Service in the Gros Ventre Wilderness, Wyoming

The Trip

If you’re 18 to 35, you may be able to go on this trip for $300 off the listed price, thanks to the Sharon Churchwell Fund. To sign up and get your discount, please call 415-977-5522. No application is necessary. For a full list of Sharon Churchwell trips and other opportunities for young travelers, visit our Trips for Young Participants page.  

The Gros Ventre Wilderness is a gem in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. This Wilderness provides critical habitat for many species of wildlife, hosts the headwaters of several nationally designated Wild and Scenic Rivers, and offers miles of trails to explore. This Wilderness area is surrounded by the Bridger-Teton National Forest in western Wyoming. The Gros Ventre range rises between the Tetons to the west and the Wind River range to the east. The rugged landscape, with colorful limestone geology, features craggy peaks, wide glacial valleys, and open meadows. Typical trail elevations are 7,000-9,000 feet; the highest peak in this Wilderness is Doubletop, at 11,682 feet.

Though close to bustling Grand Teton National Park and the town of Jackson, the Gros Ventre can be enjoyed in relative solitude. Spectacular views of the Teton range can be seen from many high points in the Gros Ventre. This area is known as an outstanding habitat for species including deer, moose, and bighorn sheep, and is the essential calving ground for the Jackson Hole elk herd. Wolves, black and grizzly bears, and bison, as well as many smaller mammals and birds, call this wilderness area home.

Due to the abundance and diversity of wildlife and resources, the Greater Yellowstone area and Gros Ventre Wilderness were explored and utilized by many Indigenous groups long before European explorers arrived, such as the Shoshone, Bannock, Blackfoot, Crow, Flathead, Gros Ventre, Nez Perce, and several other tribes that passed in and out seasonally. During our week doing trail work, we'll learn about the vast Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem that surrounds the Gros Ventre Wilderness and appreciate why this area was a crossroads for so many Native American tribes. 

The Project

We’ll be camping and working in the Gros Ventre Wilderness alongside the U.S. Forest Service trail crew. Trail projects may include clearing the trail of fallen trees, trimming and removing brush from the trail, and installing water bars, although the exact nature of the trail project will be determined as we near the date.

We’ll use only hand tools because we’re working in a Wilderness area. Training in safe and effective tool use will be provided, as well as all tools and hardhats. No previous experience in this type of work is required. There will be a variety of tasks for all skill and strength levels. We’ll alternate tasks to avoid injury and work in teams to accomplish our tasks and enjoy our work.

We’ll meet at the Jackson Ranger District office in Jackson, WY at 4 p.m. the evening before the trip starts to get acquainted and enjoy some snacks. Our first night will be a frontcountry car camp. On Sunday, we will have an early start at 7 a.m. for a quick breakfast, with all our personal and group gear already packed. Forest Service personnel and vehicles will shuttle our personal and group gear to the trailhead, where we’ll meet the packers with their livestock. We’ll backpack to our base camp for the week, carrying our gear. We’ll help set up our basecamp and tents, and learn about the work project and tool safety.

We’ll work for two days, take a break day, work two more days, then pack up our camp and backpack back to the trailhead for a ride back to Jackson. Each work day we’ll have breakfast and pack lunches at 7 a.m., with our gear and water for the day all packed. We’ll take breaks in the mornings and afternoons, with a longer break at lunch. We’ll take turns helping with food preparation throughout the week. In the evenings and on the break day we can relax in camp, fish or explore the area. (Please note: if you’re planning on fishing, you must buy a fishing license before the trip.) Please plan on hiking in groups of at least three for safety. The trip will officially end when we return to Jackson.

We will return to Jackson by the evening of the last day of the trip. Please check with the leader before booking a flight home earlier than the evening of that last day. There are many attractions in the area, including Grand Tetons National Park, the National Elk Refuge, trails and campsites in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, and the town of Jackson itself. There is world-famous fly-fishing in the Snake River in Jackson Hole.

Getting There

The closest airport to our Jackson Ranger Station meeting place is Jackson Hole Airport (JAC), only about 20 minutes away by taxi or shuttle bus. Alternative airports such as Idaho Falls, ID (IDA) and Salt Lake City, UT (SLC) are several hours away but may be reasonable options if one’s plans include touring other parts of the region before or after the trip.

Please note that the Sierra Club does not provide pre- or post-trip airport shuttle transportation; it’s up to you to get to and from the Jackson Ranger Station rendezvous point. For those who plan to drive, the leader will provide information so that participants who wish can arrange to share rides.

Please do not make travel arrangements until the leader has confirmed you as a trip member.

Accommodations and Food

Meals will begin with breakfast on Sunday and finish with lunch on Saturday. Since we’ll be traveling through and camping in Bear Country, we’ll take precautions to store food and other fragrant items in bear-resistant containers.

Come with the attitude that food is part of our adventure. Many participants say our meals are a highlight of the week -- pleasing the palate, satisfying appetites, and serving as social gatherings amidst the day's work or play in the wilderness. The menu will be healthy, nutritious, high-energy backcountry cuisine. Meals will be largely vegetarian, with some opportunities for meat during the week, and will often include dairy products.

Our meals require special planning, as food weight and quantity must be carefully calculated and all waste carried out at the end of the trip. We’ll have a group commissary with everyone taking turns preparing meals and cleaning up afterward. Before applying for the trip, those with a food allergy or strong preferences for certain foods are encouraged to contact the leader and cook to see if reasonable accommodations are possible within the limitations of the backcountry setting.

Trip Difficulty

This trip is moderately strenuous, due to hiking and working at elevations above 7,000 feet. The hike to our base camp will probably be about four miles. Each day we’ll hike carrying our day packs and some tools, 2-6 miles round trip, to and from our base camp to the work project. Our Forest Service partners will provide training and supervision in safe tool use.

You will need to be in good physical condition to safely enjoy this trip. Please plan to include both cardiovascular and strength workouts in your pre-trip training. 

Equipment and Clothing

The leader will send an equipment list to registered participants. It's important to be well-equipped since one person's lack of adequate warmth or protection can put the whole group at risk. Service trips require participants to wear boots for the work projects. If you have any questions about what to bring along, please don't hesitate to ask the leader.

Summer temperatures can range from the upper 80s during the day to freezing or below at night. Expect occasional thunderstorms and cold, rainy weather. Snow is possible in the mountains, even in summer. Be prepared to hike, work, play, eat, and sleep in heat, rain, and cold.

You are welcome to bring along a lightweight, portable musical instrument if you're willing to carry it in, and if your abilities incline you toward offering musical entertainment around the campfire.

Although this may seem like a shorter distance hike into a base camp, the elevation and variable trail conditions, including likely water crossings, make this a challenging hike. Please do not overpack.

References

Books:

• Jenkins, Matt, A People’s History of Wilderness. This book is about wilderness designation and protection.

• Spence, Mark David, Dispossessing the Wilderness: Indian Removal and the Making of the National Parks.

• Proulx, Annie, Close Range: Wyoming Stores. Short stories from a local author.

Websites:

• https://www.fs.usda.gov/recmain/btnf/recreation
• www.wilderness.net/visit-wilderness

Maps:

• USFS/USDA, Bridger-Teton National Forest, Buffalo and Jackson Ranger Districts
• USGS topographic map quadrangles: Upper Slide Lake, Burnt Mountain

Conservation

Since its founding in 1892, The Sierra Club has worked to preserve and restore the natural environment we all share on this planet. Thousands of grassroots-level volunteers spearhead our efforts to conserve and sustain resources, both in our backyards and on a global scale. Through direct experience in the outdoors, Sierra Club outings enable participants to better understand, advocate, and participate in the environmental conservation goals of the Club.

Service outings, in particular, stand out as one of the Sierra Club’s most important “boots on the ground” conservation efforts. The work done by service trip participants in our nation’s public lands is a way of practicing conservation in the most direct way possible, whether it’s improving access while preserving wilderness values, restoring wildlife habitat, or repairing human-caused damage to a natural area. Service trips are a great way to pitch in and do something tangible to make the world a better place; they’re a way to go beyond just talking about conservation; a way to get out there and experience conservation with your whole being.

Transfer of Public Land to State Agencies is an issue that is surfacing in many western states. Wyoming legislators recently passed a bill that authorizes $75,000 for the study of how the state would manage public lands if Congress decided to transfer lands to the state. While it is unlikely that Congress would agree to this public lands transfer as it would be unconstitutional and contrary to numerous well-established legal doctrines, this bill is nevertheless a disturbing effort to take our public lands away from us, to privatize and develop them.

Preserving undeveloped sagebrush landscapes and their wildlife migration routes is critical to the survival of both sage grouse and ungulates. Landscapes of western Wyoming, stretching south from Yellowstone through the Red Desert and sweeping east through the Sweetwater country, are still relatively undisturbed. The undeveloped sagebrush steppe provides critical sage grouse habitat and offers that species its best chance for long-term survival. These iconic western landscapes, stretching as far as the eye can see, also support ancient ungulate migration routes that we are only discovering today. The survival of these migratory species depends on keeping the sagebrush steppe landscape undeveloped. The Red Desert to Hoback Mule Deer Migration Initiative weaves together our work to prevent oil and gas development in the Wyoming Range and to protect other undeveloped areas in our national forests.

Sierra Club National Outings is an equal opportunity provider and when applicable will operate under permits obtained from U.S. federal land agencies.