Clay Butte Trail Maintenance
I signed up for a weekend of trail maintenance along the trails around Clay Butte at the bottom of the Wyoming side of the Beartooth Pass. What does a weekend of camping and working on trails look like? Read on to find out!
Part of the crew carries Silkies, a type of saw, and other tools around Island Lake on the way to clear trees off the trail to Beauty Lake in the Beartooth Mountain range.
At the beginning of the summer, I signed up for a weekend of helping the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness Foundation during their August 14-16 trail maintenance project beneath Clay Butte. The project was in conjunction with the Shoshone Forest Service, which provided campsites at Beartooth Lake while the crew planned to cover the 8.6 mile Granite Lake loop. The work needed on the trail included “tree clearing, erosion control, tread repair, and drain maintenance on terrain ranging from steep mountainsides and boggy bottom lands to meadows with vistas straight from a postcard.” For more about the project and the area, check out the ABWF info on the project description page, which divulges a bit of the area’s history.
Not sure the extent I was getting myself into I merely hoped I had the energy, stamina, and strength needed to help clear trails for future use. The weekend approached rapidly and the weather forecast plummeted in response. My neighbor texted me the Thursday evening before I headed up the pass with concern. Her weather app called for snow that night! I responded with laughter emojis and thwarted her concern with a nonchalant response, “Well, it’s a good thing I opted not to go up tonight with the crew already getting up there right now. If it gets bad I’ll just come back each night for a hot shower.” Then I went to bed and slept deeply.
Day One:
Granite Loop Trail
In the morning, I double checked my gear, gassed up the truck, and stopped for a coffee to sip for the drive up the pass. The fog sat heavy along the hairpin turns causing me to drive even more slowly and responsibly. Amazingly it didn’t dampen the views and the vibe of awe the ride always instills upon me. I arrived at the Granite Lake loop trailhead exactly on time. Squelching in mud didn’t deter me in the least bit.
The cairn Sprite built to start the day
Once the forest service crew and the ABWF crew leader and other volunteers arrived, we signed waivers and reviewed safety protocols for the tools we would be using. It was a short hike down to the meadow where we would build cairns for hikers to find the unmaintained trail. Once we hit the forest a clear trail emerged and we began clearing brush to widen the path and ensure horseback riders weren’t getting clotheslined.
There were also some massive trees down across the trail that we learned how to use a crosscut saw on and cleared. I couldn’t believe how quickly lunchtime appeared since it felt like we had barely made it down the trail and time elapsed without me noticing. The drizzly rain deemed it a perpetual morning kind of vibe but it wasn’t cold and we stayed warm while moving.
Soon enough we reached another large meadow. The downhill ended and we leveled out, built another cairn to mark a righthand turn toward Granite Lake, and continued on across a stream. Skirting the meadow, we walked entirely through a bog abutted next to granite cliffs. All hope of dry feet fled the vicinity. However, the sun did pop out of the clouds and shined sweetly upon us for our trek through the bog.
The trail began upwards again between rocky outcroppings and I walked in wonder at the variety of terrain we trudged through. We had hiked a mere four miles and already had observed meadows, forests, a creek, a bog, rock cliffs, and scree fields! As we marched on I chatted with another lady as we used loppers to clear brush along the tight trail. I didn’t have it in me to chop out the huckleberry bushes though and unfortunately none were ripe enough to pick and eat either.
Granite Lake
Eventually, we spotted the lake through the trees. This massive lake is one of the largest in the Beartooths and one of the least visited. We had it to ourselves this day (no one else was brave enough to hike the Granite Loop that day). We dropped our tools immediately and grabbed snacks to sit at the shore and take in the views. The ABWF crew leader realized it happened to be 5pm and we still needed to hike up and out! We slowly packed up and hit the trail again to conquer the final four miles back to the trailhead.
When we circled back to the meadow where we began work that morning, the skies let loose overhead. The steep climb up the muddy trail became arduous. Each step I took my boot slid halfway back and all I could do aim for smaller safe steps because I also carried a Pulaski. If you haven’t heard or read about how that tool was named, pause reading this and look it up. It’s a fascinating story.
The final view before climbing off the trail was an unexpected reward for a full day of work, learning, and laughter-filled conversations.
A grove of trees provided some relief and I knew we were close to the trailhead. Once we popped out the other side of the trees, I gasped at the view as the rain began to abate. There in the distance the sun streaked down out of dramatic cloud coverage to shine on Index and Pilot peaks in the southern Absaroka range. My picture above doesn’t show the full richness of the moment and the view. I took multiple shots trying to capture what brought chills of delight to my skin but none came out close enough to the real image we witnessed.
Thank goodness for technology that allowed us to call ahead a request for a campfire to greet us at camp upon our return. Chicken chili with all the fixin’s was also ready for us and warmed our weary bodies. I forgot to mention ABWF fed us! And ohhhh did they. Each meal impressed me and I haven’t eaten so much food while camping ever! What a delight to be treated like royalty.
Our time around the campfire telling stories and laughing about our day deepened the bond built throughout the day between the nine of us. We determined a plan of action for an easier next day and all drifted off to bed happily well fed and well worked.
Day Two:
Beauty Lake Trail
A leisurely start to the day brought us coffee, breakfast burritos, and a chance to make our lunch. We piled into two cars and rode the short distance up the pass to the Island Lake trailhead where we circled up to warm up our sore muscles. Then, we all grabbed a tool or two and lined up to hike the short four-and-a-half-mile trail back down to our campsite. The morning was overcast but comfortable and not short on breathtaking lakeside views. Our goal for the day was to “log out” - a term that means cut logs off the trail and remove them.
Two crew members use the crosscut saw to “log out”.
By the time we found our first downed tree across the trail, the clouds dispersed and the sun shone brightly upon us. Although I took a lot of pictures and video of crosscut saw action, I also hopped in and got lots of practice with the tool too. We made. it to Beauty Lake for lunch where a small hill overlooks the lake. Half the crew pulled out their rods to fish. Our leisurely lunch in the sun made up for the previous day of rain and big mileage.
Slowly, we packed up and continued on. Half of the crew dipped out following the trail to Crane Lake for another chance at fishing since Beauty Lake proved unsuccessful. Not noticing, the half of the crew I was walking kept on and began clearing more logs. Confused at why the logs weren’t prepped or small brush cleared ahead of us, we started to realize the other half of the crew was actually behind us. And perhaps fishing this whole time. When the lost half of the crew caught back up they regaled us with tales of each catching a dozen fish each. Meanwhile, I and another guy in the group had learned how to “log out” a stack of three trees. Haha!
The day was light though and we didn’t mind the extra work while others played. It’s what we were here for after all. The trail meandered all downhill back to our campsite and we made it back with plenty of daylight to left to lay around camp. I listened to another volunteer play guitar and sing while waiting for dinner and there was enough sun for my boots to lay out to dry. Magical moments.
A view of Beauty Lake
We all enjoyed another delicious dinner sitting around a campfire. More stories, more laughter, more time together relishing each other’s company. The crew I got to be a part of was (is!) a delightful group of humans. Clever, laidback, and encouraging. I felt so lucky to be a part of this weekend.
Day Three:
Packing Up
“She’s a butte!” isn’t just reserved for the namesake town up the road but also rings true for this beauty titled Beartooth Butte.
An elk bugling woke me up early. It seemed early to be experiencing such a mournful sound but it’s always a special, if not rare, experience. I got up and trekked down to the lake to look for him. No luck on that front but I did get to enjoy the play of fog on the water juxtaposed to light on the butte. I took way too many pictures playing with the angles and enjoying the solitude. Yes, it’s true. I am the luckiest human to have these quiet moments in nature. I hold them deep within my being.
I walked back to camp, packed up, and helped set up for breakfast. The crew leaders gifted us the best breakfast for last—bacon and French toast to complement our coffee. After a long, tough goodbye I headed back home and towards my daily life. The Beartooth Highway astonished like it always does when the sun is shining and I relished the drive back along the narrow winding road.
Elk bugling awoke me in time to catch this last morning view.
Would you ever consider a weekend of hard work mixed with your outdoor adventure play time? I found it worth every sore muscle (I could hardly pull my hair up the following day due to sore triceps) and I think you would too. There were many other opportunities I missed that weekend but I knew I ended up exactly where I was supposed to be.