Sabido Cabin in the Bob Marshall Wilderness

Last week my daughter Carolan, and two of her friends, Lauren and Elisheba, hiked 16 miles from the Swift Reservoir, on the Blackfoot Reservation in Montana, to the Sabido Cabin in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Their goal, as far as I understand, was to winterize the cabin--button it up and secure it for the long and harsh mountain winter in northern Montana. The 16-mile hike involved approximately 3000 feet in elevation gain, at times through muddy trails and cold stream fords--it took 7 exhausting (yet exhilarating) hours. These are extraordinary young people, tough, fit, and dedicated to taking care of our nation's great wilderness legacy. They look upon this work as a privilege, not as a burden. Hurray for the Montana Conservation Corps, the US Forest Service, AmeriCorps, the National Park Service, the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation, and all the people and organizations taking care of our parks and wilderness areas!

Photos below taken by Lauren or Elisheba:

Lauren, with Buffalo Mountain behind her

The girls at Sabido Cabin

Carolan before the long hike

This might be Birch Creek in "The Bob"

The low sun along the trail

Sabido Cabin, near Buffalo Mountain and Gateway Pass--The Bob

Carolan-Moose, at Sabido

Buffalo Mountain, Gateway Pass--in The Bob

The girls at Sabido Cabin

On the trail, Swift Reservoir to Sabido Cabin

"Respect the Bob"--Carolan's 2-day 34-mile Commute to Work

At this very minute, my daughter Carolan is hiking 20 miles from Schafer Meadows, in the Great Bear Wilderness, to Strawberry Creek, in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Yesterday she completed part 1 of her long commute to work (her job is maintaining trails for the Montana Conservation Corps, the MCC, and AmeriCorps)--that was a 14-mile trek from the Morrison Creek trailhead to Schafer Meadows.

I hope Carolan is not hiking alone--but she might be. Whatever, she's probably chanting a song to warn bears of her approach: "Hey, Bear! O Bear!"--over and over along the trail. Last week Carolan saw here first Grizzly Bear--in the Strawberry Creek area, not far from the Continental Divide. Luckily the bear heard her coming and went the other way! In this great wilderness, the grizzly bears are not alone; there are black bears, lynx, mountain lions, wolves, coyotes, deer, elk, and many other smaller species of mammals and birds. This is their kingdom, one of the few places in the lower 48 states where all the original predators are present. The Bob Marshall Wilderness, and adjacent Glacier National Park, are the great treasures of the United States, North America, and indeed the world.

This evening Carolan will be back with her co-leader, Adam, and her 5-person crew, Carolan is coming laden with "civilized" goodies bought in Kalispell, items the crew members begged for.

Today I read a wonderful blog entry by one of Carolan's crew, Lemmy, that can be viewed at this site: http://mcckrew.blogspot.com/. The entry is dated Friday, July 16, 2010 and is entitled "It's called an 'Immersion Crew'"--by Lemmy Breault. Lemmy captures the feel of the work in the wilderness and the personalities of the crew. The blog entry also has photos of Sabido Cabin near Strawberry Creek and Buffalo Rock, as well as pictures of the crew members.

Carolan has mentioned a common phrase used by workers and visitors to the Bob Marshall Wilderness: "Respect the Bob." Of course I love this phrase because of my own first name. Still, it's worth saying again: Respect the Bob, Love the Bob, Thank God for the Bob!