I just went through seven of the most physically challenging days of my life in the most remote place in the lower 48, the Frank Church Wilderness in Idaho. Ben, a forest service employee, and I were dropped off by plane on a short dirt landing strip at the confluence of Lower Loon Creek and the Middle Fork of the Salmon River.

Our mission was to clear rock slides, cut trees that had fallen over the trail, and make the trail passable by human and horse. We had a rough twenty-five miles of trail to cover in just seven days; it should have been eight days, but our flight was canceled the day earlier due to a snowstorm and whiteouts. If successful, we would find a forest service rig waiting for us at Meyer's Cove, the trailhead to Camas Creek. The first ten miles of work would be on the Middle Fork trail and the last half would be on the Camas Creek trail, this is excluding a steep jaunt up Dry Gulch for a few miles.

The Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness is one of the most rugged places I have ever been. The trail is often hanging on the edge of a cliff or on a fire-burnt slope that is ready to slide into the river. At some of these points the trail has sections missing that required Ben and I to try to cut a solid tread into the hillside that would still hold the weight of a horse. I definitely had the thought, "don't look down," going through my head as I was putting my weight into the swing of a pulaski.

Beyond the ruggedness, the pure physical challenge of carrying seven days worth of food and gear including the multiple tools is nearly overwhelming. At one point I had all of my normal backpacking gear for an extended trip, but also had a rock bar and pulaski attached to my pack in addition to the crosscut saw in my hands.

But at the end of the day, I would wash some of the black off from the burnt areas and the plain old dirt from everywhere else and look up at my surroundings. I would see a herd of elk moving across the hillside, a group of deer coming out of the cover to feed or an amazing mix of colors as the sun set over the mountains. No matter how exhausted I was or how difficult it was to pump water, it was all worth it to me. Although I may have captured some of these scenes with photographs, I will always remember moments such as these.