At the end of August, nearly a dozen Montana BHA volunteers backpacked into Carpp Lake to complete trail improvements on more than ten miles of trail.
Our crew arrived and set up at basecamp early Friday afternoon. After a bit of rain, we headed out to build rock cairns to help mark the difficult-to-follow fire-scorched stretches of Warren Pass trail. Back at camp Friday night we sat around the fire, waiting for our foil-wrapped dinner to cook. Lots of belly laughs and good stories of public lands were shared. Dinner was a hit and we all slept with good full bellies.
Saturday morning started off with coffee and huckleberry pancakes around the fire. After breakfast, we split into two groups, one headed back up over Warren Pass to continue cairn building and clearing trails, the other group headed to Tamarack Lake to clear trail and work on water bars. Saturday was a long day on the trail, but we were able to complete the work we set to do. It wasn't all work and no play though. During our downtime, we also got some fly fishing in at the lake and in the creek by camp.
Back at camp, another delicious dinner of backpackers peanut butter ramen was served while we all huddled under the cover of our tarps waiting for the rain to pass. After more campfire stories and lots of laughs, the crew all hit the hay after a long day.Sunday morning started off with coffee, a campfire, and a hearty breakfast of granola. With the impending threat of rain, we packed up and hiked out.
Lunches were provided by Gastronome Meals and were a big hit!
In total, we cleared more than ten miles of trail, cleared, repaired, and built 35 water bars, and removed several logs. Thank you to all the volunteers for their hard work, Josh Lattin from the Pintler Ranger District, the US Forest Service for packing us in, Timberline Ace for providing the tools, and Gastronome for the tasty meals!
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This project is part of our two-year effort to improve trails across the state in collaboration with the US Forest Service, and thanks to the Montana Trail Stewardship Grant administered by Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks.
Interested in joining us next time? Sign up for stewardship-related email alerts here or browse upcoming events here.
About Scott DeSena
Chasing that next adventure!!