Group offers summer activities for varied outdoor interests
<p>Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness offers many trips into the northwest, including educational forays like a pair coming up June 30.</p>
This month, Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness marked National Trails Day, but that was only the beginning.
Next week, on June 30, Brian Baxter will teach a riparian ecology class.
Baxter, principal of Silver Cloud Associates of Libby, is a wildlife biologist with extensive knowledge of tracking, animal behavior and ecology who has spent several years in remote areas studying mustelids, and teaches for the Glacier Institute.
Baxter’s events are also sponsored by the Pend Oreille chapter of the Idaho Master Naturalists.
“Brian’s a great teacher in the classroom or field,” said hike leader Phil Hough, executive director of FSPW.
“He’s funny, engaging and very knowledgeable about life in the wild.”
Kootenai National Forest archeologist Rachel Reckin fills out the FSPW Educational Hike Series.
Also on June 30, Reckin leads a hike focused on Native American presence in and use of the Spar Creek drainage on the east side of the proposed wilderness.
In July, August and September, hiking and stewardship opportunities in the Scotchmans abound, including volunteer-led hikes to Little Spar Lake, Star Peak, Sawtooth Mountain and Scotchman Peak — the hard way. Trail restoration, reclamation and maintenance projects are scheduled for all of the three ranger districts the Scotchmans lie in, including work on the Little Spar Lake Trail in the Three Rivers District, Morris Creek Trail on the Sandpoint District and Blacktail Creek and Eddy Creek Trails on the Cabinet District.
The Eddy Creek Trail project is a major reconstruction of a historic tread that once led to Star Peak lookout.
“This is a really exciting project,” said Sandy Compton, FSPW program coordinator, “for which we have four days set aside. Sunday, July 8 is our kickoff, and then we have workdays on July 20, Aug. 3 and Aug. 17. This trail, when finished, will be one of the most spectacular on the Kootenai National Forest.”
The hikes, education opportunities and stewardship projects, along with contact information and more full descriptions are listed on the Scotchman Peaks website at www.scotchmanpeaks.org/hiking/current-hiking-schedule.
To learn more, write to summer project coordinator Bonnie Jakobs at bonnie@scotchmanpeaks.org.