A Day In The Life: Trail Crew

beep beep beep — It’s 0445 and time to start the day. I wake up, slide out of my sleeping bag into the chilly morning air of my tent. Shoving everything to the foot of the tent, I grab my work pants and wiggle into them trying to keep the dirt from the day before out of my sleeping area. I throw on a jacket and beanie and force myself out into the fresh morning air.

Walking over to the kitchen area, I’m delighted to see that our crew lead already has a fire started - what would we do without him? Oatmeal for breakfast and a safety meeting as the crew finally gathers together on our log seats. Today, we’ll be building a retaining wall around a culvert. Safety meeting subject: Moving rocks.

0600 and we gather our gear to hike out. I sling my pack over my shoulder which is dirty with bar oil from the previous days, but holds my most valuable items: PBJ and an apple. We begin our hike down the road to the trail while my boot is already rubbing on my blister. I look over into the meadow and am greeted by the familiar sight of Mr. Moose browsing in the meadow. Sometimes being out here feels like a dream.

0730 we make it to our project site. I throw my pack on the ground, walk over to the place I was yesterday, and begin my time of crushing rock to make fill for the wall. wack wack wack — the monotonous sounds drown out my thoughts. Crew mates are moving rocks and carefully placing them like puzzle pieces in the hole we’ve made. Rocks need to be about 100 lbs to be a good candidate, so this can get clunky.

0900 I whip out my apple for a snack. It’s already starting to warm up and I’ve shed my extra layers. It’ll be another smoky, hot summer day. 0915 back to work. We switch it up and I begin hauling in dirt to top off the finished side of the wall.

1200 I almost dropped a rock on my toe earlier, but I moved out of the way just in time… thinking back on it, I almost wish it dropped on my boot… maybe it wouldn’t have broken in half if I cushioned its fall. Eh, well, that just means I have to go find another rock to drag and shimmy back to our work space.

1430 I’m thinking back to those days at the beginning of the season, wishing it would stop raining or snowing for just 30 minutes. Now I’m looking up at the sky during my afternoon break pleading to find just a single cloud offering a little bit of shade. No such luck today. And my sunscreen spilled all over inside my backpack. At least my PBJ survived the mess. I don’t know if my arms can even pick up one more rock.

1500 The culvert is finished! The feeling of pounding that last bit of dirt on top of the culvert is indescribable. This was such a big project, and there were so many times when I was losing hope or just wanted to sit and rest for a while. But look at it! Isn’t it amazing?

1630 We made it back to camp. My turn to cook tonight, but at least that means I don’t have to do dishes! I wash my hands with the bucket water and begin preparing the meal. We’re having burritos tonight. With cheese - lots of cheese. Each night during dinner, we have a question of the day. Today’s question was a mindbender - “Which ice cream flavor do you think should NOT exist?”

1830 We sit in a circle around our empty fire ring. We’re at Stage II fire restrictions this week. Journal time, reading time, or joking time. Each night it varies.

2100 I always stay up the latest. Tonight, it’s just me and the stars. I look up for a bit, but the smoke and clouds cover most of the view. Getting up, I grab my journal and make my way back to my tent. Outside the tent, I shed the work pants and climb in. I wrap myself up in the sleeping bag and reach over to set my little alarm “0445.” I can’t wait for another day in the field. What a life this is.

GBCA Welcomes New Stewardship Coordinator

When I was on a trail crew, someone once told me, “You know Joelle, all of us have our lives during work, and then at the end of the week we go home and live our city life. But you, you just live the same life all the time.”

So hey, I’m Joelle and I spent most of my time in the forest. I grew up on a tree farm where I began to learn how to care for the natural areas and be a steward of the land. My dad inspired my love for all of the relations around me and helped to grow me into who I am today. I hope to spread his gentle and caring touch on the land to those in the Great Burn area.

If you don’t spot me among the trees, then I’m probably in the water. I recently graduated from Northern Michigan University which is right on the shores of Lake Superior, so whenever I needed a study break, I would go for a swim (yes spring, summer, fall, and winter)! My favorite places to hike are along rivers or to an alpine lake, so watch out, I’m known to jump in at any moment!

Those that are crazy enough, bundle up and surf the waves of the Lake in the winter.

I recently graduated with a Bachelor’s in Ecology and minor in Native American Studies. I published a regional field guide on Midwestern flora and fauna and I am in the works of a Northwestern wildflower guide. I believe that education is a huge part of caring for the land. When it comes down to it, most people aren’t trying to destroy the ecosystem, they just don’t know how to properly care for it.

Over the years, I have worked on four trail crews in Colorado, Michigan, and Idaho. I built mountain bike trails in Michigan, worked on desert trails in Colorado, and maintained miles of trails in Idaho. Last year, I was employed by the GBCA as part of their seasonal crew on the North Fork RD of the Clearwater National Forest. This will be my third year in this area and I just keep coming back for more!

I am very excited to be your new Stewardship Coordinator. I feel as though I will be able to combine my passion for backpacking, education, fauna and flora knowledge, my photography skills, and my excitement of sharing stories with others. This year, you will be able to find me in the backcountry doing patrols, wildlife inventories, scouting for weed problem areas, leading volunteer trips, and assisting on some trail crews.

Cheers and Happy Trails!

Joelle

Update from the Field: Trail Crew

Hitch Report

Organizations: Great Burn Conservation Alliance and United States Forest Service

Hitch Report Dates: July 20-27, 2022

SCHEDULE AND EVENTS

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. 

SUMMARY

Total Work Accomplished:

1. 6 miles cut out down river to Bugle Point junction

2. 3 miles cut out to Flying B outfitters camp

3. 5 root wads cleared from the trail

4. 3.8 miles brushed down stream

UNIQUE SIGHTINGS:

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. 

Flora from the Field: Mallard Larkins

Another very exciting hitch with many different types of flowers seen along the way. With all of the sun, the flowers seemed even more vibrant than before. Right away, on the first day, Leslie (top middle) was proud to be pulling up houndstongue (Cynoglossum officinale), found along Black Mountain #396. This is an invasive plant in the area that is toxic to livestock. The most abundant flower by far was seen on #396 trail, lining the hike. This starflower (Trientalis borealis; top right) is rather short, but very showy. The Down River #297 trail was just beginning to enjoy the blooms of the Clarkia (Clarkia pulchella; bottom left). This is a native to the area, and will often cover hillsides in its vibrant pink color. At Goat Ridge, on the Smith Ridge #240 trail, spreading phlox (Phlox diffusa) was covering the ridge in all shades of purple and white (top left). And finally, the most exciting sighting of the hitch was the phantom orchid (Cephalanthera austiniae; bottom right), originally spotted on the #396 trail, but an individual was also later found on #297. This orchid is completely white and native to the area, although only growing in specific areas.

Flora from the Field: Mallard Larkins

There were many fun sightings on the trails during this hitch, even despite the rain. This Garden tiger moth caterpillar (Arctia caja; bottom middle) was found near camp on Wednesday. There were many of these blister beetles (Meloe spp.; top middle) found along the trail #95. Common flowers included Western spring beauties (Claytonia lanceolata; top left), Foamflower (Tiarella Cordifolia; middle left), Bunchberries (Cornus canadensis; middle right), and Black elderberry (Sambucus nigra; bottom right). There were several Pacific yew trees (Taxus brevifolia; top right) along the Isabella Creek #95 trail before the #96 junction. A rare for the area sighting was the deer fern (Blechnum spicant; bottom left) which was found on the #96 trail. 

Season wrap up from Rory O'Connor, Great Burn Conservation Alliance Backcountry Ranger

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.

Welcome to the trail crew, Brendan and Jenny!

Hard to believe, but our first hitch of the field season begins next week! Meet our new trail crew members, Brendan and Jenny.  

Jenny is studying Resource Conservation and Environmental Studies at the University of Montana. A Stevensville native, she is a longtime admirer of the Great Burn with a lifetime of experiences there. She’s worked at a local ranch for six years and is also interested in environmental policy and restoration.

Brendan is also studying Resource Conservation and Wilderness Studies at UM. He spent his last summer working for an outfitter in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, and he has years of experience in construction and heavy equipment operating.   

On Monday, Brendan and Jenny will join three national forest employees to create a partner-integrated trail with the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest. If you see them on the trails, we hope you stop and say hello.

Welcome to the team, Brendan and Jenny!