Jaxon Caufield, Wilderness & Trails Intern
June 3-10, 2026
Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness | Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest
Day 1: Last night I fell asleep to the white noise of the fan in my apartment bedroom, but tonight I will fall asleep to the white noise of white water. I’ve already met so many new plants that I’ve studied in university courses. The river is gorgeous, but I look forward to getting up the mountains.
Linnaea borealis, Twinflower, found near the Selway River in the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest. Photo taken by Jaxon Caufield.
Day 2: The mountain seemed to keep rising every time I met what I thought was the top a few switchbacks before. The final mile to the campsite was more of a vague line of dirt through overgrown shrub than a trail. I developed a belated appreciation for every foot of maintained trail I had traveled in my previous 21 years. I had fully realized the importance of this work and began the first hours of trail clearing with a determination to spare future travelers from the grip of shrubs on 62 Ridge.
Day 3: Now that we have arrived to camp, our primary goal was to clear the mile of trail we had scraped through. The hours of lopping brush leaves plenty of time to think, now that I’m many miles away from the constant tide of distractions that my phone could give me.
Overgrown shrubs and fallen trees blocking the tread on 62 Ridge. Photo taken by Jaxon Caufield.
Day 4: It’s getting colder. The only signs of humanity were the crew, the trail we reform, and the occasional buzz of a bushplane through the valley. I became especially aware of the lack of civilization in the night, where one step out of my tent threw me into an unrecognizable black void illuminated only by the glow of the lantern in my tent and the flashlight in my hand that scanned the trees for bears.
Day 5: This morning I awoke to the patter of precipitation. Accepting that I had to do my morning routine in a drowsy rain, I shoved myself from my tent only to step into snowfall. Then the snow became rain that fell from above and whipped up the mountain, drenching me at all sides as the crew and I fought through the last corridor of brush. A spot of a clear-blue beyond the ridges gave us hope, and that hope flourished when the sky opened up and freed the sun.
Snowfall on Bear Wallow. Photo taken by Riley Sterling.
Day 6: Today was chilly, but yesterday left me grateful for every moment that it wasn’t snowing. In honesty, in the earlier days of this hitch, I was counting down the days I could return to the easy routines of society. But now, walking to my bear hang for food has made me more grateful for meals than shuffling a couple of feet into my kitchen.
Erythranthe guttata, Seep Monkeyflower, found near the Selway River in the Nez-Perce Clearwater National Forest. Photo taken by Jaxon Caufield.
Day 7: The forest was not ready to let me go without drenching me a few more times. With our tasks complete, the crew decided to make one, strong push to our vehicle rather than spending another wet night on the river. As I marched through the trail, I reminisced on a summer camp of my youth during my last summer living in McCall, Idaho. The forest drenched me then as it does now, and I found at a young age that, once I had accepted the discomfort of wet socks and held out for the warmth of the indoors I would inevitably return to, I respected the rain. Such is the way of not just tramping the outdoors, but traveling through the experiences of life. What a privilege to be taught by the forests of Idaho then, and such an honor it is now.
View of the mountains of the Nez-Perce Clearwater National Forest from the cleared trail. Photo taken by Jaxon Caufield.
Jaxon Caufield
Missoula, MT
University of Montana: Wildlife Biology
Jaxon was born and raised in McCall, Idaho, just west of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area. Today, he is a student at the University of Montana studying wildlife biology and political science. Jaxon has previously been an intern for the State of Montana Arboretum and Comal Conservation, primarily hosting their social media accounts. He expresses his love for the outdoors through long-distance running and painting, and has long dreamed of spending time in the wilderness of Idaho, which led him to the Wilderness & Trails Intern Position.