Selway-Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation
Expect Nothing, Pull Saw, Slay, Repeat
Selway-Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation
I'll Tell You What
Selway-Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation
Why Work in Wilderness
WRF
Selway-Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation
Wilderness Growth

Forrest reflects on his first hitch in the Bitterroot National Forest.

Selway-Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation
Moments in the Mountains

Expect Nothing, Pull Saw, Slay, Repeat

Julian Brastow

Wilderness Ranger Fellow

Lookout Mountain Ridge Trail | Payette National Forest

Hitch #3 ~ 7/5/23 - 7/12/23

One thing I’ve learned after three hitches of immersing myself in the Lower 48’s largest contiguous wilderness area, is to hike into each day of work expecting absolutely nothing. With my crewmates Dylan and Ariel, I’ve walked up and over mountains, across rivers, and through both vibrant, green, shaded forests, as well as large swaths of scorchingly hot burn scars. It seems that the type of trail maintenance we do involves never knowing what’s around the next corner of trail, which can manifest physically as an easy stroll through a beautiful subalpine forest, admiring the views and moving a log off the trail every ten minutes or so, or a soul-crushing cluster you-know-what of 50 burnt trees fallen across a 100-foot stretch of the trail that is nothing but demoralizing and makes for painstakingly slow progress. During this past hitch on the Lookout Mountain Ridge Trail, we encountered these two extremes, as well as everything in between. It makes for maintaining a steady optimistic attitude an uphill battle, but adds to the adventurousness of our work, and can be extraordinarily rewarding once you learn how to cope with the wildly variable nature of the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness: go into each day of your hitch with no expectations, and focus on pulling saw through one log at a time.

Before: a particularly rough section of trail

After: the same section of trail after being cleared, with Ariel and I posing with the crosscut saw

The first day of our hitch involved waking up nothing but well-rested and eager to get on the road after America’s favorite holiday, and spending over five hours in the trusty old green suburban, most of which was spent on dirt roads pushing deeper and deeper into the Payette, driving along the beautiful South Fork of the Salmon River and East Fork of the South Fork of the Salmon River (why???). We also learned never to trust Google Maps in Central Idaho. We arrived at Thunder Mountain Trailhead, where we started hiking the next morning, not knowing what to expect, of course. Within the first half mile of the trail we came across cuts that had recently been made, which confused us as to why there had been someone working on the same trail in the same season as us. However, we soon ran into a burn scar chock full of dead trees lying across the trail ready to be cut. Much of the next few days were spent alternating between burnt sections of forest with lots of work, and sections of shaded forest with living trees that did not require much work, as well as bumping our base camp from the trailhead to an enchanted campsite along refreshingly cold and delicious Telephone Creek.

Myself trying to avoid the mosquitoes

On day 5 we made it to Lookout Mountain, which provided sweeping vistas of the rugged Frank stretching to the horizon in every direction, and where we had an impromptu LinkedIn profile photo shoot. The next day we pushed our work farther, and soon encountered the soul-crusher I spoke of previously. This is where my seemingly never-ending optimism reached a breaking point. Clearing a trail that is in this bad of shape can be best described as solving a complex puzzle, starting from the top of the pile of logs and moving to the bottom, deciding which size saw (or brute force) is best suited for each log. We lightened the mood by yelling out names of the various tools we had at our disposal: “Zubát! K-Booooooooy! Visger!!! Liiiiiiiift!”.

Before: the soul-crusher!

After: almost a day's worth of work!

It was a tough, beautiful, and rewarding hitch, and on the last day we hiked our sweaty, dirty, fatigued, and emotional selves back to the trailhead, where on the way we unexpectedly ran into a literal angel. His name was Clay, and within the past year he had become an ICT through hiker, trail angel, and independent guerilla trail maintainer. It turns out he was the one that had cleared that first bit of trail before we arrived. He was so ecstatic that we had done all his work for him, that we were invited back to his campsite and were force-fed ice cold Ahas, Oreos, Fig Newtons, chips and salsa, and the now infamous cracker/pepperoni/cheez whiz combo. I really couldn’t have come up with a better combination of post-hitch snacks. Thank you Clay! I’m looking forward to continuing to develop as a team with Ariel and Dylan on our next two hitches, where I will go into each day expecting nothing, but at the same time knowing I will continue to grow as a wilderness steward, whilst working and frolicking in one of our nation’s most valuable resources.

Work on this hitch was funded by private donors and Idaho Parks and Recreation.

JULIAN BRASTOW

Payette National Forest | Frank Church-RONR Wilderness

Lewis & Clark College

Major: Environmental Studies

Julian grew up in the San Francisco Bay area. While living there, he spent a lot of time with his family going camping and exploring the outdoors and hasn't stopped since. Julian recently graduated from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, with a degree in Environmental Studies. He was a trip leader for the College Outdoors program, leading groups of students on outdoor trips in the Pacific Northwest. Julian maintains a strong respect for public lands and wilderness areas and is stoked to spend a summer with SBFC exploring and learning about how to be a great steward to these beautiful places.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Hannah Richter

Wilderness Ranger Fellow

St. Mary Peak | Bitterroot National Forest

07/07-07/09/2023

For my blog post, I will write about my three favorite things that occurred on this mini-hitch, SBFC’s annual St. Mary Peak Trail volunteer project … so follow me along on this wild adventure, and here we go!

The author (right) and Reyna (left), SBFC’s 2023 Wilderness Ranger Fellows for the Bitterroot National Forest on the St. Mary Peak Lookout

Coming into this third hitch was much more luxurious than I ever thought possible. This time, instead of being greeted by rain or wind, we were welcomed by sunshine. This meant nice sunburns and more bugs, but hey, at least my boots stayed dry! I never thought I'd be so grateful for the feeling of dry boots. The silence of my boots while walking and not hearing or feeling my feet squish around is one of the best feelings I’ve learned to love while working. So, with this being said, it surprisingly seems that dry boots made it on my list of a few of my favorite things.

Next on my list, on top of the privilege of having dry boots, my group and I had the privilege of working alongside such a wonderful and friendly bunch of people. This was our first volunteer trip, and throughout this experience, everyone in the group enjoyed the view, the breeze, and each other's company every day. It was always such a pleasure to hear everyone’s backgrounds and stories that led them to this very trip. These volunteers made the experience so comfortable yet exciting, and made me feel so grateful to join along for the ride.

Volunteers and SBFC staff on the summit of St. Mary Peak

The author at the St. Mary Peak Lookout in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness

Lastly, combined with having dry boots and working alongside extraordinary people, having Maddie, an Australian Shepherd pup, and Izzie, an older Australian Shepherd, greeting us each day during this trip was the cherry on top. Each morning before work and each evening after work, Maddie and Izzie would greet everyone and would make their rounds to get scratched or to play around. This extra happiness in the trip made my experience even more joyous and felt such a great whirl of gratitude for every day spent with the group and the pups.

Well, there you have it; a few of my favorite things from the hitch. I hope you’ve enjoyed my post and I challenge anyone reading this to find three of your favorite things in your daily life. Thank you and enjoy the adventures!

**Extra special thanks to Renee and Jay Snyder, our hosts in Stevensville for the St. Mary Peak project, who are some of the sweetest people I have ever met. Thank you for making the St. Mary experience wonderful!

HANNAH RICHTER

Bitterroot National Forest | Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness

Gonzaga University

Major: Environmental Studies

Hannah adores nature and good adventures! She grew up in Southern California and used to be a caretaker and lacrosse coach. Hannah is passionate about the wilderness and nature because of the connection she has to the natural world. One of Hannah's goals in life is to try to help others find this connection for themselves in hopes for a better society and world.

Choose Your Own Adventure

Heather Pendleton

Wilderness Ranger Fellow

Camptender Trail (map) | Salmon-Challis National Forest

6/21- 6/28/2023

I like to think of hitches (and life, for that matter) as a real-life version of “Choose Your Own Adventure.” You know, the books where you get to a certain point and it has a prompt along the lines of, “You just encountered a roaring river with only a slippery log to cross on, do you: a) try crossing and risk falling in (turn to page 9) or b) attempt to find a different spot further upstream and lose the trail (turn to page 12).” You get the idea.

So there we were, after six days off, we found ourselves back at the Camptender trailhead. The previous hitch was our initial meeting of this rugged and fascinating trail, where we cleared 195 dead, complex trees in just a ¼ mile stretch. It was hard work! But we knew what we were in for - or so we thought.

The first day, we got there and hiked to where we had previously cleared and cached our tools. On the way down we hear the loud roar of a jet. Craning our necks in the direction of the sound, we see an F-15 jet careening around the mountain so close to us it felt like we could touch it. This would have been neat no matter where you were, but the fact that we were out there in the wilderness, in what we thought was solitude, was a complete shock to the system. We were left reeling, as the fighter jet continued on its merry little way.

Alex’s birthday celebration!

That same night was Alex’s birthday (SBFC’s Lead Wilderness Steward on the Salmon-Challis National Forest) so we of course had to have a backcountry celebration, complete with gifts, treats, candles, and a very out-of-tune rendition of “Happy Birthday”. The next day followed our expectations of down trees, gorgeous views, and the ever-present chirps on the pikas. Oh, and a RAINBOW CLOUD. One thing I need to disclose is that I have been shouting to the heavens for a rainbow ever since day one on the Camptender trail, so this was definitely a treat.

Rainbow Cloud! with Jersey and Alex

At the end of the day, we head down to camp and have some visitors waiting for us. Sylvia and Rick are volunteers staying out at the Bear Valley Work Station that is a few miles down the road from us, and apparently they’ve been trying to run into us since last hitch. Among snacks and running water, they offer to have us stay at one of the cabins on the compound that has not only beds, but a shower. Yes. A real life shower with warm water. Quite unbelievably sweet music to our stinky little ears. We knew that a storm was coming in the next day so we gave them a literal rain check and decided to see what the weather ended up doing.

Alright. Day 3. This is when things started getting saucy. We found ourselves in a predicament. We knew a thunderstorm was coming in; we were working on the ridge where lightning just loved to make its presence known with a ferocious BANG! every now and then, the wind enjoyed a lively roar, and the hail could be vicious enough to warrant a few bruises through your rain jacket. We also knew that the North Elk Creek trail (a back-up trail in case of bad weather) just so happened to be a mile from Sylvia and Rick’s haven. Here it is folks, I hope you are prepared. Do you a) hike up the Camptender trail, risking the thunderstorm to get some work done or b) head over to North Elk Creek trail and see what's up at Sylvia and Rick’s?

You chose A, didn’t you! Well we did. We hiked up Camptender. As we neared the ridge and gained a better view over the valley below, the dark, stormy, foreboding clouds became even more dark and foreboding. We crested the ridge, saw the storm rumbling in, and made a decision to descend. We gave it a good go, but swinging around metal tools in the middle of a lightning storm seemed like a questionable activity. Down we go.

Sign at N. Elk Creek, showing Porter Creek (where the packers went), Camptender (8 miles), and Sulphur Creek (where another SBFC crew was working at the time).

We pack up camp and scoot on over to Sylvia and Rick’s where we are met with a warm cup of cocoa and a small dog named Snuggles. After a quick chat with Sylvia and some borrowed tools, we set out for North Elk Creek trail, where we ran into a group of horse packers who were going out to work on a section of the trail about 3 miles out. The trail they were working on eventually meets up with Camptender, which we thought was pretty neat. The North Elk Creek Trail was incredibly beautiful and buggy, wandering up, around, and through meadows with sweeping views of the Frank Church Wilderness.

North Elk Creek Boardwalk

I could go into so much detail on just the third day of our hitch, but I’ll spare you the details. The moral of this part of the story is that we made some wonderful new friends (both human and animal), got to experience a different trail and section of the Frank that eventually connected with a trail we were putting our blood, sweat, and tears into trying to clear, and the most mind-blowing part - got hot showers and didn't have to filter any water.

From here do you a) ask Rick and Sylvia to adopt you, live at Bear Valley Work Station for the rest of summer, and travel around the most beautiful parts of the United States in their horse trailer with them, or b) Head back to Camptender Trail to pull some saw and swing some axe?

After a long debate, we went with B. We set up camp on the moody ridge that we had grown to love and respect for its wild nature, so excited to finally get to wrap ourselves in the stars of the night and the fog of the morning.

Day six, night two living on the ridge, do you; a) wake up when your alarm goes off at 6:00 am or b) sleep in for just 10 more minutes?

Alex crossing Boundary Creek on Camptender Trail

A! And good thing you did because you are rewarded with none other than a SUNRISE RAINBOW. I repeat, a rainbow in companionship with the rising of the sun. Unbelievable. It was fleeting, like all the most beautiful things this life has to offer. It was nearly gone by the time my phone had turned on to snap a picture (still caught it though). And that’s sort of how the rest of the hitch went. It was sunrise rainbows, trees falling unannounced right before our eyes, birds nearly slamming into your head, pikas or marmots or some other sneaky woodland creature stealing your work gloves and gnawing little holes in them, misty mornings cocooning you from the rest of the world, and clearing a total of 400 trees from a trail that was formerly impassable. This entire hitch felt like a fever dream. Every day Jersey, Alex, and I had to be like… “y’all are experiencing this too, right?”

Sunrise Rainbow! You have to look for it but she's there.

Jersey watching a misty sunrise on the ridge.

And that’s the magic of the wilderness. Incredibly preposterous, harshly magnificent.

So there you have it. I encourage you to get out there and Choose Your Own Adventure. You never know where the next page turn will take you.

Jersey, Alex, and Heather- the SBFC Salmon-Challis Crew, on the Camptender Trail.

HEATHER PENDLETON

Salmon-Challis National Forest | Frank Church-RONR Wilderness

California State University, Chico

Major: Environmental Science

Heather grew up in Truckee, California. Throughout her adolescence, Heather had many opportunities to participate in community-led land stewardship work, which fueled her drive to make a positive impact on the place she called home. Her love for the outdoors compelled her to pursue a bachelor’s degree in environmental science at California State University, Chico where her focus was ecology and fire. Heather’s big life goals are to spend as much time as possible outside, to try lots of different things, and to relish the feeling of being alive. She hopes to continue her formal education after gaining more hands-on experience and is excited to see what else a life connected to nature has to teach her.

I'll Tell You What

Dylan Barker

Lead Wilderness Steward - Payette National Forest

Hitch 2 6/21/23-6/28/23

Karl teaches Fellows Ariel and Julian about the tree species in the area.

It’s not often I leave a hitch where my cheeks are more sore than my shoulders.

Along with Wilderness Ranger Fellows Ariel Centano and Julian Barstow, our second hitch of the season was spent accompanying Jim Heidelberger (SBFC Board Chair) and the Whisky Society from Moscow, Idaho on their annual Whisky in the Woods trip. Back for their 2nd year on Sulphur Creek, this group of hard-working volunteers was determined to open up this trail further than they made it previously, and boy did they perform. Cutting over 400 trees in those short 8 days, we just about doubled, if not further, the distance they covered last year.

We were gratefully packed in by the Squaw Butte Chapter of Backcountry Horsemen of Idaho based out of Emmet, Idaho to a camp about 4 miles down trail. Day 1 was a quick introduction to the week of work we had ahead of us. After a quick trailhead camp tear down and the first of many great breakfasts provided by Jim, the group headed down the trail to clear way for the pack string, with the first cuts being made within 5 minutes of the trailhead. The next 6 days were full of nonstop pulling saws, levering logs, and constant laughs.

Jason celebrates his 21st birthday with a Dutch oven biscuit made by Lovina, delivered by his son Cai.

Bert indulges in “just one more” lemon bar prepared ahead of time by Jim Heidelberger.

One of the many phenomenal dinners prepared by Jim throughout the week.

While the work we did was immense and memorable, I will be forever appreciative of our time spent around the campfire each morning and night. Sharing jokes, stories, memories, passing around tupperwares of incredible desserts, and celebrating birthdays: those were the times that made this a hitch to remember. This group of longtime friends was quick to invite and involve myself and the fellows into their inner circle for the week, and I can’t thank them enough for that.

Working with a group that schedules their year around a week of hard work, great whisky, and even better food really puts into perspective how much these Wilderness areas mean and how important they are to keep alive.

The 2023 Whisky in the Woods crew!

DYLAN BARKER

LEAD WILDERNESS STEWARD

Payette National Forest

Frank Church-RONR Wilderness

Dylan grew up in Indiana where he was introduced to most things outdoors at a young age. While attending college, his interest in public land and the outdoors grew into a passion. Dylan moved to Missoula in 2021, and worked two seasons on a trail crew. He developed a love for service in the form of trails conservation. He is excited to spend the summer connecting with Wilderness and sharing his knowledge with others. There are few things in life that bring Dylan as much joy as being able to live and work out of some of the most scenic areas in the country.

There and Back Again

Connor Adams

Lead Wilderness Steward – Nez Perce Clearwater National Forest

Hitch 1 – 6/6/23-6/14/23


Nez Perce Clearwater Lead Wilderness Steward Connor Adams takes his turn reading from The Hobbit after a long workday.

“He sat himself down with his back to a tree, and not for the last time fell to thinking of his far-distant hobbit-hole with its beautiful pantries.”

So goes an oft-repeated refrain in The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, a quintessential adventure story, and not by accident the only reading material available at Horse Camp cabin in the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness (unless you also count the 1998 edition of the Field Guide to Noxious Weeds of Idaho). My crew of Wilderness Fellows and Karlissa, our guest for the hitch, happened to overlap the first five days with the SBFC trail crew at Horse Camp, and we returned from work on Thursday to find Pete reading aloud from the book to his crewmates. Obviously, we were enthralled, and storytime with The Hobbit became something to look forward to every day. In fact, everyone agreed that Bilbo’s narrative was eminently relatable, and it became easier and easier to find parallels between his travails and our own.

Nez Perce Clearwater Fellows Olivia Hinds and Kieran Wilder clearing a tricky green tree out of Trail #211.

Bilbo encountered nasty weather of all kinds (it rained on us nearly every day of hitch), found himself next to starvation several times (we ate as well as one can on a backpacking hitch, but no one denied that they found themselves thinking about food almost every minute of every day), and he had to shoulder a pack that weighed nearly as much as himself when he ventured into Mirkwood (even after 8 years leading Wilderness crews, nothing can prepare you for the overwhelming weight of the pack on the first hitch after a long winter). We too thought often of our warm and dry hobbit-holes back home, but we got to see a great deal of wild country and have almost as many adventures as Bilbo, and in the end we slayed the dragon as well (which is to say we had a very productive and successful hitch).

Posing with Horse Camp’s brand new sawbuck. (Hitch 1 - NPCNF - Horse Camp Cabin - L to R Kieran Wilder, Connor Adams, Olivia Hinds, Ryan Murphy - taken by Karlissa Skinner)

Our main program of work for our first hitch was to monitor campsites in the Boulder Creek drainage and the Horse Camp area, and to clear as much of trail #211 as we had time for. The Fellows got a very varied taste of Wilderness work in their first few days. Olivia and I hiked 17 miles out to Gold Hill, over hundreds of downed trees and no few snow patches, to monitor campsites. Kieran and I did 12 creek crossings in one day to do the same. Ryan got to practice his new skills with the crosscut and the axe as we cleared #211 nearly up to Fish Lake Saddle. And we all enjoyed a morning of backcountry construction, as we finished building a new sawbuck for Horse Camp, and promptly used it to cut, split, and stack firewood for the cabin.

Traditional tools…it’s not just crosscuts and axes.

Bilbo was never far away from our minds throughout our projects, and we were lucky enough to finish the book as a crew on the last night of hitch. We cleared 5 miles of trail, monitored 42 campsites, and left the field with a newly named crosscut saw (Sting, of course) and the bonds that only come from a week of suffering and succeeding together. It’s easy to think about the comforts of home when your pack is heavy and you’re getting rained on every day, but I think we too were in the end grateful for our adventure. I’m looking forward to four more!

The Nez Perce Clearwater Fellows crew arrives in the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness at long last. (Hitch 1 - NPCNF - Trail #211 - L to R Olivia Hinds, Ryan Murphy, Kieran Wilder, Connor Adams - taken by Karlissa Skinner)

CONNOR ADAMS, LEAD WILDERNESS STEWARD

Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest

Frank Church-RONR Wilderness

Connor has been a wandering Wilderness person for almost a decade now. After some years overseas and a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, he made his way to Montana and immediately fell in love with the wild places of the Northern Rockies. He has worked in The Bob Marshall Wilderness, the Gros Ventre Wilderness, and spent four years with SBFC in the Selway Bitterroot and Frank Church.

Back in the Saddle

Ian Harris

Lead Wilderness Steward

Bitterroot National Forest | Selway River #4 Trail

6/6/23 - 6/13/23

The 2023 Bitterroot National Forest Crew

Heavy morning dew splashes against our rain pants and streams down onto our boots as we trudge through chest high brush. I am convinced there is no such thing as waterproof boots. The upper Selway, a mere six feet to our left, provides a cacophonous soundtrack to the last day of our hitch, but we don’t hear it anymore. We are nothing but sore, wet feet, and backs aching from burdensome packs and a week of crosscutting. Our weary minds can focus on only three things: sloughing off our packs at the trailhead, our first hot meals back in civilization, and the promising rays of sunshine creeping down the opposite side of the canyon.

Hannah Richter and Reyna Rodriguez crosscutting on the #4 trail of the upper Selway, Bitterroot NF, Frank Church Wilderness, photo by Ian Harris

For Reyna from warm, dry New Mexico, this is her first experience in trailwork. For Hannah from nearby Spokane, this is her first time backpacking. And for me, though my trail boots are well seasoned, this is my first hitch since a harrowing week in Yellowstone in the fall of 2019. After three years leading crews for the Montana Conservation Corps, and a year working from home during COVID for the Montana Fire Bureau, I had put my ambitions on hold to travel full-time in a camper van in support of my wife’s career. Two years later, I once again find myself beside wonderful trail people, with familiar bruised feet and aching limbs, and surrounded by the deep majesty of wilderness. Though I miss my wife, it was time I returned to work.

After a gentle, yet toilsome, five mile hike from Upper Crossing, we pass Haystack Creek. Then the first tree we cleared on the #4 trail seven days prior. And, finally, we glimpse the outbuildings of Magruder Ranger Station, where the sunshine and comfort of my truck await. We sigh with relief - not just out of physical reprieve, but with a strong sense of accomplishment and gratitude. 

Hannah Richter, Reyna Rodriguez, and Ian Harris at Magruder RS, Bitterroot NF, Frank Church Wilderness, photo by Hannah Richter

Trailwork is not for everyone - it is laborious and demanding - but it removes us from social media, endless news cycles, and the comforts we take for granted, and deposits us into the magnificent splendor and simplicity of the wilderness. It hardens us, physically and mentally, building fortitude and a greater sense of appreciation, both for what we have at home, and for what we leave untrammeled. We spent eight days clearing 87 trees from five and a half miles of trail, inventorying a couple campsites, and doing our best to stay dry and hydrated. Our first hitch proved that the toughest moments are often the ones that leave us smiling with pride and joy, and keep us searching for more.

Before and after sawing on the #4 trail of the upper Selway, Bitterroot NF, Frank Church Wilderness, photo by Ian Harris

IAN HARRIS, LEAD WILDERNESS STEWARD

Bitterroot National Forest

Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness

Ian moved from Philadelphia to Missoula in 2010 to attend the University of Montana, from which he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public administration. He fell in love with the wild spaces of Montana and Idaho, and spent three seasons leading youth trail crews. After a year with the DNRC Fire Bureau, he traveled the county in a camper van with his wife for two years to support her professional disc golf career. When not in the woods or on the disc golf course, Ian can be found at the Roxy Theater, playing tennis or board games, or reading a good book.

Training to be Effective Stewards and Crewmates

Olivia Hinds

Wilderness Ranger Fellow

Training: Missoula and Powell Ranger Station

The past three weeks have been full of lots of training for us Wilderness Ranger Fellows. We’ve been stationed in Missoula, MT and Powell Ranger station to become Wilderness First Responders, ax and crosscut certified, and learned about the factors of wilderness character and how to exemplify them in the field. We are becoming equipped with the tools needed (no pun intended) to become fully fledged wilderness fellows and properly care for wilderness using traditional primitive tools.

This is near Powell Ranger Station in Lolo, ID. Pictured is Olivia Hinds and Wilderness Ranger Fellow Ariel Centeno practicing their freshly learned crosscut skills to become certified from the Northern Rockies Wilderness Skills Institute. Photo was taken by Forest Service member, Ben, stationed in Chamberlain, ID.

These trainings have really allowed us to bond and get to know each other. We have been working together as one massive crew rather than the small groups we will be split up into in just a weeks’ time. We live at the same RV resort park together (feels like home right now), work together, and recreate and explore together. We’ve gone out to recreate in places like Rattlesnake and Blue Mountain, chatted at coffee shops like Cat Clyde, gone climbing at Mills Creek, checked out Missoula’s world class library, and enjoyed the nightlife and live music scene in town at places like the Union. I am feeling grateful to be able to grow such strong bonds together and for the time we have been gifted to spend in Missoula. There are amazing people in this city’s community, as well as places to spend time outside and in town.

Here we are at Granite Peak RV Resort in Missoula where we have been camping for our training weeks. This is Oliva Hinds and crewmate Kieran Wilder practicing creating Swing and Swath arm wraps with materials we had available as part of our WFR homework. We used a car ice scraper, a book, and a fleece to wrap his arm. (Photo Credit: Heather Pendleton)

The thing that I did not expect was that we have begun applying our knowledge beyond our jobs and situations in the backcountry. We’ve started using WFR in every aspect of our day to day lives, taking the time to check in with one another and make sure we are okay, physically and mentally. This has also allowed us to practice team reasoning and problem solving outside of work hours. I myself even experienced this after a bad fall (pretty much a full yard sale with injuries across the frontal plane of my body) during a trail run at Rattlesnake Recreation Area. Once I regained composure, I immediately sat up on the trail and began assessing myself to see the damage. I went through my ABCDEs (airway, breathing, circulation, neurological deficits, and environmental conditions) to determine I had no life threats and the worst of my injuries included a sprained ankle and a large abrasion to my right knee.

I am excited to see our skills translate into the field, and to continue to build relationships with crewmates and greet fellows at the end of the season with stories and strength.

 

We’ve spent a good amount of time at our Wilderness First Responder training, learning that wilderness is not an easy place to exist without being aware. To remain safe in wilderness, we actively take risk management precautions and respond with what our instructor Leah likes to call “a can of calm” when necessary. We’ve grown closeness and trust in dealing with scenarios together, using each other as patients, and learning how to simultaneously take care of ourselves as well as others on our crew and people on the trails.

This is in Missoula College Montana where we reviewed our practical skills before the final day of WFR training where we practiced a mass casualty incident scenario. We reviewed litter carries, knots, splints and swing and swaths, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, implement stabilization, and wound treatments. Photo by Olivia Hinds.

This is along the Clark Fork River in Montana where we practiced some patient scenarios. These are SBFC staff members Dylan Barker and Peter Zimmerman getting into the acting to show off their fake impalement injuries. Photo by Olivia Hinds.

OLIVIA HINDS

Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest | Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness

Gonzaga University

Major: Biology

Olivia grew up in Star, Idaho and has always been an avid outdoor lover who likes to ski, climb, and run. Her experience includes working on a snorkel crew survey team with Idaho Fish and Game, trip leading, and researching salamander courtship gland morphology. After meeting two wilderness rangers in the Frank Church last summer, she was inspired to become one herself. She is interested in giving back Idaho’s public lands that she has spent so much time recreating on growing up through her passions of land management and outdoor education.

Training Week- Living, Learning, Laughing

Henry Kelso

Trail Crew Member

May 22-26: Northern Rockies Wilderness Skills Institute

Nez-Perce Clearwater National Forests ︳Powell Ranger Station

Powell Ranger Station features an island along the Lochsa River that was once the campsite of Lewis and Clark!

Kicking off this 2023 season at SBFC, there is a lot of novelty in the people and places we visit. This past week, the fellows along with much of the SBFC staff traveled to Powell Ranger Station to participate in the Northern Rockies Wilderness Skills Institute (NRWSI). This 5 day event brought many groups together including Forest Service, Parks Service, and other partner organizations. Together we spent time learning about wilderness values and stewardship, trail maintenance and of course cross-cut sawing!

The Pack Strings jam out in a barn, playing on a stage made of hay bales and surrounded by horses and foot stompin’ trails people.

This week was also a great opportunity to get to know one another. The staff and fellows have come from around the country to be a part of our mission to protect and enhance wilderness, so some proper introductions were in store. We camped together all week in the notorious Dumpster Alley, cooking up delicious meals and belly aching laughs. Every evening the lovely coordinators of NRWSI had an activity for us to join, such as a potluck, a game night, a talk with the legendary Smoke Elser, and to go out with a bang a performance from the talented Pack Strings, the bassist being our very own Connor Adams!

This week also gave us a chance to meet others outside of SBFC such as Forest Service staff or Montana Conservation Corps members. Being able to interact with so many who shared a common goal of wilderness stewardship was refreshing. It was encouraging to see so many bright faces that were excited to get their hands in the dirt and understood the value of wilderness. 

The NRWSI provided me with new relationships and a revived love for wilderness. The 2023 season is upon us and trails are waiting to be blazed! After this week I’m ready and eager to get out in the field, dig some tread and pull some saw!

Our fellows Kieran Wilder and Julian Brastow learning the ways of the cross-cut saw.

Henry Kelso

Trail Crew: Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest

Selway-Bitterroot & Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness

Henry grew up in Asheville, NC, where he had access to lots of outdoor recreation in the Southern Appalachians. He and his family hiked often. Henry spent five months in 2021 on a trail crew for Montana Conservation Corps, where he gained good trail experience. He is currently a research technician at NC State and has done some field work collecting data. He feels that Wilderness is a unique way to connect people to the outdoors and contribute to conservation.

Branching Out

Karlissa Skinner

Wilderness Project Liaison

Season Summary

Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness & Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness

This season, the Selway Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation introduced a new position, Wilderness Project Liaison, which I had the honor of spearheading. My primary responsibility was to lead and support a variety of volunteer projects, working collaboratively with our tireless superstar Volunteer Coordinator, Krissy, to coordinate and organize tools, gear, and food for each project. And I’ll admit: I was feeling a little apprehensive about the season. I spent February through May traveling in Costa Rica and Colombia, and immediately started my second season with SBFC on June 1 – not much time for transition! Not to mention all the new responsibilities and unknowns I was stepping into. But I was also so excited and curious about this new opportunity, for both SBFC as an organization and myself personally. And now that the season has come to an end I can genuinely and enthusiastically say that I had an exceptionally positive experience. Here are some glimpses of the awesome partner groups and individuals I had the opportunity to work with this summer:

Cheers to the Whisky Society for clearing 550 trees in 1.76 miles, yikes!

Stunning views of an encroaching thunderstorm from St. Mary Peak.

The youth of America (specifically high schoolers with partner group Johnson County Conservation all the way from Iowa) is out clearing trails in the snow, folks. There may be hope yet!

Sierra Club and high schoolers with Inspiring Connections Outdoors. These folks came from New York, California, Texas, New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Iowa to tackle some very technical trees on the Big Sand Lake Trail.

More environmentally passionate youth! From Dallas County Conservation in Iowa, this group broke their record for number of trees cleared from the Tom Beal Trail they have been stewarding for years.

An incredibly exciting and inspring new partnership with HereMT, helping diversify and expand outdoor access and representation of BIPOC folks (photo credit to Alex Kim).

Before

& After! With some fun folks from the American Hiking Society.

All women’s trail crew (plus Bill the packer)! Pulaski Users Group Pulaski-ing the patriarchy!

These valiant volunteers spent the day cleaning up ~20 pounds of trash and other unspeakables from Jerry Johnson Hotsprings. Anyone need a DVD player?

I worked with doctors, engineers, photographers, artists, entrepreneurs, tech folks, high schoolers, teachers, and more. We celebrated birthdays, belly-laughed over riddles, built snowpeople, outran thunderstorms, swam in alpine lakes, fed mules peanut butter, listened to poetry recitations, and ate great food. I was even graciously offered financial advice (crucial for a seasonal trail worker). But most importantly we never stopped marveling at and appreciating the special beauty of wild places, all while clearing hundreds of trees from the trails that provide access to these places.

I really underestimated how fulfilling it would be to work with so many different volunteers. I feel grateful to have met so many fun, kind, and inspiring Wilderness enthusiasts who choose to spend their free time giving back to the trails they love, as well as sharing their unique knowledge and gifts. If any of you volunteers are reading this- thank you! SBFC couldn't do what we do without each and every one of you. And I am certainly grateful for another rewarding season with SBFC. I hope to see everyone out on the trails again next season!

KARLISSA SKINNER, WILDERNESS PROJECT LIAISON

Karlissa spent her summers hiking and camping around Helena, Montana. Her conservation corps experience doing trail work and living in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness helped her to discover her love for the natural world and wilderness conservation. Karlissa is an avid rock climber, backpacker, and river rafter.

Why Work in Wilderness

Clint Kingery

Lead Wilderness Steward

September 13-21

Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest | East Moose Creek Trail #421

The last hitch of the season is freshly over and trail #421 is clear from Elk Summit to Moose Creek Ranger Station once more.

This has always been a particularly hard time of year for me and for most of us in this line of work. We will soon be leaving a workplace packed with the best. Rent won’t be getting the same pause as our paychecks. Light and laughter is traded again for long nights and cozy blankets. When the pay is the same as what every teenager makes and it only lasts for a handful of months, it’s not hardly possible to put away much of a safety net.

The upcoming month will be full of job interviews that follow the format “So, it looks like you are a seasonal worker, will you be leaving us next May?” and “Thanks for your application, but we are going to go with a candidate that will stay with us long term.” In the past few winters, I have worked front desk at a hotel, I have worked for an arborist that didn’t believe in hard hats or chaps or insurance, I have punched data into a computer, I have cleared snow, I have called and found resources for the ill and housebound.

This is the most challenging thing about modern Wilderness work. The off-seasons make hauling tools and 9 days of food up just shy of a mile in elevation feel easy. They make driving icy spears of rain feel almost comforting. They make you nostalgic for the clouds of biting flies. They make you look at soft skin and wish it was sun-scorched and blistered and peeling again.

So why do we do this? Well the cheap answer is ‘Wilderness is worth it’. And those of us wearing holes in the soles of our boots know this. It is true. It is worth it. I could wax poetic for years about all the good that we do for the micro and mega fauna, for the grand cedars and the soft moss, for the hikers and the hunters and the pilots and the rafters and the outfitters and the firefighters, for the surrounding communities that are built on opportunity created by Wilderness, for the smell of the crisp fall mornings and the dry grasses and sub-alpine firs, for our strong backs and stronger legs, for preservation of history and protection of indigenous heritage, for traditional skills, for equity and empowerment, for place and belonging, for adventure and freedom, for the honor and memory of those that preceded us, for the well-being and wonderful naive passion of those that will follow us, for a July strawberry ripened in the sun.

But that good that we do doesn’t even start to answer why we do this. That doesn’t make the off-season any easier. That doesn’t keep my car running or my belly full. It doesn’t mean I can suddenly afford that dentist appointment that I have been putting off for the last decade. It doesn’t mean that the daily trauma I put my body through during the season is magically healed and ready for another year. It doesn’t benefit us directly like a steady paycheck would.

If you were to ask me if I would keep working in and for Wilderness, I wouldn’t hesitate to say yes. If you were to ask me if you ought to get into Wilderness work, I wouldn’t hesitate to say yes. If you were to ask me if SBFC is a good place to do Wilderness work, I wouldn’t hesitate to say yes. I’ve included some pictures that might start to explain why we do this. But if you were to actually ask me why we do this, the only honest answer I’ve got for you is: “I don’t know, I just work here.”

Charlie near snowline on Boulder Creek Trail #211 in the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest; Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness.

Mysterious granite ball found in Surprise Creek near Seven Lakes, in the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest; Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness.

Nick & Jacob’s caterpillar photo shoot.

Charlie and Mack demonstrating crosscut saw use to Idaho Trails Association volunteers on Goat Ridge Trail #526 in the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest; Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness.

Bre and a grouse nest on Rock Creek Trail in the Bitterroot National Forest; Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness.

Smoke over East Moose Creek from near trail #486 in the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest; Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness.

That’s a wrap! Walt on Storm Creek Trail #77 in the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest; Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness.

CLINT KINGERY

NEZ PERCE-CLEARWATER NF LEAD WILDERNESS STEWARD

Clint grew up in Helena, Montana. He first discovered his love for Wilderness while working on trails in the Sawtooth Wilderness. He has also worked in the heart of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness and knows the Moose Creek area well. Clint is uncompromisingly passionate about Wilderness.