Lessons from Red Mountain

By Abigail Gans, 2021 WR Intern

Location: Red Mountain, Elevation 9411ft
Date: July 7th 2021

While on hitch number two my crewmate Hannah and I had the opportunity to clear/summit Red Mountain, which is the highest peak in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. We started off our day at Webb Cabin in the Scapegoat Wilderness, and more specifically the only backcountry cabin in Lincolns’ district. We had to hike down the Mainline Trail a mile before reaching the start of the Red Mountain Trail. Upon reaching the beginning of the trail I started to realize just how hard this day was going to be.

The beginning of the trail is all uphill and quite steep. Our task was to clear the trail going up to the peak so that’s exactly what we did. We cut a total of 15 trees along the 4 mile trail. I knew I was physically strong enough to complete this hike, but mentally I struggled. I found myself mentally exhausted with the hike and questioning whether or not I could possibly make it to the summit in one piece. I recalled many of the hard races from high school in both cross country and Nordic skiing to get me through this hike.

I feel like not many people share the grueling parts of being on a trail crew, but I’ve always said that bad days make for great stories. I’m not saying this was a bad day, but it definitely was a hard one, that’s for sure. My legs felt like lead most of the way up and my feet ached as well. With some encouraging words from Hannah I was able to eventually make it to the summit of Red – and man was it worth the pain.

Looking north I could see the Missions which are in Seely’s district and the majority of the other peaks within Lincoln’s district. I found myself feeling relief and a sense of accomplishment once I reached the top. I had also never been more excited to eat lunch because boy was I hungry after that hike. Hannah and I ate our lunch and noticed some nasty looking clouds rolling in, so we decided to start heading down into the treeline. We made it down onto the ridge when Mother Nature decided to take matters into her own hands.

We were greeted with hail/rain and 30 mph winds upon our arrival on the ridge. Before climbing the last little section to the peak we had made the decision to leave our tools on the ridge which seemed like a great idea on the way up. We now had to find them before heading back down which turned out to be quite problematic for about 20 minutes. Hannah and I proceeded to scour the ridge for our saws. We eventually found them and continued down the ridge back towards Webb.

The hike back was wet and cold, but lucky for us we got to make a fire in the woodstove at Webb to dry out our clothes. All in all it was a rough day that pushed me mentally and physically, but I would do it all over again. July 7th, 2021 made me a stronger person and gave me something to be proud of. I learned that day that we as humans have the mental and physical abilities to accomplish whatever we set our minds to. For those reading this I can’t recommend making the trip up Red enough. It truly was an amazing experience and one I’ll remember forever.