In celebration of National Take a Hike Day, CDTC is partnering with our friends at Oboz Footwear to celebrate our shared work to steward the CDT. As a long-time partner, Oboz has supported CDTC in a multitude of ways, including through the adoption of a section of the CDT near Lincoln, Montana. As trail adopters, they support ongoing stewardship of the CDT by getting members of their team out to their adopted section of trail a couple of times a year to perform routine maintenance. We are excited to share this blog which features some of their experiences and accomplishments!
Here at Oboz – we love to hike. Everyone who works for us is a HIKER. Yes, we are also skiers, bikers, trail runners, and snowshoers as well, but we all have hiking in common. From the long-distance Continental Divide Trail to the Peet’s Hill trail in our backyard; walking down a trail on our own two feet unites us with a common passion and purpose.
Hiking can mean different things to different trail users, but it’s one of the few truly universal human experiences. Some of us enjoy a trail run in the morning to start the day off right. Some folks go on a quick lunch walk to get a breath of fresh air or walk the dogs. Sometimes we hike a peak or a long trail because we crave a challenge and the thrill of knowing that we can do hard things. Sometimes, it’s a trail we wander with the sole purpose of getting away from the worries and burdens of the world.
We also know that to enjoy our favorite activity, we’ve got to protect, care for, and invest in our favorite recreational resource.
When the opportunity to Adopt the Roger’s Pass section of the Continental Divide Trail came our way, the Oboz team jumped at it. Several years later, we’ve developed a consistent crew of volunteers who clock out of the office and clock into the trail, just outside the tiny town of Lincoln, MT.
It’s not my first rodeo
I volunteered to help on our adopted section of trail, because I was fortunate enough to discover the transformative experience of trail work early in my life. I started working trails in high school and went on to work many seasons in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, Glacier National Park, and Mt. Rainier National Park.
I fell in love with working in the wilderness, seeing changes fed solely by my own hard work and sweat. From clearing a path through huge jackpots of downed trees after a storm, or building (and re-building) foot bridges after flooding, to re-tooling a section of trail to keep erosion at bay, I could see that work pay off in real time. I can say without a doubt that spending summers on the trail, often teaching volunteers and guiding trail projects, taught me a lot about both myself and about hard work and perseverance.
The sense of accomplishment from seeing a trail project come to life stays with me to this day. Even better is going back to an area where I’ve worked on the trail and seeing that change a year, or even 10 years down the road. It’s satisfying and humbling to see the physical impact that I have made.
Why trail work is important
We love hiking. But without trail work, our favorite places spots to play would be much more difficult to access and can even be ruined by too many people or erosion washing out the trail.
Working in our favorite places to play also fosters a sense of connection to the area. We know exactly what is happening on that piece of trail, because we go back to the same area year after year. We learn the rocks and trees in the trail, how the runoff flows down the mountainside, how the light looks when it comes up over the trees in the mornings. We get attached!
Trail work also helps us be a part of the Montana hiking and CDT communities. After all, it’s hard to engage with the community if we are desk jockeys all the time! We get to meet other hikers and experience the local hiking scene while we are out there working. Usually, it’s locals, but we’ve met a handful of thru-hikers and handed out some high fives on their long journey.
Also, being a footwear company, it’s a great chance for us to test our products in the field. We often bring back feedback for our product development team on the fit and performance after a long day of marching off through the brush, clearing drainage ditches, and grubbing in the mud.
Most importantly, volunteering on our adopted section of the CDT and doing other trail projects throughout Southwest Montana helps us to “put our money where our mouth is.” Yes, we plant trees for every pair of shoes we sell, but we also get out there and get our hands dirty. We literally sweat to make sure that our beloved trails are taken care of so they will be there for future generations to enjoy. We want to set a good example and inspire those young people get out there, hike and recreate, but also to take care of the land.
Teamwork makes the dream work
As much as trail work is morally and ecologically important, it’s also fun!
It’s dirty. It’s muddy. It’s sweaty. It’s exhausting. But working as a team, it can be a great bonding experience.
We usually camp the night before a project and start our day off with some camp coffee and a big trail breakfast of eggs and bacon (and sometimes even trail doughnuts!) Everyone pitches in and helps break down camp. It’s a great chance to start our workday off with some teamwork and a smile.
We work together to move logs off the trail. We watch out for each other when we are swinging tools side by side. If someone is getting tired or having trouble with a stubborn root or rock, we all take turns at it.
We think creatively as a team to overcome obstacles and figure out the best way to fix a problem. Can we all pitch in to move a huge, downed tree that is blocking a drain? How can we rework drainage to be more effective and keep people on the trail?
New people join our trail crew every year and it’s amazing to see them gain confidence throughout a day on the trail. A lot of first timers start out tentative, uncertain about how to use a tool, or afraid to swing it too hard. By end of the day, they are often going all in – grunts with every swing of the pick mattock, confidently swapping between the grubbing and rake sides of a Mccloud, or carefully cleaning the sap and debris off our precious saws.
Some of this work is exhausting. Re-treading a 100-foot section of trail can take a lot of digging, but together it’s so much faster and more fun! We develop personal grit, but also get the chance to cheer each other on and help each other out.
Everyone will be tired and sore at the end of the day, but we always walk away feeling accomplished and stoked for next year’s project.
Trail work is amazing
Now that we have returned several times, it’s inspiring and reaffirming to see how our work has made a difference in the trail corridor. The trouble swampy spot we put extra love and retread into almost every year is now high and dry, the tread looks better, is draining more efficiently, and the surrounding vegetation is less impacted every time we go back.
Through consistent maintenance, the work is actually easier, and we get further and are able to do more, every time we go out.
At the end of a long day of volunteering, we get back to the trailhead smiling, tired and dirty, but filled with an innate sense of accomplishment. There’s nothing that makes you feel good, like sprinkling a little trail magic out in the world.
