell funny stories. The Bitterroot Crew has had many of these moments throughout our hitches, but they usually are expressed in taking ridiculous pictures of one another.
Moving out West has only fed into my interest in birds. I fell into birding after being exposed to my undergraduate research advisor’s contagious passion for birds. The kids would bring me feathers and ask me to identify bird songs and calls. I learned later from one of their leaders that they would point out birds and think of me, which made me smile. I hope the members of CatRock Ventures will look back fondly to their hot days in the Bitterroot as I already do. Perhaps their time in Montana will spawn new interests in nature, land management, or outdoor recreation. Suffering through rough terrain and black fly bites made getting to Lappi Lake extremely gratifying. And almost nothing can compare to winding down from an exhausting day to the flute-like song of the Swainson’s thrush and the hush of the aspen trees.
Sketches from my journal I always take on hitch.
Left: Sketches of horses from fantasy series The Wheel of Time I listen to while working or as I fall asleep in my tent. Right: Rough sketches of the mountain chickadee and a passerine foot.
Bitterroot National Forest | Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness
University of Findlay
Major: Animal Science; Minor: Psychology
Hannah grew up in northeast Ohio in a small, rural town. For her undergraduate degree in Animal Science, Hannah attended the University of Findlay, where she grew to love animal husbandry and management. Her previous experience working in the outdoors is mainly through bird banding and volunteering to clean up local rivers. Animal behavior fascinates Hannah, and she wants to learn how behavior changes through proper wildlife management. Hannah is passionate about the preservation and conservation of the wilderness because she does not think we can ethically enjoy the outdoors without doing so.