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Weitas Creek #20 is a main trail in the North Fork District of the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest. The north end of the trail is found where Weitas Creek dumps into the North Fork of the Clearwater on the FS250 road. The trailhead is in Weitas Campground. The south end of the trail begins at 12 Mile Saddle on the Lolo Motorway. Being just under 30 miles, this trail hosts many adventures and many flowers.
An absolutely stunning, eye-catching saprophyte (loves on dead organic matter). Can grow tall, up to three feet, towering over most other undergrowth. The stem is a dark red with silvery and STICKY hairs. Flowers are small white globe-shaped bells that line the plant all the way up. The white of the flowers with the red stalk truly sets them apart. Found in lower elevation, dense woods.
Actually part of the iris family, this plant is simple, with long, thin, grass-like leaves. Flowers grow from the end of the leaf either singly, or in groups of multiple. Having six purple/blue pointed petals, with a long central anther, and a yellow center, flowers are small but attractive. Typically found in meadows.
Five round petals that are a deep to light pink (depending on the species) with yellow stamens. Leaves are small, toothed and round, growing opposite of each other. A heavily thorned plant, with thorns lining the stems and undersides of leaves. After the flower, red rose hips develop. These are edible and are also able to overwinter.
Clarkia (Clarkia pulchella) is a very unique flower. Found on open hillsides in early summer, this four-petaled, three-lobed flower is a vibrant dark pink that lights up the open hillsides. There is a small white stigma in the middle that resembles a small, four-petaled flower. The flower sits at the top of an 18in plant with very thin, long leaves.
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is your trail best friend. The unmistakable ferm-like leaves and inflorescence of small white flowers at the top should not be overlooked. Yarrow can be used in the treatment of bleeding, burns, colds, and toothaches. It can even help regulate menstruations!
A very tall orchid, 1-3 feet. This is a tricky orchid as it’s not as “typical” looking upon first glance. Has many lance-shaped leaves going up the single stalk. The top of the stem hosts a group of small, white flowers that at first glance resemble a thin beargrass plume. Grows in wet ground. (Found in drainage ditches on trails).
A five-petalled, bell, star-shaped flower. Petals fuse together to form a bell and then separate to form pointed tips. Flowers are held singly or in several at the top of a long, thin stem. Leaves are small, skinny, and sparse up the stem. Can grow up to 18 inches. Flowers are almost the same color as a bluebell. Can grow in multiple elevations, blooming at different times. Usually in more open areas and side hills.
Can also be known as wintergreen. Flowers sprout from a long, bare stem. Drooping and waxy, flowers have five white-pink petals with long protruding stamens. Blossom from the bottom up. Leaves are leathery and round, being dark green. Only two at the base of each plant. Found in wet soil, around streams, and in dense forests.
Organizations: Great Burn Conservation Alliance and United States Forest Service
Hitch Report Dates: July 20-27, 2022
July 20:
Excited for the work week, and knowing the hitch vobjectives, the crew packed up at the Pierce Work Center, and made their way to the Weitas Guard Station. After unpacking and settling into camp, the crew took lunch with the Youth Conservation Corps who were visiting for the day cleaning out open tops with Tim on the 555 Rd.
After lunch, the crew all worked together to brush the trail starting downstream of the guard station. Dacotah and Colby ran the brushcutters while Kilynn, Joelle, and Leslie swamped. They made it 0.4 miles and hiked back to camp by 4:30pm.
Kilynn is excited that the flavorful, yet tiny, wild strawberries are finally ripe!
July 21:
The crew split up today. Colby, Leslie and Dacotah headed down stream towards the trail head with saws. They made sure everything was cut to specification on the cuts made the previous hitch, and continued for another 0.4 miles of log out.
Leslie worked to cut out old and new downfalls to specification on the downstream portion of the trail.
Kilynn and Joelle headed upstream to the outfitter’s camp to work back towards the guard station with saws to recut downed trees to specifications. This was important as the previous week some cuts were not back to the eight foot clearing limit as the crew was focusing on making the trail passable. While logging out, Joelle worked with Kilynn to do the field portion of her chainsaw certification. As a Class B sawyer, Joelle can work on this with Kilynn, and Tim (class C sawyer) can review the evaluation and sign off as a second evaluator.
Tim shuttled gas for the women, and worked to put up new signs on the upstream portion of the trail. He also shuttled a large five gallon tank of fuel to the downstream group as well for future brush cutting needs.
July 22:
Colby, Leslie and Dacotah picked up where they left off the day before on the downstream portion of the trail. They worked hard, and hiked fast, and were able to make it to the junction of the Bugle Point trail at Johnny Creek which is about six miles from the Guard Station. Here they tied into what the GAOA trail crew had done last year. They did about 1.2mi of fresh logging, and hiked a total of 12 mi. On the way out Colby and Dacotah got a head start on root wad removal and hacked the remaining roots off with a hatchet and then pushed and pulled as hard they could until it tumbled off of the trail.
Meanwhile, Joelle and Kilynn completed the work of specification log out from the pack bridge to the Guard Station, with great timing of making it back by 4:30pm. They encountered 5 hikers and 3 bikers who were all out fishing and very grateful to have the trail logged out and passable.
Kilynn and Joelle picked a beautiful wildflower bouquet in a salsa jar that happily decorated the kitchen table for the remainder of the hitch.
July 23:
The whole crew went downstream to begin the heavy brushing of the trail. Colby brush cut, and Joelle and Kilynn took turns brush cutting. The mosquitoes and little black flies were relentless today and caused some crew members to cover up with bug head nets during breaks. Dacotah cut the brush that was too big or hard to reach on the uphill side with the chainsaw, and also cut down trees that the removal of the brush revealed. Leslie swamped and worked on tread.
Two motorcyclists that Joelle and Kilynn had seen the previous day were encountered on the trail again today. They were in happy spirits and gave nice waves as they passed by.
July 24:
Starting at 6:00am, everyone headed downstream, however the crew soon broke into two sections. Dacotah and Kilynn headed past the brushcutters to some problem root wads to begin pulling, and repairing tread for the rest of the day. Fortunately, they were able to remove all four root wads and widen the trail in these sections by the end of the day.
One of the root wads and tread repairs that Kilynn and Dacotah worked to restore.
Joelle and Leslie started on the brush cutters while Colby swamped and worked on a few sections of failing tread in the hot, sunny, and dry, side sloped part of the trail that runs through an old burn. He switched on to the brush cutter after lunch and Leslie swamped. Meeting back up with Kilynn and Dacotah on the trail, they hiked back as a whole crew and made it to camp by 4:30pm. Baths in the creek were a welcome occurrence after this very hot and very sunny day.
July 25:
It was incredible to see the trail again after brushing and swamping out the densest sections.
Once again, packed with plenty of water and lots of snacks, the crew headed back out on the trail to continue brushing. Colby started on the brush cutter along with Joelle while Dacotah, again, was on saw, and Leslie and Kilynn swamped.
July 26:
With everyone feeling better in the morning, the whole crew started downstream for the final time. Feeling brave, and not letting the bees get the best of him, Colby began brush cutting with Dacotah brushed while the rest of the crew swamped.
The crew was staying motivated through this last physical work day by cracking jokes and finally being set in a good routine of brushing, swamping, and lopping.
After a hot afternoon break, Joelle and Kilynn headed back to the Guard Station. Kilynn was finally evaluated on felling trees and did a wonderful job. Staying determined, cutting clean face cuts, leaving a good amount of holding wood, and pounding wedges, she was able to fell her three required trees.
After 2:30pm, the guys helped Leslie catch up, swamping to where they had stopped brush cutting. All in all, they made it 3.8 miles brushing downstream from the Guard Station.
Happy that it was the final day on the trail, and feeling accomplished, the crew had some good bonding moments that night. At 10:30pm, Joelle woke everyone up for a “star viewing” party. They all laid on the grass, looking at the stars, wishing on shooting stars, telling stories, and laughing. A wonderful end to a hot, beautiful, and productive hitch.
Total Work Accomplished:
6 miles cut out down river to Bugle Point junction
3 miles cut out to Flying B outfitters camp
5 root wads cleared from the trail
3.8 miles brushed down stream
Flora and Fauna:
It was amazing to see just how much the flowers had changed in the matter of a couple weeks! By far, the most showy new plant was the Woodland pinedrop (Pterospora andromedea; left). These tall (1-2ft.) Plants are a bright pink, with white bell flowers, usually found in small quantities. As the Merten’s coralroot from last hitch are going to seed, the Striped coralroot (Corallorhiza striata; top right) is now making an appearance. Just blooming are the Shooting stars (Dodecatheon pulchellum; top middle) along the wet shores of Weitas Creek. The Deptford pinks (Dianthus armeria; bottom middle) are blooming on the dry side slopes of the trail. These are not native to the area, however they have become naturalized. And finally, the Mountainspray (Holodiscus dumosus; bottom right) is out in abundance and one of the major forms of brush found on the trail.
There were no more bear disturbances on this trip, however, the crew did see some deer wandering around camp at night. The mosquitoes and horse flies were still out in bounds unfortunately, as well as the several unwanted encounters with ground bees.
By Rory O’Connor
This was my first year working as a full-time seasonal employee for the GBCA. I started in May, and I am now getting things wrapped up in the third week of November. Working for the GBCA in a part time capacity over the last 13 years, my capabilities were limited by time. This year I moved to a full time seasonal position with GBCA, which gave me the opportunity to expand my ability to get more involved with our organization and members, Forest Service partners and other partner groups.
Two major duties I added this season were facilitating volunteer projects and serving as a liaison for the Forest Service and the Idaho Conservation Corps (ICC). Myself, along with staff member Jory Biddick, organized two fairly involved volunteer projects including a pit-toilet install at Heart Lake and a weed pull in the West Fork of Indian Creek. This was a great learning experience for both of us. Both trips presented unexpected logistical challenges giving us the opportunity to fix things on the fly, and we ended up with two successful trips with satisfied volunteers.
My time serving as a liaison for the ICC crew was cut short this season due to the fires. I completed one nine-day hitch with two ICC crews on Black Mountain trail 396 in the Mallard Larkins roadless area. It is planned that I will work with the ICC crews next field year doing similar work. The liaison aspect will be something I will be getting more experience with next season. The one hitch with the ICC crews this year was a good trial for me working with younger folks who did not have much trail work experience.
In addition to my liaison role with the ICC this year, I had the opportunity to shadow the USFS Pierce trail crew for 12 days, and complete a four-day-training hitch with our Kelly Creek weed crew. Having the time and ability to train and work with the field crews this year was a new aspect of my position, and I felt it was very beneficial.
My time serving as a liaison for the ICC crew was cut short this season due to the fires. I completed one nine-day hitch with two ICC crews on Black Mountain trail 396 in Mallard Larkins. It is planned that I will work with the ICC crews next field year doing similar work. The liaison aspect will be something I will be getting more experience with next season. The one hitch with the ICC crews this year was a good trial for me working with younger folks who did not have much trail work experience. In addition to my liaison role with the ICC this year, I had the opportunity to shadow the Pierce trail crew for 12 days, and complete as a four-day-training hitch with our weed crew. Having the time and ability to train and work with the field crews this year was a new aspect of my position, and I felt it was very beneficial.
Half of my time on the Clearwater was spent in the Great Burn. The other half was spent in three other roadless areas including Meadow Creek, Bighorn-Weitas and the Mallard Larkins. Overall, the 2021 field year was a good preliminary run in an effort to gain insight on how we can operate a more full-time roving ranger position. Given my greater capacity this season I had the ability to work on GBCA goals of strengthening our relationship with our Forest Service partners and to use the backcountry ranger position as an outreach tool with other conservation organizations and youth corps. The ground work I was able to accomplish this year served as an effective means to achieve these goals.
