Tags
backpacking, Coeur d"Alene, crosscut saw, hiking, Idaho, Idaho Trails Association, trail maintenance, volunteering
The middle of June found me driving to the northern panhandle of our funny looking state. There I met up with five other eager Idaho Trails Association volunteers. It was a long (nine-hour) drive just to spend three days clearing trail, but I was eager to pick the brains of some of the locals for fun places to explore after the project was over. In the photo below we were marching off to our first day of work, which commenced on a trail just past this bridge and to the right. We worked upstream (right of bridge) and downstream (left of bridge) beside the Coeur d’Alene river.
First day out is a day of reviewing safe use of the tools and loosening up. Here Jane uses a Silky to remove a smallish tree. 
Next, Jane and her partner challenged a slightly larger tree with the crosscut saw. (No power tools used by ITA) 
The bear grass was in bloom, along with tons of other gorgeous mountain flowers. 
It was along about here that Linda, gazing upward at the rocks, lost her helmet which tumbled to the river about 500 bushy feet below. š 
Here we worked on improving a stream crossing. Several of us ended up with duck feet before this was over. 
But the results was a stable grouping of logs to bridge the banks. 
Our crew leader tackles the little stuff in preparation for the big task beneath it. 
Our crew leader took the above photo the morning of our first day, so we all look pretty clean and chipper. (And I still had my helmet.)
It was a great project and we were blessed with not too many mosquitoes or ticks and lovely weather. Within 10 days of our project, the temperatures in the Pacific Northwest skyrocketed, leaving everyone panting in distress. I’m so glad I’m home now, perched in front of the air conditioner.
During our three days, we removed 55 trees over a nine-mile stretch of the Coeur d’Alene Trail #20. We repaired tread and did a lot of brush cutting, besides improving that stream crossing. Future posts will reveal the fun adventures I had after the work project.
Rangewriter 
“… Linda, gazing upward at the rocks, lost her helmet which tumbled to the river about 500 bushy feet below.”
When I thought it was Linda who tumbled 500 feet!
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Yikes! Poor punctuation leads to unclear writing! I knew I hit Publish prematurely. š It would have made a far better story, though.
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Even nature needs a hand every once and a while. Now that you’ve shown us the work, I’m looking forward to the frolicking (after the project) you promised. Nature is non-political, doesn’t know heck about social media, and provides a respite from all the stuff we claim to dislike, but participate in anyway. Great post!
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Thank you! Yes, one of the benefits of these projects is that I must completely disengage from all social media. The world could come to an end, and I wouldn’t know about it till I get back to the next little town with wifi. A very healthy pause.
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I really admire those of you who do the hard work so the rest of us can enjoy a safe trail. Thank you!
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Janis, I won’t deny that it’s hard work, but it is SO rewarding. I always feel better about leaving a place better than I found it, and with this organization, I always meet really wonderful people and learn a lot from them. š
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Well done, Linda! That’s a really worthwhile way to spend a few days, and it looks like a wonderful place. I hope the hikers who use the trails will occasionally think about those who keep them cleared and viable.
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Thanks, Cat. We rarely see people on these trails that we work on, but when we do, they always share their gratitude for our efforts. It’s rewarding work alongside real quality compatriots.
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Giving back is always gratifying.
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Linda, well done. It is a huge accomplishment. I feel my muscles getting sore as I read this. Keith
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You know, this project was pretty easy, really. Since we were car camping, we had all the comforts of home to bring with us. I didn’t miss hauling my house on my back at all! And our crew leader organized the work in such a way that each of our daily hikes to the work site were brief. And we take turns on the tools, so no one gets overly abused. The brush-lopping is probably the most tedious and rather back-breaking part of the job. There’s something very challenging about the sawing. It’s hard to turn the crosscut over to someone else when you’ve worked your way through half a trunk. There’s a sort pride and a desire to finish the task…. But with only 1 crosscut, it only makes sense to work in shifts and give everyone a chance.
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Linda, I totally agree. When the remnants of hurricanes blow through, we get trees knocked down. It is great exercise and provides satisfaction to saw those trees up and haul them away. Of course, warming up and down are required (that and Advil). Keith
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As I looked at the first couple of photos I thought, gee, everyone looks so cool and refreshedāI thought it was 100+Ā° in Idahoā¦then I saw the sentence about mid-June. Nothing like skipping the first sentence to look at the photos to throw off your perception of the situation!
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Ha ha. Yes, we were very lucky. The very next weekend the heat wave hit.
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Well done! š … it must’ve been hell out there once the heat hit though.
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We were SO lucky to hit a long weekend right in between heat spikes. The next weekend the entire PNW was melting under record breaking heat. Now I worry about my mid-August project not far from where this one was. I presume it will either be fire-cracker hot or gaggingly smoky, or both. š
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A great job well done. It must have been hard work but at the end…very satisfying.
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Thanks, Gerard. And yes. Hard work, but rewarding.
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You did an hard work, brava!
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I had great company. Thank you!
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