2019 Trip Highlight: Big Prairie

By BMWF Staff

The Bob is always a great place to explore and early summer is particularly grand. On June 30th of 2019 six trail volunteers, three packers and BMWF Crew Leader Ian Bartling set out from the Benchmark trailhead for nine days of Wilderness Stewardship on the most strenuous BMWF volunteer project of the summer. 

Their destination was Big Prairie. This historic ranger station is one of the most remote backcountry work stations in the lower 48. As requested by Big Prairie Ranger Guy Zoellner, the main priority was to clear the Tillson Pk trail #127. Tools Required: Crosscut saws, axes, hand saws, LOTs of wedges. The 28 mile hike into Big Prairie was split into two days with a midway overnight stop at Basin Cabin. 

Lead packer and BMWF Board member Frank Vitale packed in the crew, accompanied by 2019 Packer Apprentice Elana James and alum apprentice packer Krissy Gillispe. The three of them packed over 900 pounds of gear on nine mules. No horses in this string! 

The trail volunteer team was made up of three men and three women, ages ranging from 25-70 years old. Of the six trail volunteers, all but one had volunteered with the BMWF in prior years! Despite previous trips with the BMWF, when this group showed up at the trailhead, they were all strangers.

Now that snow is blanketing the Wilderness and Big Prairie is closed up for the winter, the folks that experienced this project reflect and reminisce on their time with smiles and ease. Elana reflects, “I realized later it was just fun to be part of a community where no one was on their phone, and we were all united, throughout our various ages and current life stations, with this wilderness joy and appreciation of being in the moment and absorbing and contributing all we could in this precious opportunity.”

Frank comments “This trip was one of my favorites this past year. There were so many memorable things: spending a day packing supplies up to Mount Jumbo Lookout; having a crew eager to learn about packing and willing to pitch in to help, including (for some) loading the mules; and of course, the locations we rode.

But if I had to choose the highlight of the week, it was music. We also packed in some valuable cargo - a couple musical instruments. And for a few evenings at the Big Prairie Station we all sat around listening to Elana on fiddle and Ian on guitar, playing tunes well into the night.”

Music quickly became the crew’s favorite way to decompress after a long day. Elana is a professional musician who tours the world with her band ‘Hot Club of Cow Town’ and Ian knows his way around a guitar. Ian echoes Frank’s sentiments. “The highlight was definitely playing music with Elana. That was awesome. But with that, simply being able to hang out at BP at the end of every hard work day was just awesome. Having the hospitality of Guy and his family, use of the facilities, and front porch to gather on every night to chat, share stories, and meet new people was a real treat. Of course, being in the smack dab middle of the Bob is hard to beat.”  

Of course it was not all just relaxing on the porch playing the fiddle. The team did some real work and had some challenges. Frank remembers the pack in having a few glitches to work through. “The mules were loaded pretty heavy going in. On any long pack trip, there are always some kinks to work out the first day. We decided – against my better judgement – to top load two mules to lighten what the crew had to carry because they were going to hike a lot of miles. I gave the crew two top packs and told them to go ahead and stuff what they could in them. And stuff they did. When we threw the top packs up on the mules, it looked like they were hauling giant beach balls! Needless to say, I cussed at these loads just about all the way to Basin Cabin. But we made it.”

Getting into Big Prairie and doing trail work is not for the faint of heart. “It was a strenuous trip. We had a lot of miles to put in just to get to our work site. Additionally, the work was challenging. We encountered a lot of trees, so much so that we never did make it to the top of Tilson Peak. Every day, new trees would fall in areas we had already cleared the day before. Of course, it’s challenging to work on a trail like that because every day you clear further, your work site gets that much more challenging to get to,” recalls Ian. “Cheesy, but another challenge was saying goodbye to Big Prarie and heading out after an awesome week.”  

Whether you are new to Volunteer Stewardship or a seasoned expert, there are always valuable learning opportunities on every trip. From underbucking big trees, to loading mules and hiking passes -- every day offers a new perspective. “It was surprising to talk with Guy and learn how many people used to work at Big Prairie compared to today,” Ian shares. “Their trail crews continue to shrink year by year, but the amount of work expected of them doesn't decrease. It makes me grateful to have been able to volunteer there for a week and contribute what we could, knowing that they do not have the resources they once had to keep the vast network of trails clear in that part of the Bob.” 

This group of hard working Wilderness stewards was just one of 38 in 2019 that met as strangers at a trailhead and headed into the Wilderness for days to open trails, improve tread and keep these wild places accessible. The dedication of these volunteers is needed and appreciated by the Forest Service. Ranger Guy Zoellner adds, “These are fine times when partners such as the BMWF can provide on the ground work, comradery, packing support and live music! The power house of past volunteers, board members and packing apprentices was a great collection of stories and insight into the relationship between the Forest Service and BMWF have built over the last two decades. This has become an annual trip and helps provide the needed maintenance of tertiary trails based in the heart of the Wilderness. We look forward to hosting them at Big Prairie again in the future.” 

Trip Stats: 
# of days without cell service:9 
# of volunteers: 10
# of miles hiked: 102+ 
# of Miles maintained: 6
# of trees cleared: 129
Cups of coffee consumed in the Wilderness: 145