Jack Whitney
Wilderness Ranger Fellow
Kootenai Creek Trail | Bitterroot National Forest
June 4-11, 2025
Group photo in front of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area boundary sign on Kootenai Creek Trail. From left to right Cora, Casey, Jeanice, Lana, Jeremy, Jack, Ted, Dennis, Martial, and Lisa sitting in the front.
For our first full eight day hitch into the backcountry, I was lucky enough to spend it with a group of ten very passionate volunteers and our crew lead Martial Jumper. Martial and I, with help from our volunteer program director Krissy Ferriter, managed to somehow pack enough food for a dozen or so people for over a week. We spent a handful of hours preparing for our hitch and began our journey the next morning. On our drive south on route 93, I saw the hills of Missoula slowly disappear in the passenger side mirror, and I saw the jagged and wild hills of the Bitterroot appear to my right side.
When we arrived at the group site where we were to spend the next couple of nights before heading into the backcountry, we met the first handful of volunteers. Sported in our work gear, we all headed up to the trailhead and began our work week. I was responsible for leading the brushing crew while Martial was responsible for the crosscutting team. Clearing the first few miles of trail wasn't too bad, as it is heavily trafficked and the US Forest Service can readily keep up with maintenance. However, once we reached the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness boundary, the thickets appeared and we truly began our week of lopping and clearing water bars.
After the first day we all returned to camp and Teddy, Dennis, and Jeremy, three of the volunteers, showed us the game “Farkle”. A simple dice game where luck and strategy are at the forefront of success. Should you potentially sacrifice or “farkle” your entire turn of points to get more, or should you remain modest and ensure you retain the points into the next round? The game stuck around with us all week as we worked higher and higher up the creek.
Making a big cut on the Kootenai Creek Trail
On the fourth day, we bumped our camp 5 miles into the backcountry up the creek trail. Carrying our remaining food, gear, and motivation up the trail we made a day out of just the hike up. Our camp was simple and we adjusted to it quickly, becoming our home for the time being. We continued to work through the scorching summer heat, covered in beads of sweat, but all without losing our perseverance.
On the fifth day I was seated on a rotted log listening to the forest around me burst with morning life. I heard something large come down the hill to the left and soon a whitetail doe stood no more than ten feet away from me on the trail. We stared at each other, neither seemingly startled or dazed by the interaction. And the doe walked further down the hillside towards the river to drink.
View from hike up to the Kootenai Lake, looking east.
On the seventh day Martial spotted an adolescent black bear watching us some 300 feet above us on the hillside. Again, our group of 10 people stared up at the animal as it returned its gaze. Within a few moments, the bear continued on up the hillside. That day, we made the 13 mile round trip to the terminus of our trail to see North Kootenai Lake. With the high ridges set beside the alpine lake, slender waterfalls deposited their icy water below. The falling water on the ledges reminded me of my brief trip to Iceland years back. The scope of the wilds here really became apparent then to me. I am standing not just in a place deemed as wild but a place that has yet seen what it means to be anything other than such. That next morning we left for home, all going our separate ways. I felt simultaneously relieved to return to Missoula, but left yearning for that feeling of vastness and tranquility understood only most truly while deep in the heart of nowhere.
Panorama of North Kootenai Lake.
Jack Whitney
East Greenwich, RI
University of Rhode Island- Environmental Science
Jack grew up in the suburbs of Providence, Rhode Island and had worked on organic farms in southern New England and abroad for a number of years. Having worked with poultry and livestock season after season, Jack grew to appreciate the fields of biology and environmental science. He had spent the larger part of his childhood and early adulthood exploring the White and Green Mountains to the North while also enjoying the rich Narragansett Bay coast. Jack thinks that the wilderness is an irreplaceable piece of all who seek its beauty.