Ryan Ghelfi
September 5, 2024
When we are laying out our season of work in the winter and spring, we set up some ambitious goals. One of our primary organizational objectives is to help keep trails open and Wilderness accessible for the public. As any who have volunteered or spent a season working on a Wilderness trail crew know, it’s a monumental task.
This season we aimed to clear the trail between Elk Summit and Blodgett Pass. The 13 miles connecting the Idaho and Montana portions of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness had not been cleared of downfall in five seasons. In any forest, but especially going through burned sections of forest, this meant that there were thousands of trees down across the trail. A trail in this condition is not passable to stock and is extremely difficult for any hiker to navigate.
So it was with great vim and vigor that our crews and volunteers set out across multiple hitches in July, clearing those thousands of trees. After our crews hiked out from the area on July 24th we could say the cross border route was open!
But here’s the thing: “Open” is a very tricky and time-sensitive word when it comes to Wilderness trails. On the morning of July 24th, the trail was clear of trees. But as our crews went to bed in Missoula to begin their days off on the night of the 24th, Mother Nature had something other than “open” in mind.
Throughout that night, winds reached speeds over 100 mph in locations across the region. Large live trees were ripped from their roots. Massive sections of forest were blown down like matchsticks. The Moose Creek Ranger Station was heavily damaged by trees that had stood through dozens of windstorms over hundreds of years.
Our crews awoke to a different world. And the trail from Elk Summit to Blodgett Pass had been “open” for merely 12 hours before being affected by the storm, with hundreds of trees down on recently cleared sections of trail. One of the Forest Service trail folks we work with regularly said a funny thing to me recently that resonated. When people ask him if a trail is open he says, “I will only guarantee a trail is open for 24 hours after it's been worked.” Maybe 24 hours is too generous.
It makes you reckon with the question “Why are we doing this work?” Certainly, every tree we cut on every hitch is a tree that will not have to be cut later. But I think there is a more important point buried underneath. To me, as our 2024 season is gradually winding down, I’ve discovered a different purpose, one that Mother Nature cannot take away. The work itself is the point. The Wilderness is a place where our connections to nature hold fast, and where the nature of the work remains as it was 100 years ago. A place where our human limits and resolve are tested, and where we must endure through all sorts of difficult circumstances. For the people who choose to work in Wilderness, opening trails for others, whether they be paid or volunteers, the work itself (paychecks aside) is the goal; it’s not merely a means to an end. The fact that hundreds of people choose to continue to work to keep trails open in the Selway and the Frank with us each summer gives me hope that we as a people are strong, resilient, and continuing to move forward in the right direction without losing our connections to the past.
Thank you for supporting this work, whether by volunteering, making a donation, or cheering on our crews. We appreciate you!
P.S. Due to some good fortune and timing, we were able to send multiple crews and groups of volunteers back to Elk Summit during August. As of August 21, the trail from Elk Summit to Blodgett Pass was clear of trees yet again. I have not heard of any big windstorms since. So I suggest you lace up your hiking boots and go see this amazing and wild country. Now is always the best time.