6/16/09

unedited eighth entry from the pocket-sized Moleskin I carried 53+ miles into and out of the wilderness:

"Hiked from Moose Creek RS to Cupboard Creek today. Est: 19 miles(!) We're expecting less than a 4-hr day tom. + will start around 7 am so should be home by mid-afternoon to do laundry before Hamilton Thurs.
Crazy new hip problem. Must decide how best to sleep on it for max recovery. Took 800 mg motrin to try to ease the aching... yikes!"

Editor's Notes:
We made Cedar Flats by 9 am on this day... that's good, in case you've never hiked Selway Trail #4. It means we got the "worst" over before it was warm, a good deal of it before the sun had even risen, as you can see from the photo above, taken of a far off hillside that was juuuuust beginning to see sun rays.

The Hip. started as a foot/ankle problem, from having one leg always be on the uphill side... so I started compensating, and then overcompensating, and now I can still only walk a couple blocks before that aching returns to my right hip... swimming has been a good ticket for it though, and I'm pleased to have found 3 reasonably priced pools to swim and run in here in Missoula.
By the time we took our first break that day, maybe 2 hours in, I was carrying my right leg in a make-shift sling I'd fashioned out of my belt. What started initially just as a way to put extra pressure on my leg and relieve the ache, turned into a way to lift my leg up over rocks and down the other side... needless to say, this was slow going for these approximately 17 miles after I developed this ailment and invented its treatment. My bicep was killing the next few days because of it, but has suffered no long-term ill effects (if anything, it has enjoyed a slight resurgence, after a relatively arm-lazy few weeks).

Cupboard Creek. Is a good deal farther out of the wilderness than we thought we'd get on our first day out, and carrying my leg the extra miles was tough but worth it come the following morning. see next entry.

6/15/09

unedited seventh entry from the pocket-sized Moleskin I carried 34+ miles into the wilderness:

"It's my FS anniversary today. Tonight I watched the mules be let out onto the runway. What a sight! :) Sheer joy at such vast freedom. Hiking out tomorrow @ 6:30 am."

Editor's Note: What a way to spend an anniversary evening! Hearing nothing but wind and mules kicking up their heels, quite literally, as they gallop full-speed onto the runway at Moose Creek, having waited expectantly that evening for their night out of the corral.

6/14/09

edited entry from the pocket-sized Moleskin I carried 30+ miles into the wilderness:

"small, lowgrowing flowers
look exactly like dogwood-
bunchberry."



"Weeds of the West
book recom. by C[___] for non-woody plants."

Editor's Note: One of the things I found most interesting on this trip were non-woody plants, which is odd because most places, I'm crazy for trees and could take or leave the herbaceous undercover. Wildflowers, weeds, strawberries, and all sorts of other stuff captivated me out there, and I was desperate to know what things were as we went along. I have some naturalist-style drawings to accompany a list of noxious weeds I wrote down on the next day of the trip...

"Just told R[__] I probably won't be a backpacker, but I may become a trail runner - wish I had more spicy food. Everything is bland after a few days."

Editor's Note: Trailrunning, can't wait to try it! My hip is still on the mend from the walk out (you'll get some info about that in later posts) but when I'm back up and running (haha) I'm looking forward to getting some grippy running shoes and seeing what it's all about :) This is really because, while on the trail, every time I put my pack down, my legs just begged for a jog up and down the trail while we rested, watered, and cared for blisters. On the first day, we stopped somewhere about halfway through the day, and I swear I could have run at least 5 miles just from the relief of shrugging those 45-50 lbs and having seriously warmed muscles.

I found myself feeling very invested in and protective of urban forestry while in the wilderness, and was very little affected by the wilderness zeal about me. I mean, I enjoyed it in my personal way, but did not find myself wishing to change careers or lifestyle, as I have in the past when encountering something new and exciting (and I find EVERYTHING new and exciting). This is a pre-explanation for this next entry:

"It means I am passionate about something in the absence of anyone else who has passion for that same subject - a personality trait of mine that I have continually fretted over."

Excitement is contagious and I am particularly susceptible to its varying strains. But now I have my own, and it has not been overpowered.

"Privacy is hard to come by with so few."

One of the things I realize I adore and miss about the city is that no matter how many people are around you, or how many people you've talked to today, at any given moment you can decide to be alone, and just be. The irony of wilderness is that only when you are actually alone can you be alone; there is no deciding.

6/13/09

unedited fifth entry from the pocket-sized Moleskin I carried 30 miles into the wilderness:

"Hiked abt 4 miles to Moose Ranches - an old lodge site where hunters would come to kill all kinds of things not too many years ago. C[____] says there were sidewalks and tractors and all kinds of things that are now buried beneath the soil we see here. She said she thinks it's an elk calving area now. Elk have 2 ivory teeth according to A[___]. Is that true? What's the difference b/w ivory and normal teeth? We've stopped now and are set up already. It's rained a little, but thank goodness it's stopped for now. looks like blue sky is coming in from the south. This field we're sitting in gives a striking view of Bailey (Mtn)? and Cone (Peak)? as well as the range to the west. What range is that? The interns are working on learning sign inventory + GPSing. C[____] wants the old Bailey Mtn Trail sign, since they've already put up an identical new one..."

Editor's Note: This entry actually is edited, in that is is shorter than what I wrote in my notebook, but everything above the ellipsis is as written.

I'm sure I should know what the difference is between teeth and ivory. Mrs. Grey and Jackie Mitchell will be very disappointed that I do not remember, but I do not. and I have yet to google it.

The Mtn and Peak in question are what they are: that is, Bailey Mountain and Cone Peak. Again, still haven't looked up the western range from that valley meadow. *tsk tsk*.

C[___] did not take the Bailey Mtn Trail sign, even though she wanted it, but I really hope the FS gives it to her when they take it down. Really, they should give her anything she wants. She is the goddess of wilderness.

IF YOU LIVE IN DC

and you're reading this, email me RIGHT NOW so I know you weren't in the red line collision Monday evening, 5:10 pm near Ft. Totten. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/getthere/2009/06/commuter_alert_red_line_derail.html?hpid=topnews
If you're reading this and know someone in DC, email them and find out if they're okay.
Thanks for the text Jeff. I'm alive and well, and worried.

6/12/09

unedited fourth entry from the pocket-sized Moleskin I carried 26 MILES into the wilderness:

"A broken zipper cut the night's writing short. I slept in the tent w/ C[___]. The 15+ miles today were at turns horrible and amazing, but I'm not sold on hiking just yet... maybe 5-10 miles at a shot. Until lunch I just wanted to go home. Afterwards I enjoyed hiking alone, then with A[___], who lent me his tent trekking poles. Probably saved me an hour + a half in all seriousness. Saw 2 snakes, a MCC Crew, the pack horses and RMRS crew we met yesterday + saw the Selway River rafting party beached for the evening, just below the bridge to Moose Creek RS.

'Yeah, I've shit in the woods.' --- Bill Bryson

"Legs - barely holding me up
"Feet - swollen
"Hips + Collar bones - bruised
"Belly - full
"Brain - zzzzzzzzz

"Slept in bunkhouse @ MC"

Editor's Comments:
C[___] was the wilderness ranger at Moose Creek for over 20 years. 25? She is a legend in the wilderness community here and one of the most impressive women I've ever met. She may actually make the top of the list now that I know she is 68 years old. You'd never guess.

MCC = Montana Conservation Corps, a trail maintenance crew
RMRS = Rocky Mountain Research Station

The Selway River rafting party is not that unusual to see, because there is one launch a day, so over two days, it is almost a certainty to see one party, if not two of them, but it is still one of those sights that makes you stop and think simply because of how long those people have been planning that trip. Most people are on the lottery list for at least 2 years before they get to float the Selway.

One of the things that occupied my mind before we set out was having to poop in the woods. I mean really... but I was heartened by Bryson and his tubby friend Katz having gone before me (and further heartened knowing that they were on the AT, and not here on the Selway River Trail). So I can now officially say that I have pooped... in the woods.

The bunkhouse at Moose Creek had 4 empty beds, so I happily slept in one. This was on the heels of a conversation I'd had with RM and a few other people earlier in the day when he said "well, there probably won't be very many beds available, certainly not for all of us." to which I smilingly replied, "so you're saying there are some beds available?"

6/11/09

unedited third entry from the pocket-sized Moleskin I CARRIED 26 miles into the wilderness:

"So tired + a headache - 11 miles today to Pinchot Cr from Selway Falls. about 7 hours I think."

Editor's Comment: see next entry.

6/9/09

unedited second entry from the pocket-sized Moleskin I carried 26 miles into the wilderness:

"Went to Warm Springs today (pictures on M[_____]'s camera). It was neat sitting in a very hot pool and then walking down to the river and walking in the freezing edge. Isn't it funny how sometimes you can't tell whether you're being burned or frozen?"

Editor's Comment: This was Jerry Johnson trail along Hwy 12, about 10 miles from Powell RS. At some point in time, photographs will hopefully be obtained from MO's camera but it is currently in the wilderness with her. Also, the author fully recognizes that not all readers may have the same trouble distinguishing burning from freezing when it comes to their appendages and phalanges.

6/8/09

unedited first entry from the pocket-sized Moleskin I carried 26 miles into the wilderness:

"I drove right by a Moose! on Hwy 12 heading toward Powell RS. My first moose - and now my first night in a tent in [Montana (scratched out)] Idaho (since coming to Montana) :) The rain is lovely on the tent fly and I am sleepy..."

Editor's Comment: This was the first night of last week's trip, right outside the Powell Ranger Station cookhouse, after a workday on the Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge and before a full day's meeting of all the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness seasonal rangers and permanent wilderness managers. Note that I have now seen a moose, albeit at 55 mph, and therefore said moose was accompanied by a large quantity of terror.

not about Missoula

I had no idea how much I would miss politics here... I've been running around the Washington Post site for a little bit and it really just hit me how big a part of my life the Hill and bills and politics and the political social structure had become. Also unexpectedly, I'm not dismayed by this fact in the least - if anything, I look forward to getting back to where nothing happens without strict, complicated, seemingly inane relationships, every day. :) If you ride the 11Y through Alexandria, say hi to that lady on her cell phone all the time, and be sure to talk a lot when you sit next to that old woman who hates bus-talking, and try to get that one guy to shut his computer for part of the ride :) hugs.

6/7/09

Crosscut saw training was pretty amazing.

We drove down to West Fork on Tuesday morning (early, Montana early) and started with a quick video (you can see some of mine at my picasa site - email me for the address) about safety and the various binds a tree or log might have got itself into (and this is not like "we're in a bind" this is the technical bind), where the tension is (again, technical tension, not a crick in your neck - and anyway, a crick here has water in it, it's not in your neck), how the saw actually cuts the wood (awesome in slow-mo), and where to stand when the log might roll down the hill and smoosh you (need a hint? not downhill).

Then we went and practiced for a little bit on a fallen tree that all 8 of us could chop on briefly without running out of wood, and before lunch went up to Nez Perce pass (see above photo) and cut some winter storm damage in the cold for the rest of the afternoon. That evening, we went down the other side of the pass to Magruder RD where we spend the night in a very cushy cabin (we all got a mattress and there was a tea kettle and a 1930s party line switchboard!) Magruder is one of those places that makes you dream about what the FS was like in the old days (the really old days, the "stereographs of Gifford Pinchot pulling a pack string" old days), in the same way that photographs of movie stars from the 1950s make you want to be a movie star in the 50s. First thing, I walked out to the end of the pasture and looked back over the Selway River toward the Ranger Station and the couple of cabins. It was really beautiful and since it was light for 5 hours after we got there, we had plenty of time to enjoy the scenery, read, and cook dinner outside looking up at the mountain sides.

The next day early (regular early this time, not Montana early), we drove about 15 miles to an other spot next to the river, and climbed Spot Mountain. Along the way we cleared water bars so water'll flow off the trail instead of down it, moved large stones from the inside track of the path to the outside so the mules won't run the trail downhill over time, and... cut trees that fell across the trail! It was great; we spent the whole day up there and on the way back, we realized we'd cut so many that some trees we'd completely forgotten about and had to think of what the situation was before we made that lovely trail lovely again. At the bottom the 40 degree Selway River felt like heaven to our swollen, sweaty, hotspotted feet.

And, not to be outdone, Missoula provided a yummy by-the-slice pizza dinner and some ice cream at the Big Dipper (where the line is usually out to the sidewalk around 9 pm each evening). Delightful.

So I'm going to Moose Creek - if I'm right about this, Moose Creek Ranger District is the only FS RD that's entirely wilderness area. I just decided to go on Monday (last) and at that point, had none of the crucial gear I needed (except a sleeping bag, pad, water bag, and headlamp... and a knife, and a boots, and... okay, not "none" but I was missing a crucial element: a backpack). So I bought a Gregory Deva 60, because I figured, on my first backpacking trip, I wanted my pack to be my very very good friend, instead of someone I just travel with sometimes but we don't get along that well... We are good friends so far, and though I'm not one to name inanimate objects (like cars, I now know a truck named Trinity and another named Betty... I just don't get it... please explain the naming of cars in the comments section of this blog), I might just have to give this lady a name, after all, she will be carrying my toilet paper for 10 days.

Anyway, tomorrow we (me and the SBF interns) have a workday on the Lee Metcalf, Monday night or Tuesday morning (Montana early) we're going to Lowell (or Kooskia?) ID (again, I should know this) and then Thursday morning we'll drive to the trailhead and leave cars for a week while we hike into Moose Creek. I'm super excited (if you can't tell by the length of this blog). So I'll be back in Missoula the following Wednesday night (the 17th) and have been invited to participate in (or sit in on) a full day meeting at the Bitterroot NF HQ in Hamilton on the 18th... so while I know you'll be waiting with baited breath to see what I've written in my new moleskin, softcover, blank pages notebook, and what's been captured on my new 8G of photo storage, you'll probably have to wait for the weekend to get the full photo-journalistic story.

See ya in two weeks.
with love,
PBR

6/1/09

I bought Keen’s this weekend. Only took me three trips to the shoe store (three shoe stores) and about an hour and a half of walking back and forth wearing different (and then repeat) pairs of water-capable sandals. I gave up on Chacos early. The salesman (from Clemson!) was very patient with me, and said if the Chacos didn’t feel right, don’t try to force it – despite the fact that he said he had more pairs of shoes than his girlfriend due to the preponderance of Chacos in his closet. So mine are Keen’s, the “whisper” if you know what that is (google-able), and they are light as a feather. I like ‘em. The color is even starting to grow on me – they’re black instead of brown – and they fit great with my sealskins so my feet can stay nice and toasty in my waterproof (usually water-filled) socks.

Also went for a run last night and figured I’d just go ‘til I couldn’t anymore, since it’s been so long since I’ve run (late February?). At 30 minutes I decided to stop myself after 40 minutes so I wouldn’t be too sore, walked home from the riverfront, and did 20 minutes of yoga to ward off soreness… Totally worked, I woke up this morning feeling great, a little sore in the legs, but not nearly what I was expecting. (We’ll see about tomorrow morning.)

Oh my gosh – today! – I went to IDAHO! First time in Idaho – not too shabby, since we drove two hours on highway 12 out of Lolo, through the Clearwater National Forest (NF) and saw maybe 15 cars along the way there and back. The Lochsa (Lock-saw) is GIANT right now and there are literally 40 foot logs careening down the river, and some huge waves rolling over even bigger rocks (we can only imagine). Am I right that the Lochsa is the steepest river in the lower 48 when you consider its total drop across its total length? Not a spot of blackwater in sight, which I’m sure is great for some people, but I’d be exhausted. CJ (of the SBF) said she thought the Selway River is up about 8 feet right now(!). I guess she’s seen it at 11 feet above normal (!!!). The last trip that left to float it (not long ago) aborted the trip in the first day or two because it was too dangerous, so it’s safe to say the snow is coming fast and furiously out of those mountains right now (too fast for late-summer water supplies, unfortunately, boo climate change). We hung out at the Wilderness Gateway picnic area most of the day, the wilderness behind us, the rest of the forest ahead, and heard John McCarthy of the Wilderness Society talk about his life, his work, his life’s work, and how he’s managed to make them pretty much all the same. Also, it’s an hour earlier in Idaho than it is in Montana.

Tomorrow – back to Idaho for (**drum roll**) CROSSCUT SAW TRAINING! Yea! We’re going the other way this time, down 93 to West Fork Ranger District (RD) on the Bitterroot NF, instead of out 12 through the Clearwater. (There will be a quiz on all these acronyms at the end of my detail. Do you remember all the ones you’ve learned so far?)

5/31/09

Has anyone else noticed that there’s no sales tax in Montana? Holy Smokes! Don’t tell anyone.

This weekend I found a yoga class to go to at the running store near my house. They started a couple weeks ago, but I’m hoping I can still join – Thursday evening at 6 pm… we’ll see if I ever make it home by then to get there!

I also went to the farmer’s market craft fair yesterday morning. It was a little bit later in the morning since I’d decided to take a slow morning after a late Friday evening potluck down at Lee Metcalf (more on that later), and apparently the later-morning crowd is a bit more “laid back” than the early morning crowd. I felt very out place because 1) I was wearing a bra, 2) my hair had been combed within the past 2 months or so, and 3) nothing on or attached to me was tie-dyed. I have absolutely nothing against tie-dye, dreads, or bra-less-ness, it’s just that it’s hard to come by all three of those in such abundance in the District, and we notice things we aren’t used to.

Last night I ate delicious pizza – hard to find outside of New Haven – but Biga’s Pizza on Main is amazing. I ate artichoke, red pepper, and olive pizza with the Selway-Bitterroot Foundation (SBF) director (RM from here out) and four of the five interns, the fifth being somewhere in Bozeman or something… then afterward we all hit the Palace for some foosball, pool (I’ve still got it!), and then Jessica Kilroy opened for the Devil Makes Three. Not the main subject of my post, but I liked them a lot and wouldn’t mind having some on my iPod.

Friday’s potluck – summary: SBF board members, employees, spouses, interns, me, and the largest vocabulary I’ve ever encountered in a 3-yr old child, all surprisingly near the Bitterroot range on the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge. See picture for details.

5/28/09

Today I am certified for CPR and First Aid. Well, not just today, but starting today and for the next two years, I am certified. Also today, I hiked up a trail on Rattlesnake Rec Area this afternoon, since we got back to town early. It was lovely and a nice gentle start for an East coaster afraid of being eaten by a mountain lion. There were loads of people, and as I was leaving (around 5:45) cars were parked along the sides of the road near the parking lot, leaning up hillsides, with their bike racks and kayaks straining dangerously against straps and props. It’s a popular place.

Since I didn’t get to write yesterday, I’ll make an attempt now to describe an intellectually exciting afternoon with the Peter Landres. Peter is the authority on wilderness thinking and doing and measuring and is both celebrated and demonized for it (the measuring part, at least, brings impassioned protest). On my second day thinking about wilderness, I was able to work through some of the struggles I recognized early on in my considerations, The Trouble with Wilderness being the first in my mind. I had subscribed to Bill Cronon’s idea since I read his Trouble piece, and as a student of East coast development and now Chesapeake-proportioned restoration efforts, I admit, there were moments in my preparation for this work that I thought, how silly, protecting such a tiny place where so few will go… but I know now, and defend, that it is not for the few (the number of visitors being irrelevant to the “purpose” of wilderness), and that it is not tiny (100 million + acres being a sizable quantity).