Growing Like Weeds

Jaime Breisch

Wilderness Ranger Fellow

Monumental Creek Trail #062 | Marble Creek Trail #005

Payette National Forest | Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness

June 11–16, 2021

It’s the first day of the first hitch and I’m nervous about keeping up. We’ve been in and out of our cars all day, removing trees blocking the road and digging ourselves out of snow drifts as we try to make it to our trail head. This isn’t our job but an obstacle to get there and we’ll do what needs to be done.

Our gear is clean and new. Our tools are sharp and shiny.

Monica Stapleton (left) and Parker DePond (right) enjoying the view just past Monumental Summit. After digging Monica's truck out of a snowdrift, we decided to take lunch and wait for the snow to melt more.

Jaime Breisch using her broken middle finger to give the log that broke her finger a piece of her mind.

June 22–30, 2021

It’s the second day of the second hitch and my finger is nothing but pain. It rises and ebbs, throbbing with every jolt of the truck. It’s been a long day of driving, but I’m in good company—the best company—and they’ve helped me be brave. Stopping for dinner put us in good spirits but by the time we’ve made the five-hour drive back, sleep is pulling at our eyes.

It’s after dark. Our tents are still standing; our tools are all dusty.

Jaime Breisch (left) and Parker DePond (right) posing in front of Marble Creek Trailhead (Trail #062) about to head out on their third hitch. Marble Creek is a trail adopted by SBFC and a section of the Idaho Centennial Trail.

July 6–14, 2021

It’s the third day of the third hitch and I’m dreading the hike out—specifically the three steep miles uphill. Smoke has filled the air in thick wafts; we don’t know which fire it’s blowing from. Our bear hangs dangle on the other side of the creek we’re camped next to. Crossing to get our food bags is miserable. The water is frigid, and I want to scream once I’m on the other side. While excruciating, the icy cold is a balm to my blisters. I’ve decided I will be doing this for our entire time here. I’m willing to save my team some early morning agony.

Our gear is covered in pollen. There are streaks of dirt on our packs. Loppers are tearing where they should be cutting. Our saws are becoming hard to pull.

July 21–29, 2021

It’s the fourth day of the fourth hitch and I have yet to find more happiness and joy on a hitch. The waters are cold and refreshing. The views, although nothing spectacular, fill me with a sense of delight. Wild raspberries flourish around every turn. Although they are small, they hold such sweetness—of sunshine and fresh air and wildness. Not even the ash I find on my tent dampers my mood. My love for my crew—small, sure, but so wonderful and hardworking—reaches new levels as we continue to grow close. Boundaries have all but disappeared as we ask each other random, sometimes downright invasive questions. I want to make them laugh. I want to make them smile. I love thinking of new things to surprise them with.

Our tents are grimy. Our packs are filthy. Our boots—oof—are rank. Our tools continue to dull as our hands wield them with confidence and purpose.

Image depicting our Pulaski in a burned tree. The background shows the smoke that kept us company during our time up on Monumental Creek Trail (Trail #005).

Our camp for our hitch on Monumental Creek Trail (Trail #005). There were a few mornings we awoke to ash on our tents.

August 3–11, 2021

The fifth day of the fifth hitch is yet to come. Fires threaten our work from seemingly every direction. Smoke chokes us out. There’s a sweet sorrow in my heart just thinking of the summer coming to an end so quickly. Where did the time go? I have loved and hated my time here, but it’s a time I wont ever forget. Soon, I’ll be cleaning my gear. We’ll sharpen blades and replace saws and return them to the tool cache for next seasons’ crews to use.

Our gear will be dirty. Our tools will be the dullest they’ve been all summer.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Jaime Breisch hiking with the crosscut at Monumental Creek Trail (Trail #005).

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JAIME BREISCH

Payette National Forest | Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness

University of Montana

Major: Parks, Tourism, and Recreation Management | Minor: Wilderness Studies

Jaime is from a military family, and eventually settled in Arlington, Washington. She grew up going on long camping trips and has always had an appreciation for wilderness and national forests. Jaime has experience working on campgrounds, and she is looking forward to working more directly with conservation and protecting our public lands, particularly in wilderness areas. Jaime is enamored with how off-the-grid one can get in Wilderness; especially how it disconnects her from technology. Jaime can be found hiking, backpacking, and canoeing in the summer and cross-country skiing in the winter.

Trail Tools

Leo Scheibe, 2021 Warren Miller Sponsored Fellow

Eagle Mountain Trail #206 to Long Lake and out via Dutch Ridge Trail #2150

July 20-28, 2021

Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest | Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness

Several weeks ago, we ventured out into the Wilderness for our first hitch. It was several rainy June days of learning how and when to use KitKats, Silkies, Katana-boys, Pulaskis, axes, crosscuts, and wedges. Since then, we have had the opportunity to improve our skills and become comfortable using these tools. Here are descriptions of the tools we use, and some clips of the SBFC Nez Perce-Clearwater Trail Crew clearing trails on our last hitch.

We carried two Silky saws on this hitch. Some crews also call these saws, “Habukis.” Both of these names originated from the brand that creates these tools. These foot-long saws feature a curved handle and blade that are best for cutting small trees, around six inches or smaller. We also use them to cut large limbs off of logs. When not in use, these saws are stored in a plastic sheath.

In the video below, Jay is using a Silky saw to clear a small tree off of Dutch Ridge Trail #2150.

Katana-boys‑‑or K-boys for short‑‑are a few inches longer than a Silky saw. The main difference is that this saw has a straight handle and blade. Additionally, this saw folds shut and comes with a canvas sling for transport. These saws make quick work of small and medium-sized trees, up to about 15 inches. On this hitch, we had three of these saws.

Here Alex uses a K-boy to finish cutting a medium tree on Dutch Ridge Trail #2150.

Axes are one of the hardest tools to master on this list. They require a sharp blade, consistent accuracy, stamina, and both a safe and appropriately angled swing to be efficient. Once you get the hang of swinging it though, it quickly becomes a favorite. We use axes to chop through trees, remove tree limbs for easier access to logs, and to pound in wedges. Our crew carried four axes on this hitch.

In this video, Liesl finishes chopping through a tree on Goldhill Trail #247.

This next video is of me as I limb a tree on Gold Hill Trail #247.

Last but not least is the vintage crosscut saw. This one is a common favorite amongst trail workers, as it has extensive application and efficiency out on the trails. They come in a variety of lengths; our crew of seven carried two six-footers on this hitch. The handles are removable, allowing this saw to be used by either one or two people. Typically, two people will run the saw unless it is dangerous to keep sawing from one of the sides (if the tree might fall on the sawyer). Running the saw individually is known as single-bucking.

Another technique used, albeit begrudgingly, is under-bucking. This is when you turn the saw upside down and saw from the bottom of the log, upwards. This is done when there is too much compression at the top of the log to saw through without pinching the saw and getting it stuck. Typically, my crew designates a crosscut team for the day. They carry with them a k-boy for finishing cuts (if there is a concern for the tree damaging the crosscut when it falls), an ax (for limbing and wedging), and wedges (hefty pieces of plastic that are used to prevent the log from pinching the saw).

This is a video of myself and Clint as we cut an extra-large log off of the Dutch Ridge Trail #2150. Part way through the video, you can see Clint pound in a wedge to prevent the kerf--which is the path in which the saw is cutting in--from closing in and pinching the saw. We also finished the cut with a k-boy. After the cut, we used our legs to push the log clear of the trail.

Some tools I did not have the opportunity to capture on this hitch include the KitKat, loppers, Pulaski, and shovel. A KitKat is a red, pocket-sized folding saw that we use to clear woody shrubs. Loppers are your traditional pruning shears that are excellent when heavy brushing (clearing brush) needs to be done. The Pulaski is a traditional firefighter tool that we use to retread (re-route or clean up) trails and clear water drains that guide water off of trails to prevent erosion. Lastly, we carry a shovel to also clear drains and fling larger rocks off of trails as we hike. All in all, the seven of us carried a total of 18 tools on this last hitch.

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LEO SCHEIBE

2021 Warren Miller Sponsored Fellow

Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest | Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness

University of Idaho

Major: Recreation, Sports, & Tourism Management | Minor: Natural Resource Conservation

Leo is from Boise, Idaho. He brings experience from working on a tropical produce farm in Moloaa, Kuaui as well as experience working as an Adventure Camp Counselor in Cascade, Idaho. He’ll take every opportunity to spend time outdoors, from backpacking to skiing to spelunking— you name it! He is passionate about working to protect our wild spaces and improve access to them for all demographics.

Beginner’s Luck

Wilderness Ranger Fellow Madison Kilkenny

USFS Trail #19, Blodgett Canyon Trail

High Lake/Blodgett Canyon Volunteer Trip

July 13 - 19, 2021

Bitterroot National Forest | Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness

At the beginning of this program, I was extremely hesitant in accepting this position considering my lack of backcountry experience. Before this fellowship, I had spent little to no time in the backcountry and living in the Wilderness for eight days at a time intimidated me. Thanks to Sally’s encouraging words, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and embark on a challenging adventure this summer.

Our Packer Ed and his stock, packing us in to Blodgett Canyon.

Merely two months later, as I conclude my fourth hitch in the Bitterroot Wilderness, I take note in the growth I have gained from the beginning of the season. At the beginning of the season, I thought stock to be a campsite stock room items such as supplies and tools. To my delightful surprise, stock turned out to be horses and mules. I knew the names of none of the tools, struggled to set up my tent, could barely pick up my 50 lb. pack, and had an unrealistic phobia of bugs.

Now that I have finished my first volunteer hitch, I realize I not only know the names of the tools and how to effectively use them, but I am able to teach the volunteers how to use them as well. Not only am I physically capable of hard work, but I am mentally stronger. 

Huckleberry pickin’ break!

In the backcountry you only make a mistake once before you never do it again. In my case, I will never forget a crosscut at the top of an alpine lake again, because I did indeed have to make the grueling 10-mile hike to retrieve it the next day. This is just one of the many lessons I have learned in the Wilderness. I can now identify a handful of edible vegetation, including my crews’ favorite, Huckleberries. I understand the Wilderness is unforgiving, and to always be prepared for anything. I’ve learned the importance of the Leave No Trace principals, to always pick up trash wherever I go, the art of the creek bath, and how to effectively work and live as a crew.

Katanaboying a 20in tree.

This hitch represented great reflection and personal growth. Anyone can do hard things if they put their mind to it. No matter how hard each day is, when I lay in my tent at night, the hard work I put into the trails feels rewarding. I am using my body to the best of its ability to help open the Wilderness to the public and spend my days in nature. My passion towards nature is like a fire that burns inside of me, which drives me every day in the field. It gives me a purpose.

I also saw a moose!

The hike back from Blodgett Lake.

Blodgett creek from the stock bridge.

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MADI KILKENNY

Bitterroot National Forest | Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness

Washington State University

Major: Environmental Science | Minor: GIS

Madi is a third-year undergraduate at Washington State University, studying Environmental Science with a minor in GIS. Madi grew up in California and recently moved to Lake Tahoe. In Tahoe, she is able to exercise her passion for the outdoors through skiing, hiking, and paddleboarding. This is her first time working a season in the wilderness and is excited for the personal and professional development in store!

Mountain Messages

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.

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JONNY RUTH

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.

Flatlander in the Mountains

Forrest Lampert

Wilderness Ranger Fellow

Elk Summit Trailhead

July 6-14, 2021

Nez Perce Clearwater National Forest | Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness

The main reason I was interested in this job when I saw it posted online was because I wanted to gain experience living in the Backcountry and in Wilderness. I am from Wisconsin where there is a ton of woods and wild places, but due to people’s love of cottages and ATV trails, there is very little designated wilderness (only around 35,000 acres in the whole state). It is so cool to find that a lot of wilderness still exists in the western United States. Working out here is a drastic change from the environment back home. Wisconsin is pretty flat; highest point is 1,951 feet above sea level. Idaho is uh...not flat. There are mountains everywhere….and big ones too. This past hitch was, by far, the most challenging and exhausting for me.

We started out at the Elk Summit Trailhead by Hoodoo Lake (which, by the way, has awesome fishing if people are looking for a spot) and started working up Trail Number 4 to Big Sand Lake. We slowly worked our way up…..bumping camp every couple of days. We first camped by the trailhead for two nights and then camped near the junctions of Trail 1 and Trail 4, which was a really cool spot. I set my tent up on a rocky outcropping.

(Quick note: fishing is really good by that junction, and I still find it crazy that deer are not scared of humans in the Selway. I had this nice buck 5 yards away from me; he did not care at all.)

View from my tent.

Buck near my tent.

By Day 5, we finally reached Big Sand Lake (awesome lake, but bad fishing). Day 6 is where the real "fun" started. We had a 4-4.5ish mile hike uphill from Big Sand Lake to Frog Lake. There was a rise of 2,000 foot of elevation in our hike. I played sports my entire childhood, but let me tell you, that hike was one of my tougher workouts since high school sports. I was completely gassed after the first two miles. We had a 1,500 foot elevation change in the first 1.5-2 miles, and we still had a few more miles to go. Not gonna lie, a few thoughts were going through my head hiking up that mountain:

1.  It made me briefly hate all mountains.

2.  It left me with the question, “Why would anybody do this for fun?”

3.  It made me miss the Midwest because I never had to hike up anything that steep back home.

But once we got to the top, all those thoughts were gone. It was totally worth it. The views from the top of the mountain, and the alpine ecosystems, were awesome— 10/10 views.

View overlooking Frog Lake.

Our goal was to make it to Frog Lake to camp. Seeing Frog Lake in the distance just made me think “hallelujah”; we are going to make it. (Another quick note: very beautiful lake! Great for swimming, but not for fishing. No fish live in it.)

Frog Lake.

We set up camp at Frog Lake for two nights and worked up to the Diablo Lookout Tower. We almost made it, but came up just short of it. We also stopped at Frog Peak after work. The views were awesome.

Me sitting on Frog Peak.

Me laying shirtless in the snow by Frog Peak.

After those two nights, we slowly made our way back. Luckily, it was mostly all downhill, but walking downhill for that long really hurts the knees. We then returned to camp at Big Sand Lake for one night while also doing campsite inventories in the nearby area. On our last day, we hiked out about eight miles.

Even though this hitch was, by far, the most challenging for me, it was also the most satisfying and rewarding. This hitch was exactly what I was expecting this job would be, and I am happy I got to experience it. Even though it is very tiring work, and I am sure there will be many more hard days coming, I am looking forward to them. I love a good challenge! As long as these good old Wisconsin legs keep chugging, I can get up any mountain…..or at least for as long as my boots hold up because they are taking a beating this summer (the tread is pretty much non-existent at this point.)

My boots…or what’s left of them.

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FORREST LAMPERT

Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest | Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

Major: Ecosystem Restoration & Management

Forrest is from Appleton, WI, and is an avid hunter and fisherman, which is where his love for the outdoors began. He helped build trails when he worked on a conservation crew in his home state of Wisconsin. For Forrest, Wilderness is best kept wild, and he wants to work to preserve it for as long as possible.

A Study in Wildflowers

Kate Wilson

Wilderness Ranger Fellow

St. Mary’s Peak Volunteer Hitch

July 2- July 4

Bitterroot National Forest | Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness

As I made my drive from Iowa to Montana, I watched the landscape transform before my eyes. The sights I saw were largely unfamiliar, but that did not frighten me. I was excited to trade the rolling, gentle hills of my home state for the mountains and canyons of Montana. Even more, I was excited to absorb myself in learning about all the plants the state had to offer.

My first day in Missoula, I took myself on a short little hike and fell in love with all the wildflowers I saw. I pulled out my phone, opened my plant identification app, and committed myself to learning just three of the flowers I saw. Silky lupine, arrowleaf balsamroot, western gromwell. Later during our weeks of training, I bonded with my crew leader over our love of botany. Throughout the summer, she has taught me how to identify so many other wonderful flora. Indian paintbrush,  wild onion, glacier lily, calypso orchid, trillium, and more. I was thrilled to see some species I recognized from Iowa’s prairies, too. Prairie and woodland phlox, Mullan, yarrow, wild ginger. 

The Wilderness boundary sign at St. Mary’s trail.

A view of the St. Mary’s Peak Fire Lookout.

By the time I embarked on my third hitch – the crowd-favorite, St. Mary’s Peak volunteer project –I had a slowly growing wealth of plant knowledge under my belt. As we drove to the trailhead, I saw some familiar, and some unfamiliar, wildflowers. But I did not truly question what all these unfamiliar flowers were. It was not until I was hiking up the trail with a volunteer and she said to me between heavy breaths “wow, there are so many wildflowers up here. It’s amazing,” that I realized I had lost some of my curiosity.  I had gotten lost in the rhythm of the work ­– hike, cut, hike, cut, hike, cut, then hike some more ­– and forgotten to take the time to take in all the subtle beauty of the nature around me. Right then, I promised the volunteer that I would teach her any species I recognized, and I promised myself that I would learn as many unfamiliar species as I could.

By the time I reached the peak, I had seen countless flowers—but knew none of them. I was able to recognize one flower as a member of the Rosaceae, or rose, family but was completely lost beyond that.

So, when I returned to my little trailer at the Stevensville Ranger Station, I got to work identifying and learning the wildflowers I saw: shrubby cinquefoil, pink mountain-heather, spreading phlox, Gordon’s ivesia, western moss heather.

Shrubby cinquefoil.

Hooker’s mountain-avens.

Pink mountain-heather.

Spreading phlox.

Gordon’s ivesia.

Western moss heather.

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KATE WILSON

Bitterroot National Forest | Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness

Drake University

Major: Environmental Science | Minor: Spanish

Kate is from Iowa City, IA. She studies Environmental Science on a biological conservation track and Spanish at Drake University. Kate has always loved the outdoors and was truly inspired to become involved in land stewardship and conservation when she went on an SBFC IDAWA trip into the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in high school. She has also worked as a Land Stewardship intern with the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, spending her summer in prairies across Iowa. She is excited to pursue new endeavors in the Wilderness and work to protect it.

Finding the Groove(r)

Thomas Neidenbach – Wilderness Ranger Fellow

Appalachian State University

Middle Fork Trail #001

June 23-June 30

Salmon-Challis National Forest | Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness

Night one…what a whirlwind she was. Dark storm clouds rolled over the mountain peaks towards our campsite outside of Boundary Creek Campground. Bolts of lightning struck the ridgelines as we watched and waited in anticipation for the sky to drop out above us. A light cool mist transitioned to heavy raindrops accompanied by pea sized hailstones that peppered tent rainflies. The following morning our crew of four cooked an egg scramble breakfast for our 10 volunteers joining us on the hitch. We eagerly loaded our packs, distributed tools, and began the 9-mile hike into the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness to Trail Flats Campground. Hiking mile by mile we passed one tree after another, each recently cut with fresh sawdust coating the rich charred soil beneath our boots. It was evident that a crew had recently cleared the fallen trees on trail #001 just days before us. Emotions of confusion transformed to frustration as we came to terms with the fact that our 8 days of work would be consumed by nothing but brushing.

Days passed as we worked making progress further down the trail lopping ceanothus, sagebrush, and wild rose bushes. At times we questioned if the endless lopping was worth the work, but we pressed on sharing our stories and experiences slowly finding a sense of cohesiveness. Together we all learned how to cook meals for a large group in the backcountry, collect clean water for 15 people with a broken gravity filter, find the most comfortable places to sleep on rocky terrain, and…how to use a Groover. Only in the backcountry does it seem appropriate to talk about using the bathroom but scurrying one by one down the trail to find the metal Groover toilet camouflaged by brush seemed to bring the group together.

Towards the final days of the hitch, we accepted that in the grand scheme of things trail work is trail work. Whether it be cutting a fallen two-foot diameter Douglas Fir tree with a crosscut saw, rolling a 400-pound boulder down an exposed rockslide, or lopping back ceanothus bushes that creep into the trail; the work that we do grants access to otherwise difficult and unpassable trails. Lopping brush seems to be the least glorious form of trail work, but by our final days it was clear that the group had found our groove.

Volunteers and SBFC crew members stop for a lunch break overlooking Velvet Falls on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River.

Volunteers hiking through a brushy meadow to Joe Bump Cabin Campground.

Volunteer, Gretchen Arguedas, standing on a rock outcropping over the Middle Fork of the Salmon River after lopping a dense section of trail #001.

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THOMAS NEIDENBACH

Salmon-Challis National Forest | Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness

Appalachian State University

Major: Recreation Management concentrating in Outdoor Experiential Education | Minor: Geography

Thomas grew up in Spartanburg, SC. He is a Junior at Appalachian State University. Thomas’ experience working on trails began in Boy Scouts. He has worked as a Camp Counselor and Zip Line Ranger in the North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains. Outdoor recreation and activities have always been a significant part of his life. Wilderness areas have the power to reconnect humans with the Earth; Thomas is passionate about preserving and protecting Wilderness for this and future generations to be able to experience and respect the natural wonders held within.

Sounds of the Wilderness

Corey Dadds

Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest Trail Crew

Hitch #1 | Boulder Creek #211; Lochsa Peak #220; Lone Knob #198 | June 9-16

Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest | Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness

Our lives in the front country are full of so many sounds that we take for granted. The wail of sirens, cocktail of voices, music, tv in the background, and of course, the ever-present rumble of engines and screaming of rubber on pavement. Only in their absence does one realize the constant assault on our eardrums.

View from the trail.

As we loaded up our bags at the trailhead with the tools of the trade, the clicks of straps could be heard. An axe here, Pulaski there, a saw or five. I could hardly hear the passing cars on Highway 12 over the roar of the Lochsa River and the laughs of my comrades. We started up the trail and left both our cars and the rest of the world behind, and with them our creature comforts.

Beginning work on clearing trail, accompanied by the cry of a jay and the peeps of insects.

We began the fairly grueling 5-mile hike to our first campsite in high spirits, but quickly we discovered the pain that is a season's fresh legs and a pack loaded for five days of trail work. The groans of knee pain, blisters, sweat, and exhaustion soon overtook the laughter. All the while in the background was Boulder Creek, whose drainage we were ascending and whose cool waters would be another companion to us for the coming days.

Almost complete! The constant sound of the saw kept us company.

After our fair share of views, groans, and maybe more than our fair share of breaks, we finally made it to camp. Once at camp, one immediately became aware of the diversity of birds in the mountains of Idaho. The tweets of the chickadee, call of a blue jay, and even squall of an eagle filled my ears as everyone set up their tents. I could hear the poles snapping into place and the bickering over tent sites. As everyone settled in, the roar of 10 different stoves overtook the auditory landscape. We ate and before we knew it, it was time for bed. The roll of thunder could be heard in the distance.

I laid in bed reading The Hobbit for an hour or so and listened to the world around me. Boulder Creek took the forefront, but if I tuned it out, I could tune into the cacophony of the night time creatures and insects. Their trills came in ebbs and flows, one call triggering the next and when the leader stopped they would all fall in line. As I drifted off, the pitter patter of rain started to fall on my tent and lulled me to sleep. I could not help but think of the parallels of The Hobbit to our own adventure. I left the world of the waking with thoughts of the next day and excitement for what I might hear next!

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COREY DADDS

NEZ PERCE-CLEARWATER NF TRAIL CREW

Corey is “a corn sprout from Bloomington, Indiana.” He learned to love the outdoors working at summer camps as mountain biking director and trail maintenance supervisor. Corey went to college in Vermont and earned a degree in Renewable Energy and Ecological Design. He believes wild spaces should be protected and preserved so that generations to come can enjoy the transformative power of time spent in the wilderness.

What I Didn't Know

Alex Grahe

Wilderness Ranger Fellow

Hitch #1 | June 8th-16th

Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest | Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness

I found great difficulty attempting to write about our first hitch from my bunk. I feel it was easy enough to write about the events, our comings and goings, our activities clearing trail, but near impossible to capture the feeling of being out in wilderness. Even sitting on a hill behind the bunkhouse, ensconced between a rock and a tree-lined vista, I found it hard to describe the swelling of my heart. 

I think it might be hard for me to write about this in the same way it is hard to write about love. Working with Wilderness creates a feeling, a state of mind that crept up and then slammed into me once identified. With sweat and dirt clinging to me, I became enveloped in the hum of insects, roar of rushing water, and layers of green and blue. Time passed differently. Smiles came easier.

Not to say there weren’t difficulties. Hiking in with nine days of food on my back I thought I would keel over the edge of the trail. Our first night we had to sling a bear hang in the dark and tangled up our p-cord. On day three we ended work early for fear of hypothermia and putting my wet boots on the next morning was an act of pure will. As the days went on, I accumulated scrapes and bruises from wayward branches. There were times I was wracked with anxiety, but these centered around thoughts of returning to the world of cell phone coverage and capitalism. Despite my aching muscles and wet boots, I loathed to return to my old responsibilities. On the last day, I was speaking with my crew leader and said I was worried everything will have blown up by the time we got back, and he said, “what’s worse is everything will be exactly the same”.

As a child of the suburbs, I knew the outdoors were beautiful and I’d read enough to know the value of wild spaces for the ecosystem and the human psyche. What I didn’t know was the calm I’d feel from being 10 miles in the backcountry, having carried myself and my belongings there. I didn’t comprehend the satisfaction I’d feel making a crosscut flush with an older log. I didn’t know the relief I’d feel bathing in the stream every day, scrubbing myself with stones and checking for ticks. My dreams were filled with the sound of running water, and each tree we cut spat dust thick with aromatic compounds and the pungency of decay. 

Though typical of the human condition to see greener grass, the solace I found in wilderness work was unlike any I’d known before. There were no mirrors. What I saw of myself was refracted through others. Being out there loosens the trammels of the mind, encourages one to listen. 

I’m still going to curse my way through a five-mile hike with a full pack and grumble when I wake up to steady pattering on my rain fly, but I’ll look back and remember the quiet of my mind. The steadiness of the work, the relief of a warm meal, and the joy of every moment out there. I feel I’ll remember all of it fondly, no matter how miserable I was at the time, and that’s more than I can say for most of my life. 

I could only console myself leaving with the thought I would be back. I cannot do the wilderness justice. You must come see for yourself, for she speaks on her behalf far better than I ever could. 

The below images come from Alex’s sketchbook during his first hitch in the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest, Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness.

Boulder Creek at Horse Camp

Figure 4. Tree (cedar?) at Outfitter Camp

Figure 5. Four Brook Trout and One Cutthroat Trout from Boulder Creek, ID

Figure 1. Flush Cut

Figure 2. 74 Year Old Lodgepole Pine

Figure 3. Old Outfitter Camp

ALEX GRAHE

Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest | Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness

York College of Pennsylvania

Major: Biology | Minor: Fine Arts, Chemistry

Alex grew up in Tacoma, WA and spent a lot of time at Mount Rainier as a child. He has always been interested in ecological relationships and has a fascination with stories of survival and life among wilderness. The more he learns about the workings of trees and microbes, the more he thinks humans can learn from their dynamic. Alex is excited to become more familiar with the labor involved in maintaining wilderness, and is excited to spend some time listening to the trees.

2021 Season Training

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! 

A view of our campsite.

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. 

Hanging out around the campfire.

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. 

Learning how to single-buck.

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. 

Pack training with the Binnigers.

Tent life.

Family dinner at Sam Billings.

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.

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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!