Women's Bob Marshall Wilderness Trail Preservation, Montana

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 Trip

As women working together, we’ll participate in a worthwhile conservation effort, encourage land and trail stewardship, and promote a healthy wilderness ethic. We’ll backpack about 7 miles into the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, which encompasses 1.5 million acres of federally protected wilderness that stretch along Montana’s section of the Rocky Mountains from Glacier National Park in the north to Roger’s Pass in the south. Known as “The Bob," this huge wilderness complex encompasses three designated wilderness areas (Great Bear Wilderness, Bob Marshall Wilderness, and Scapegoat Wilderness) and is managed by three different U.S. Forest Service agencies.

“The Bob” is considered by many to be the crown jewel of wilderness areas in the lower 48 states. Straddling the Continental Divide, this spectacular roadless area contains towering limestone cliffs (including the famous Chinese Wall), rugged ridges, thickly forested valleys, two National Wild and Scenic Rivers, streams and waterfalls, and flowering meadows. The area provides habitat for a wide variety of wildlife, from large hoofed animals like moose, deer, and mountain goats; to large and small predators like wolves, bear, badgers, otters, wolverines and lynx; and to ground squirrels and other small animals. Not to be missed are the variety of birds and flowers, which are appreciation-ready for the enthusiast’s eye or photographer’s lens.

The Project

We will partner with the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation staff to repair trails and clear trail-blocking vegetation or downed trees using crosscut saws or handsaws as well as Pulaskis and loppers. We will be working along the Sun River on the east side of the Bob Marshall Wilderness. The Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation made an extra effort to choose a special camp and work location to enhance our wilderness experience. During the week, they will guide us in the proper use of tools and supervise the project. We’ll work only with hand tools, as required in a wilderness area. Fires are a normal part of this ecosystem; we will traverse through and work in some areas that have burned in the recent past.

Tasks and tool use will vary from lightweight to strenuous; we will encourage people to try a variety of tools and tasks. We’ll mix and share jobs to complete our tasks, helping each other as we help to make “The Bob” accessible to those who cherish wilderness. Visible accomplishments are part of the fun and reward for the work and sweat!

We’ll meet in Augusta, Montana, get acquainted over a meal, and camp on Saturday evening (day 1) at our trailhead. On Sunday morning (day 2), after breakfast, we’ll backpack to our base camp for the week. When we all arrive at the base-camp site we’ll set up our group site and personal tents for the week. Mules will carry our tools, cooking gear, and food in and out of the wilderness.

Each morning we’ll gather for breakfast, pack lunches and snacks for the day, and warm up our muscles. We’ll do full days of trail work for four days, with a break day mid-week (typically Wednesday) to relax in camp or to explore the area. Saturday (day 8) we’ll pack up our personal and group gear and hike back to the trailhead and our parked vehicles, reaching them in mid- to late-afternoon.

Please do not schedule a return flight before evening on day 8 (Saturday); starting home the following day is preferable.

Getting There

Participants are responsible for getting themselves to and from the trailhead. However, we’ll meet first in Augusta, Montana and try to take as few cars as possible to the trailhead, about one hour away. Airports in Missoula, Great Falls, and Kalispell, Montana can serve the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex area. We will be on the east side of the Complex so the closest airport will be Great Falls, about one hour from Augusta. There is no public transportation to the trailhead or meeting place, so carpooling in personal or rental vehicles may be necessary. A shuttle company may also be able to provide rides from Great Falls airport if enough of us are interested.

Please do not make non-refundable travel arrangements until notified to do so by the trip leader.

Accommodations and Food

Backpacking into the wilderness, we will have no amenities at our camp except what we bring in ourselves. Your tent in the beautiful outdoors will be your home for the week. Participants will be responsible for carrying all of their personal gear while mules will carry our group cooking gear, food, and tools.

The Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation staff are experienced at planning and preparing nutritious and satisfying meals that are tasty for both vegetarians and omnivores. Please bring the attitude that new foods are part of the adventure. We’ll all share in kitchen duties. We’ll store food and toiletries by animal-proof methods (bear bins or bear hangs) to prevent access by animals, to protect wildlife and participants.

If you have food allergies or other food restrictions, please contact the leader before applying for the trip, to be sure your food restrictions can be accommodated.

Trip Difficulty

This trip is moderately strenuous. Being physically fit is essential for the hike, work, and free-day activities. You will enjoy this trip and work project if you have adequately conditioned for endurance and physical fitness. We will carry our backpacks with our personal gear to and from the base camp (7 miles), hike to and from the trail work every day, and be physically active every day. The elevation will likely be 4,500-6,000 feet.

Prior knowledge or experience in trail work is not necessary. Training and guidance will be provided and there will be tasks suitable for various skill levels. Some of our standard activities will be lifting heavy rocks, and using hand tools and larger saws. Participants should be prepared to hike two to four miles over rough terrain to reach the work project, carrying some tools plus a day-pack that contains rain gear, hat, lunch, and water. Participants will work at a self-determined pace; however, since this is a backcountry trip, all participants are strongly encouraged to hike on- and off-trail to prepare for the demands of it. (Don’t be intimidated by the work-project and hiking descriptions, but do prepare for them!) To ensure safety, we will discuss and practice proper transport and use of tools. 

Equipment and Clothing

Though a detailed equipment list will also be sent in a later mailing, you should plan for daytime temperatures to reach the 80s and nighttime temperatures to be in the 40s, and know that our work project requires sturdy attire. Dressing in layers will allow you to be comfortable. Long-sleeved shirts; long pants; over-the-ankle, sturdy, waterproof hiking boots; and rainproof (not resistant) jacket and pants are required. Avoid cotton. Bring a pair of leather work gloves, plastic storage containers with lids, cup, eating utensils, two water bottles, small hand sanitizer, and a personal first-aid kit. (The trip leaders will also carry first aid kits.) Participants are responsible for their own tent, ground cover, sleeping bag and pad. Each participant will carry his or her personal gear to the camp site, so a large backpack will also be needed. And, don't forget your camera!

We will be hiking and working along the Sun River corridor and will need to cross the river often. Good water shoes will be needed. In case of high water, an alternative work project has been planned.

References

Check out Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation's website—https://www.bmwf.org/—for additional trail guides, topo maps, and other info. You will have a day off, probably mid-week, to explore the area. Because we are at elevation, we also encourage arriving early to acclimate as well as explore this beautiful National Wilderness Preservation system.

Websites:

• You can also look through the http://www.wilderness.net/ website for more images and details. See also: https://wilderness.net/visit-wilderness/?ID=64#maps

Books:

• Molvar, Erik, Hiking Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness. This is an excellent guide to the trails in the wilderness, giving not only mileage, condition, and some illustrations of the trails, but fishing info as well.
• Graetz, Rick and Susie, Montana’s Bob Marshall Country: Bob Marshall, Scapegoat, Great Bear Wilderness Areas and Surrounding Wildlands. This is a pictorial book of each section of the Bob Marshall Complex, from the Great Bear to the Scapegoat.

Maps:

• Bob Marshall Wilderness (National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map (725))

We will have access to hiking maps for the area in which we work.

Conservation

We will practice Leave No Trace procedures, including the use of an outdoor latrine. We will return our campsite to as natural state as possible after our visit, with the goal of allowing others the same wilderness experience. 

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 own 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.

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