Ryan Ghelfi
April 30, 2025
There is nothing finer than digging tread with nine other intrepid souls and preserving something as invaluable as an 18- 24” wide path through the deepest recesses of the largest Wilderness in the Lower 48.
After a long fall and winter working behind the scenes in an office without windows, the fruits of that time and labor are coming to bear.
This past Wednesday, our eight 2025 SBFC crew leaders, Wilderness Program Director, and I traveled to Lantz Bar on the Salmon River and began work in the footprint of the 2024 Elkhorn Ridge Fire, maintaining and preserving the #113 Dwyer Smith Trail in the Bitterroot National Forest. This key connector is the only way to travel on foot or stock east to west in this very remote part of the Frank Church.
On our first night in the Wilderness, we sat in a circle, cooking dinner and talking about the paths in our lives that had led us all to be there, working to sustain a Wilderness legacy. One theme that emerged was that each person had a profound and lasting connection to nature and being outside as much as possible. For them, it’s a yearning and a calling more than a job. It became apparent that there was nowhere in the world any of them would have rather been.
The next morning, their first full day of trail work for the season, the day broke clear, calm, and perfect for 10+ hours of hard technical and manual labor in the low country of the Frank. So much of the tread on this trail had become thin, out-sloped, and dangerous for stock to travel across. Swinging picks, Pulaskis, and begrudgingly using the less sought-after shovel, the crew traveled three miles up the trail, gaining over 1,400 feet in elevation, and brought it back to its intended specifications. The crew had 6 days remaining and 12 more miles to go before hitch 1 would be in the books.
Midday, we sat eating lunch on a knife-edge ridge, in a sea of countless knife-edge ridges, gazing down on the Wild and Scenic Salmon River, either secretly or openly knowing that in this place, in this moment, we were all living out our grandest dreams.
The work that our people do in the Wilderness is essential. The minute details and the quality of their efforts have a direct impact on a resource that we want and need to exist for many, many years to come. After spending two days working alongside our 2025 crew leaders at the start of our 19th season of Wilderness work, what is obvious is that having dozens of people committed to this work each season in the Selway and the Frank is likely more important than the work itself. The character forged through working in the Wilderness is second to none. The deep appreciation and love for these lands and the lessons learned are lasting. For our people, no matter where they go in the remaining decades of their lives, a significant part of them will always be out here in the Wildest Place in the Lower 48. And for me, ensuring that these fine people are out here working in the Wilderness season after season is what keeps me going and returning to my windowless office day after day.
As we head into our Wilderness season, I am confident in our crews and in the Wilderness legacy they are helping shape. If you want to join us in this mission, please contribute to SBFC as we close out Idaho Gives this week. Your gift will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $10,000, helping us further our wilderness mission. If you have already donated, thank you!