Take Only Pictures - Leave Only Footprints

Connor Adams

Nez Perce-Clearwater Powell Lead Wilderness Steward

Final Season Hitch - Weir Creek and Jerry Johnson Hot Springs

It has been a long time since I first learned the rudiments of the outdoor ethic that is commonly referred to as Leave No Trace. As a kid exploring the woods of coastal Maine and the mountains of the Adirondacks, I remember frequently hearing the phrase, from my parents, from other hikers, and from society at large, “take only pictures, leave only footprints”.  That became the basis of my own personal code of behavior once I grew up and started venturing further and further into our public lands. That motto is a good start for a responsible way to recreate in the outdoors, but the folks at the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics will tell you that it’s only the beginning.

For my final hitch with SBFC this season, I was gratified to take part in one of the Leave No Trace Hot Spots. Every year, the science and advocacy non-profit sponsors a team of traveling trainers to visit 20 “hot spots” across the country. These hot spots are places in our network of public lands that have seen a lot of visitation and a lot of human impacts, and which can greatly benefit from hands-on education, collaboration, and brainstorming. The LNT center works with partner groups, land managers, and volunteers to assess the human impacts to each hot spot, educate the public about LNT, brainstorm creative solutions for the increased impacts that these areas are sure to see, and lead a day of service at the sites themselves.

Of the hundreds of hot spots nominated for 2019, our own Route 12 corridor was chosen, specifically the very popular hot springs at Jerry Johnson, Weir Creek, and Stanley. The week began by hashing out the problems with the areas at Powell Ranger Station. The Leave no Trace Trainers Erin and Brice facilitated a meeting and brainstorming session with staff from Forest Service Recreation management, Forest Service Wilderness Rangers, a Watershed Restoration Ecologist who works for the Nez Perce Tribe, and representatives from SBFC. The following day, the conference room population tripled as folks from Forest Service and SBFC Trail Crews and Recreation Specialists joined in for an engaging and informative session of Leave No Trace programming. I’ve been in the world of conservation and natural resources for five years now, and I like to think I have a pretty good handle on LNT, but I learned quite a lot from this session. All the data and science that the Center uses to back up their recommendations I found particularly illuminating, and I know it will be a lot easier to educate the public with that science under my belt.

Over the weekend, we were lucky enough to be joined by students and staff from the University of Idaho in Moscow and Washington State University in Pullman, representing their Outdoor Programs. The students, Forest Service staff, and I participated in another round of programming detailing the seven principles of Leave No Trace (1. Plan Ahead and Prepare, 2. Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces, 3. Dispose of Waste Properly, 4. Leave What You Find, 5. Minimize Campfire Impacts, 6. Respect Wildlife, and 7. Be Considerate of Other Visitors.) I was surprised to see that many of the students had never heard the phrase “leave no trace” before, but glad to see how engaged and eager they were to learn about it. It’s one thing to round out the education of a group of conservation workers who are already familiar with Leave No Trace, but another thing entirely to guide the next generation through responsible use of our public lands.

On Saturday, the Forest Service staff and the folks from the University of Idaho began the six mile hike into Stanley Hot Springs, where they would be working to alleviate the human impacts there, and I joined Erin, Brice, Courtney and Krissy from SBFC, and the students from the University of Washington to work at Weir Creek and Jerry Johnson Hot Springs. At these sites, we improved the trail so erosion would be lessened and sensitive vegetation saved, we decommissioned a number of social trails and campsites by naturalizing them and dismantling fire rings, buried a lot of human waste, and picked up dozens of pounds of trash. Most importantly, our staff and volunteers were on hand to talk to the public about these areas and about Leave No Trace on a very busy Saturday. I’m confident that many folks went home with a good deal more knowledge about responsible use of their public lands.

Everything I learned, taught, and participated in this week is a long way from “take only pictures, leave only footprints.” Everyone’s outdoor ethic is constantly evolving, as it should be, to keep up with new science and data, and new challenges that our public lands face from their 1.8 billion visits every year. I’m glad to be armed with even more knowledge about how to behave in the backcountry, and even more glad to have a new toolbox of skills and programming to pass this knowledge on to others.

Being Grateful in the Wilderness

Joey Hudek

Moose Creek Trail Crew Leader

9/3-9/11

Nez Perce - Clearwater National Forest

Being Grateful in the Wilderness

As my third season with the SBFC comes to an end, I find myself reflecting on my trail work career. I’ve been tromping around the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness since 2012 and it really has imbedded itself in my heart and soul. The nine day chunks of time I get to spend out there have become an important part of who I am today. It seems like every hitch the wilderness teaches me an important lesson. This last hitch the lesson was gratitude. 

I left my crew to join the Forest Service in finishing the Bear Creek bridge. Instead of flying in with everyone else, I was able to use the packing skills I learned this year as I accompanied Pete the Packer to Shearer Guard Station by way of the Moose Creek Ranger Station. I was very grateful to get this opportunity to practice new skills, visit Moose Creek, and hang out with Pete. But I sure was sore after 40 miles in the saddle! We joined the bridge crew on day three and my focus shifted from horse packing to technical bridge construction. Our goal was to replace the top cap on the south end of the bridge. The other side had been done earlier in the summer by the same crew, so this one was set to be a piece of cake as everyone was already savvy on the process. Well, it didn’t go quite as everyone had planned. There were some setbacks and unexpected challenges that the entire crew had to overcome together. We all learned a lot. But, we did it, the Bear Creek Bridge is now officially open after a year and a half of being closed to stock!

So, the project was completed and we were waiting for our air transport out of Shearer. There was lots of time for contemplation (our plane came way later than we expected). I thought about all of my trail work mentors who helped me get to where I am today. Two of them happened to actually be out on the bridge project, and I was grateful to get to learn more from them. I thought about Penny Keck, the bridge builder. I’m grateful to be part of her bridge building legacy in the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness. I also thought about what an amazing life I have the privilege of living. In the summers, I spend more time in the woods than I do in town, which sometimes doesn’t feel like real life, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m grateful to get to call the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness my home for five months every year, and even more grateful for all the lessons I have learned out there.

Thanks,

Joey

Packing with Pete

Removing the top cap

Completed North Side Top Cap

A Sensuous Wilderness as Autumn Draws Near

Will Thelen - Trail Crew Member

Hitch #7 - Sept 3-10

Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest

Like most of our hitches this season, our seventh hitch in the Selway began with an early drive down the Elk Summit road to the Hoodoo Lake trailhead. As we performed our morning stretches in the parking lot we were approached by a man and his dog. He was very interested in what we’d be working on and told us how excited he was to meet a real trail crew. What a delightful surprise to begin our trip with such positive affirmations from a curious traveler. It isn’t often we run into the public around these parts!

We spent the rest of our first day hiking down trails 486 and 421 to a scenic campsite along East Moose Creek. The smoke from the Monument Fire was very apparent. It filled the East Moose Creek drainage and we gulped down our last breaths of clear air as we descended trail 486.

Our primary objectives for this hitch were to finish clearing trail 442 and to continue trying to open up the Battle Creek Ridge trail (#432). All of Wednesday was spent clearing the 421 between Elbow Bend and the junction with 442. We were able to clear the 442 by the end of the day on Friday. This was surprising to all of us since it had been such a struggle to clear this trail last year. The smoke was the worst over the course of these three days, but heavy rain on Friday night weakened the fire and put the smoke at bay for the remainder of the hitch.

The rest of our time was devoted to clearing Battle Creek Ridge. Besides the first half-mile just after crossing East Moose Creek the trail was very easy to follow and the blowdown was moderate. This was another nice surprise since we had failed to even reach this trail via trail 462 on our fifth hitch (see Trevor’s September 3rd blog post). While the work was satisfying and relatively easy over these last few days, the rain really soaked us on Sunday afternoon!

Despite some smoke and rainy conditions, it was a good second-to-last hitch for the trail team. The lack of mosquitos, numerous seed pods stuck to our pants, low afternoon sun, and crisp mornings definitely signaled the end of summer. Yet again, it’s that time of year when we begin to feel a bit nostalgic for the trail season and start thinking about our winter plans. One more hitch left!

Work Stats: Cleared 256 small trees, 96 medium trees, 9 large trees, brushed 200 feet, cleaned 24 drains, constructed 1 drain, performed 330 feet of retread

A Wild Walk to Solitude

Verena Gruber

Wilderness Ranger Intern

European Wilderness Society - Austria

Bitterroot National Forest

The accessibility of Wilderness, or at least of parts of it, often made me forget that it is Wilderness I am currently in. Coming from Europe where protected Wilderness areas are rare, mostly smaller and often not easily accessible as they are remote, lack trails or can only be entered with a guide, it still amazes me that you can just drive to a trailhead and start hiking and will certainly cross the border to the Wilderness within a few miles. Most of the time, nothing noticable changes after crossing this man-made, artificial boarder, except for the amount of people you meet.

I visited several places that “felt” like Wilderness this summer but did not carry that label and on several occasions I was in designated Wilderness and was searching for where the Wildness in this place was left. In the back of my head I compared the Wilderness here, with what I know from Austria, where the Alps are one of the most developed and appreciated tourist assets of this tiny country. Big differences are, of course, the different kinds of developments, past and current, and the amount, as well as the spirit, of the people. Both are, to a different extent, excepted in order to protect Wilderness. But why do some places feel more wild than others? Not even considering the historic or legal differences in Wilderness in the United States or Europe. I can feel being surrounded by Wildness when I am just a mile from the trailhead and not when I am 9 miles deep out there. Maybe it’s the people that surrounded me all summer, either crew members or volunteers. There was, nearly, always somebody else there.

It took me all summer to answer this question and I might have found somewhat like an answer on my last hitch with the SBFC trail crew when I was far behind, trying to keep up to their fast pace up Huckleberry Butte. Or did Jack Ader, Wilderness Ranger in the West Fork, already put the answer to that question into my head when he asked us on our second hitch: Can you experience solitude with another person? My answer back then was, that I think you can, as there are different kinds of solitude. A solitude within you that I most often experience snowboarding by myself but being surrounded by other winter sport enthusiasts in a ski resort, and a solitude coming from your surroundings when there is really no one else but you. Now, after spending a whole summer in Wilderness and wild places, getting lost while bush wacking because I lost the GPS and when trying to find it also losing my crew, or singing loudly when walking over to the latrine in the dawn, I guess I have a better understanding of what kind of solitude Jack was talking about back then. And my answer now is that to truly experience solitude in Wilderness and what uncontrolled, self-willed and wild mean, you have to be alone, to embrace the solitude coming from your surroundings within you. Even if it’s just for the short, but dark, walk to the latrine.

The proudest moment of my internship. Felling a larch tree with Adam Washebek, Wilderness Ranger of the Stevensville District, to build the stringer of a new bridge over Big Creek

Crossing over the pass from Mill creek into the Fred Burr drainage on hitch 3 with Amelia Shields, Kathryn Bicking (both West Fork Trail Crew) and fellow SBFC Interns Connor White and Michael Reviere

Somewhere up Little Rock Creek, after I lost the GPS but found solitude!

Cowboy Poetry & Trail Crew Yoga

Josh Page

Frank Church Wilderness Steward

Upper Marble Creek Trail Project

August 21-August 28 2019

Payette National Forest

For the past several years, the SBFCF has been chipping away at the Marble Creek 222 trail in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. A 25 mile section of the Idaho Centennial Trail, Marble Creek has been adopted by the SBFCF and as such has been a focal point of the foundation's for the last several years. The trail has a reputation as the headache of the ICT, and that is a reputation that is slowly being undermined by the hard work that the SBFCF is performing. Some back story is necessary if you have not experienced Marble Creek yourself. To access the trail from the Middle Fork of the Salmon, you need to hike some 30 odd miles from a trailhead, or fly into the Thomas Creek Airstrip and hike two miles to the confluence. To access the trail from the top you need to take a high clearance vehicle east from McCall, Idaho for three and half hours (a 9.5 hr drive for SBFCF when coming from Missoula). Once on the trail the logistical challenges do not end. Years of tree fall, rock slides, log jams, riparian brush and stream erosion make the work time consuming, and the trail has no less than 40 creek crossings from the top to the bottom. I am including this info only to try and paint the picture of how much work is required just to get an SBFCF crew down on the trail and working. All of that being said, real progress was made on the Marble Creek Trail this year. A group of six flew into Thomas Creek Airstrip earlier this summer and cleared up Marble Creek, reaching Trail Creek and creating a trail where for roughly 100 yards one no longer existed. From August 21-August 28th, a volunteer group was packed in by Bill Lewis and his trusty mule string and we worked from the top of the trail at Thunder Mountain making it down 11 miles to Fuse Creek. Over 190 trees were cut, some of them very large and time consuming, and over 700 feet of brush was cleared (mostly in riparian areas to make creek crossings more apparent), along with plenty of rock removal to make the trail more smooth for Bill's mules and all hikers. Because we were restricted to one camp site, our commute to work was often quite long and the work/hiking took it's toll on our bodies. Each morning we ran through a stretch routine to prepare our bodies for the day and prevent injuries. Although there were some side glances at first, soon everyone looked forward to what became known as "trail crew yoga". When the work day was done, and dinner was eaten and dishes were finished, we would gather around the camp fire and listen to Bill as he recited cowboy poems that were a mixture of hilarious, insightful and wise. Betsy, one of the project's volunteers, decided that a poem needed to be written about our experiences in Marble Creek that late August week. This is her wonderful poem, appropriately titled "Trail Crew Yoga"

I'll tell you a story you'll never believe

About the volunteers down in Upper Marble Creek

SBFCF was their sponsor

Now that's a mouthful, almost a monster!

They met in the boonies, a place where roads end

But paperwork continues, a Forest Service blend

of nonsense and questions-just sign at the end

A convoy of vehicles, they chugged up the hills

But Frank's car was so tired, it even had chills

It sputtered and sighed, almost gave up the ghost

Mike, Jodi and Justin thought they soon would be toast

But do not despair, Shangri-la lies ahead

On the rocky reclaimed mountain

with mules they would bed

For there at the campsite Cowboy Bill made his home

With a long green horse trailer and five mules of his own

That night for their supper they ate all they could hold

With Bill especially fond of apple pie mold

And each morning they gathered, their tools in their hands

To cut and to nip a clear path through the land

Each day they walked farther away from their camp

And before they returned they would rave, they would rant

"We can't walk this far, with our boots oh so damp!"

"Do not despair," Brother Josh said to his flock

As his axe flew so quickly it beat out the clock

"Come, come my companions, your gloom is not fetching,

remember, in the morning you all will be stretching."

And so in a circle, they wobbly stood

Their eyes barely open, their legs stiff as wood

They teetered, they tottered they cursed as they fell

For this was a version of Cowboys in Hell

For if trail crews do yoga, what then will be next?

Veggie sausage for breakfast and not enough meat

Plus all natural bug spray without any DEET

But somehow that stretching, it wasn't so bad

It made them all laugh, they couldn't be mad

They stood in the meadow, their packs on the ground

Their creek bubbled sweetly, the pika called "eep!"

With the beavers upstream still deeply asleep

This yoga, this circle, this being together

It made them a team, in fair or foul weather

The woods all around them, the wilderness acres

They wanted to help, to not just be takers

But let's not get sappy, this is only a poem

Without a real ending, and we'll all soon be home

The poems Bill recites all end with a joke

This one's a flop, it'll go up in smoke

I can't write an ending for I hope there is none

The woods will live on, in rain and in sun

-Betsy Kepes

To Betsy, Madonna, Dan, Jodi, Justin, Frank, Mike, Sally, Bill and your trusty mules-thank you for the wonderful memories and all of the hard work. Marble Creek only has three miles left of trail that were not cleared of tree fall this year. Next year very well may the year that the trail is finally cleared top to bottom, but it could never happen without all of the hitches of hard work that have taken us this far. To this year's volunteers and all of Marble Creek's previous volunteers and staff and forest service personnel from year's past, your work and attitude is appreciated and Marble Creek is well on it's way to becoming a gem of the ICT. As I tell my volunteers and interns when they ask how far away from camp we are, we're closer than we've ever been.

Official designation at Marble Creek Trailhead!

Careful Where I Step

Henry Vaughan

The College of Idaho

Nez Perce-Clearwater NF

16 August 2018

I would rather walk on a trail and avoid trampling most everything in the wilderness but the hard tread underfoot. And I like the feeling of it while on it. The trail feels historical. Its presence is the culmination of past footsteps, hoofsteps, and tool swings. There are logbooks kept in the cabins scattered across the wilderness which hold the evidence of a legacy of decades, the stories and quips of workers in the Selway-Bitterroot whose days were spent doing much of the same as our crew. The logbooks add substance to our hikes, a meaning to the trail. We walk down it at the head of a crowd of trail crews and rangers past. I used to have a feeling of wilderness as the empty spots on the map (despite us walking in with topographic maps); but we have spent more summer nights inside the wilderness than inside of our bunkhouse. It feels strange to be able to call that blank space home for the season. Wilderness isn’t as much of a place to get lost in when you find yourself in it more days than not--which is not to say that it’s no longer possible. There’s so much land that we haven’t covered and so much of it which is bound to look different by next year. Yet when we find ourselves hiking up and down part of the same trail four hitches in a row, the feet start to take over for the mind and there’s the opportunity to take a step back and focus on our surroundings. We watched understories grow, change, develop, blossom, over the course of the summer and observing such liveliness gives more character to the landscape. We started to see the drainages we hiked up as living communities. I rarely felt comfortable stepping into it from the trail. Few enough people travel through the Selway-Bitterroot that a plant not stepped on by me will most likely see its way to winter. Magnified by slowly revegetating subalpine environments, our footsteps have ripple effects. I walked out of the wilderness this summer careful of where I step, constantly aware of my own impacts. I also walked out excited to keep walking back in. The wilderness is a community of which I am proud to consider myself a part.

An SBFC volunteer hikes up the trail

A World of Contrasts and Colors

Bianca Signorini

Moose Creek Trail Crew Member

Hitch #4, 7/23-7/31

Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest

Bilk Peak, Indian Park and Beyond

It’s impossible to describe the beauty of the vast wildernesses we get to experience in the West, impossible to capture in photos. The Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness contains such a diverse and vast range of landscapes, throughout this summer I’ve found myself speechless countless times by the sheer scale of solitary, uninterrupted wild space. Hitch #4 took us to one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen. Dramatic rock formations reaching into the sky, lush meadows, more beauty unfolding with every ridge climbed.

Working on trails brings you through some of the most intense contrasts you’ll ever experience: the happiest of moments and the lowest of moments. This is also difficult to describe. The beauty and joy comes at a cost, the days were long and hot, we found ourselves in intense thunderstorms, relentless mosquitoes, the terrain rugged and steep. But we always found ourselves laughing while we cooked dinner, spirits were high in spite of sore muscles. Low: my work pants ripped about two thirds of the way around my leg. High: we made “snow cones” with Mio and some snow Sam saved in his Hydroflask. Low: I left a pair of crosscut handles an embarrassing distance behind us on the trail. High: we ended the hitch at Red River Hot Springs. It’s a balance that shifts seemingly every minute of every hitch, it’s difficult to explain how dynamic and satisfying and difficult a day working trails can be.

Describing hitch #4 in statistics, which doesn’t do it justice, our humble crew cleared just over 26 miles of trail. I hiked about 70 miles in 8 days, bouncing between 7,000 and 8,500 feet in elevation, carrying nine days of food and gear and tools along the way. We brushed 4 miles of trail. We, of course, made four wilderness snow cones.

I can tell you about the hitch objectively in words, but the things that are really worth describing are these little bright moments: we finished the hitch at red Red River Hot Springs. In a warm pool we laughed and joked in the familial way a trail crew does. We compared bruises, reflected on the beautiful wilderness we’re lucky enough to spend the summer in, enjoyed curly fries and root beer floats in the way only ravenous trail crews can. Just like our beloved Idaho forests are impossible to describe in words and photos, so are these contrasting pockets of joy and pain that trail crews experience together day by day. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Bianca hiking with Bilk Peak in the background

The first campsite of the hitch

The Battle for Battle Creek Ridge

Trevor Fero

Trail Crew Leader

Battle Creek Ridge

8/6-8/12

Nez Perce Clearwater National Forest, Moose Creek District

For hitch #5 we were assigned to clear Battle Creek Ridge. Since trail #462 was closer to the Lost Horse side of the wilderness Adam had us enter in through the Twin Lakes Trail head instead of driving down to Elk Summit. This was exciting because it is very rare for us to be entering in through the Bitterroot side of the wilderness! To get to trail #462 we had to clear seven miles down trail #430 and a little over five and a half miles down trail #463. Everything went well until we got to the Cox Creek side of trail #463. The tread became very hard to follow and we lost the trail for about a mile before the junction with trail #462. We later found out that the trail was on the opposite side of Cox Creek contradicting what the map had told us (this section of trail was never cleared). Most of the hitch was spent clearing trail #463 and we never ended up making it to Battle Creek Ridge. On our final day clearing we made it about 3 miles down trail #462 before losing the trail to a large amount of overgrown brush. Time was spent looking for the trail, but we never ended up finding it or the junction with trail #432 (Battle Creek Ridge). We also were never able to find the junction with trail #491.

This section of the Selway is very beautiful but is hard to travel through. I recommend only experienced individuals travel down these trails because it can be very hard to find the trail at times. Route finding may also be required in some sections as well.

Additional notes:

Fires- At the beginning of the hitch we were told that there was a fire around the Elbow Bend area Heading up Monument Creek and East Moose Creek just west of Battle Creek Ridge. This fire was closely monitored and luckily, we didn’t need to be evacuated. Many more small fires started in the area due to the storms that seemed to persist through the entire hitch. The Crab Fire which was also in the area continued to burn from a couple weeks prior.  

Wildlife- A black wolf was spotted twice on trial #430 and #463. Once by James and a day later by myself. The wolf was acting peculiar. Howling strangely during the day and we noticed what looked like wolf diarrhea on the trail. There was a lot of speculation as to what was going on with it, but we decided the it was over our head. All in all, is was very cool seeing a black wolf.

Work Performed: We cut 227 small, 123 medium and 8 large trees from trails #463, #462 and #430. We also brushed 60 feet.

And Then There's "THE CRAGS"

Hanna Kirkland

Utah State University

Big Horn Crags

August 7- August 10

Salmon-Challis National Forest

 Pictures do not fully show the beauty and magnitude of the Big Horn Crags. I have personally never explored the Salmon- Challis Forest prior to this internship. The Frank Church Wilderness provides many jaw dropping scenes, but by far I must say the Big Horn Crags ranks #1 in my book. Unlike other hitches, I was only able to stay in the area for a few days. The drive from Challis, ID to the Crags campground felt like a literal rollercoaster. Briana, the other intern I have been working with this summer, and I got car sick from being jostled around because the road was so bad. The first day mostly consisted of getting to the Crag campsite, meeting the volunteer group and setting up camp. The next morning, we packed everything up and took an 8-mile hike to Bird Bill Lake. If you don’t know much about the Crags, the only thing I can describe it is that there is A LOT of walking uphill. Briana and I would joke about dying a little every time we saw that we had to climb ANOTHER mountain. I guess the saying “beauty is pain” is true. Even though my legs were noodles by the end of the hike I was glad I could capture and witness the beautiful scenery. The next day our group went towards Ship Island to work on some trail rerouting. Half of us cleared off rocks and trees while the other half worked with Pulaski’s to create the new tread. Briana and I may have spent an hour removing a huge boulder that was in the middle of the new trail. Was it absolutely necessary? Probably not haha.  The thing that I have come to learn and appreciate in this line of work is the ability to work hard, connect and work with others, and enjoy the tender mercies. Something simple like a slight breeze, fresh water, a piece of chocolate can make your day. I think we forget to recognize those things in our crazy lives and the wilderness helps remind us of those tender mercies. I am grateful for the lessons and skills I have learned through this internship, and hope I can continue to inspire others from it.

Hanna Kirkland

L2R - Hannah, Josh Page (SBFC Frank Church Wilderness Steward), Briana (SBFC WR Intern)

A Fresh Perspecitive on the same Mountains

Justine Bright – Nez Perce-Clearwater Trail Crew Member

Big Sand/Frog Peak/Hidden Lake hitch 

Nez Perce Clearwater National Forest

It’s our third hitch- in some ways I feel like I am getting my hitch systems dialed in, and in other ways I feel like I am constantly working on myself and being worked on out here. And a lot of the time that’s all I want, to feel my limbs getting worked by that climb up to Frog Peak, or my skin worked by the sun at Hidden Peak lookout, or my face frozen into a smile on a cold hike out of camp in the morning, pants already dripping with dew. Other times on this hitch all I wanted was a break from the mosquitos, or to have dry boots for just a day.

This has been a full summer, following fast on the heels of a busy spring. I feel short on words in spite of how satiated I have been, and at times over-full with it all. It’s hard to describe how right it feels to come back to SBFC, the Selway-Bitterroot wilderness, as a staff member. I’ve graduated from the University, and countless things have changed in my personal landscape; people close to us are gone, and others who have been far away have suddenly arrived in our lives. And the wilderness is just as stunning and humbling as ever. This summer I’m on the west side of the Divide, in the moist cedar forests and rolling peaks (and plenty of hot burn areas as well). All the trails and trips I dreamed about last year while I worked on the east side of the Divide are my hitches this summer.

I remember last summer asking Jack Ader, the wilderness ranger out of the West Fork of the Selway-Bitterroot, what his favorite trip in the wilderness was. After some thought, he named the loop we just cleared on this hitch. It has been magical to see a totally different side of the mountains. I’ve always thought the Bitterroots had a sort of nurturing feeling, compared to other mountains. I think it’s something about the lush ecology, and the inviting topography. How you can look at a peak, decide to head towards it, and usually find some way up. But there is a familiarity too, after a couple of seasons of work and lots of exploration in my off-time. I feel so grateful to have that space to think over things in my life. To feel totally physically exhausted, and quiet in my mind.

This hitch we got to cover a lot of unique miles of trail, and climb various hills up to stunning views. Hang out by lakes and look out through burned areas. Still, I would not feel nearly as taken care of and delighted out there without my amazing crew. There have been so many moments in camp and on the trail that I have had to stop and smile, just seeped in appreciation for those guys. Each of them are trail-clearing machines, but their steady friendship is truly and constantly impressive. I feel such relief and happiness when I see Will waiting for me at a stream crossing with a question about the catkins on the alder trees. I feel comforted in camp at night during a storm when the snags are creaking and I hear Trevor blow his nose, making a noise just like a startled deer. And I doubt I have met anyone so ready to help with anything that could come up as James.

Though I come back to town ready to sleep for a day, I feel so energized by the time I spend with such incredible humans in the Selway-Bitterroot.