Photo: Mike Whiteley Bitterroots Photography Workshop- Backpack and Base Camp, Montana Highlights:
Includes:
Trip Number: 08164A Price: $995 Deposit: $100 Capacity: 10 Leader:
The Trip  Photo: Mike Whiteley Discover the rugged beauty that the Corps of Discovery experienced on their journey through the Bitterroot Mountains in 1805. The 1.3 million-acre Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness along the Idaho and Montana border is one of the largest designated wilderness areas in the United States and lies within four national forests. It is a vast, wild land of high ridges, lake-filled basins, and densely forested slopes. Hidden valleys filled with larch, old-growth cedar, and fir provide natural habit for wildlife including elk, bighorn sheep, deer, mountain lion, moose, and black bear. Opportunities to photograph wildlife, landscapes, and wildflowers are excellent. This trip has three major components: A three-day backpack trip, four days of base-camping at a U.S. Forest Service (USFS) campground, and the study and practice of contemporary landscape photography. Our backpack route is 10 miles up and back on the Kootenai Creek Trail with one lay over day at a high alpine lake at the crest of the Bitterroots. Base camping at the USFS campground provides us the advantages of being just a few miles from stores where we can get fresh food and even take showers. We will have short lessons on photography and spend time photographing while hiking. Come explore and photograph the natural beauty of the Bitterroots through backpacking and day hikes. The Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness offers the glacier-carved scenery found only in the rarest of places. As well as being a photographer your leader is also an award winning chef and looks forward to preparing spectacular meals for you.
Day 1: Participants will fly into Missoula, Montanta. Transportation to/from the Missoula airport is not included, but the leader will assist participants with organizing carpools. We will meet, introduce ourselves and conduct the pre-trip meeting at REI in Missoula. After the meeting we will caravan to the campground and set up camp, have lunch and then our first photography lesson “Basic Camera Functions and Photographing Horizontal Light”. Putting our lesson to practice, we will go for a short hike just out of the campground at sunset and spend time photographing along the trail. Our full day will end back in camp with a late supper.  Photo: Mike Whiteley Day 2-4: We will day hike to valleys, summits, and high mountain lakes, averaging about six miles per day. The day hikes are optional and you may stay at the camp and do other things if desired. We will have a different photography lesson each day and spend time on each hike taking photographs. The lessons will be short less than 30 minutes each day and will be mostly about aesthetic or artistic ideas and less about technical problems. The leader will be able to answer most questions that you might have and even provide critique of your work. Day 5: We will break camp early and head to the Kootenai Creek trailhead to start the backpack portion of the trip. The first day will take us up one of the best valleys in the Bitterroots to three high alpine lakes where we will spend two nights. This will be a 10 mile uphill hike and the hardest day of the trip. The next day we will rest, spend time photographing and doing short day hikes. We will spend time in the evenings talking about some of the environmental problems facing the Bitterroot region. Day 6: We will hike back down the Kootenai Creek Trail and then drive to Missoula for dinner and to say goodbye to everyone and to the Bitterroots. Getting There We will meet for the start of the trip at REI in Missoula Montana at 10:30 a.m. on day one. From there we will car pool to the Charles Waters Campground about 40 miles south of Missoula. You can either drive to Missoula or fly and rent a car for the week. The leader will be able to help with car pool arrangements and with hotel recommendations if you need.
 Photo: Mike Whiteley All meals will be vegetarian-friendly, based on local organic ingredients and designed and prepared by an award winning chef. The leader will share the trip menu with participants in advance of the departure date. Special requests may be accommodated - please indicate your needs on your application form. Our base camp is within driving distance of food stores, so we will be able to have fresh food for dinner. There will also be snacks provided for hiking, and the dinner after the trip is also included in the cost of the trip. Participants will help with the cooking, cleaning and other various camp chores during the trip. We will be staying in a USFS campground during the base camp portion of the trip and in back country sites during the backpack portion. All fees and permits for these are included in the price of the trip. In both places we will practice LNT camping etiquette as well as precautions for camping in bear habitat. Not included in the cost of the trip are hotels in Missoula and transportation to the campground and to trailheads. The leader can assist you with carpools among the group and with hotels as needed.
This trip is rated Moderate (M). Although our routes have strenuous sections and will reach elevations above 8,000 feet, all hikes are on-trail. Our routes travel up to 45 miles of well-maintained yet occasionally rugged trail, with an average of about seven miles per day. Some hikes may include one or more stream crossings. Remember, though, that hiking in high altitude is by nature a strenuous activity. To tolerate the high altitude and fully enjoy this experience, you should engage a regular aerobic training program for several months prior to our trip. You will need lower body strength as well as endurance. Prior backpacking experience is helpful, but is not required provided you can meet the physical demands of 10-mile plus hiking days.
You must have sturdy, broken-in, waterproof mid-weight, lug-soled hiking boots in excellent condition. Do not borrow or buy boots shortly before the trip. The leader will assist in the coordination of tent sharing to minimize weight and insure that the best-quality shelters are included. Rain gear -- hooded jacket and pants, not ponchos -- is another must have item. The leader will respond promptly to any questions about equipment. In September, daytime temperatures average in the low 70s and can easily exceed 90 degrees, but nighttime temperatures can drop below freezing, especially at high elevations. Please bring what you need to sleep comfortably. Plan on wearing synthetics instead of cotton for hiking. We must stay dry, hydrated, and be ready for sudden drops in temperature and cool nights. Please note that although the leaders will carry a large first-aid kit, its use is reserved for emergencies only. You must supply all materials you may routinely need, including bandages, moleskin, pain relievers, and especially any prescription medicines that you may need. The leader will provide a detailed equipment list to registered participants.
Maps For $14 the National Forest Service will mail you a set of waterproof trail maps of the Bitterroot National Forest . Make sure you request the contoured north and south Selway-Bitterroot maps. You can mail, call, or e-mail the Forest Service at: Forest Supervisor's Office, 1801 N. 1st Street, Hamilton , MT 59840 , 406-363-7100, Bitterroot@fs.fed.us Books • Steinberg Scott, Hiking the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness Websites • www.bigskymontananet.com/getting_here/bitterroot_mountains.php • www.natlforests.org/map_workingareas_sb1.html Conservation The Greater Salmon-Selway Ecosystem (GSSE), consisting of the Selway-Bitterroot, Frank Church, River of No Return, and Gospel Hump Wilderness areas and surrounding national forest lands, is the largest intact, wild ecosystem left in the lower 48 states. The GSSE is home to many endangered species, century-old trees, and the two longest non-dammed rivers in the country (Salmon and Selway rivers). This is perhaps the last best habitat in the Lower 48 for wolf, bear, elk, moose, puma, wolverine, marten, lynx, and fisher. Recent plans to reintroduce grizzly bears in the Salmon-Selway Ecosystem have met with controversy and have so far been unsuccessful . This area is a vital part of the Yellowstone-to-Yukon (Y2Y) initiative to support biodiversity of wildlife. Both of these issues are top priorities for the Sierra Club. Unfortunately, this Ecosystem is experiencing multiple stressors such as global warming, recreational use conflicts, residential development, population increases, habitat destruction and fragmentation, and fire suppression/fuel buildup. We will discuss recent conservation proposals and identify what steps we can take as individuals to become actively involved in protecting this irreplaceable ecology corridor. During our week in the wilds we will practice minimum impact techniques and discuss wilderness camping etiquette as it applies to Leave No Trace. As well we will talk about some of the ecological ideologies contained in the work of some contemporary landscape photographers.
See the How to Apply for an Outing section for more details on registering for this trip and details about our Reservation and Cancellation Policy. The payment of a deposit does not confirm you as a member on the trip. Participants must be approved by the trip leader. After signing up for this trip, you will be sent a confirmation packet containing approval materials (Participant Approval Questionnaire, Medical Form, Liability Release Form). Each applicant (including those on the waitlist) must fill out these forms and promptly mail them to the trip leader. The leader will review the approval materials and notify you of your acceptance in a timely manner.
General Notes About Sierra Club Trips
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Mike Whiteley is an experienced Outings Leader and is the outings chair of the Indian Peaks group of the Sierra Club. For the last 20-plus years he has enjoyed hiking, backpacking, cycling, kayaking, and climbing in the mountains of Colorado. Mike is also an award-winning artist and chef with an M.F.A. in painting, photography, and ceramics from the University of Colorado. Working as a chef for 30 years, he has worked in many upscale restaurants, owned his own catering company, and currently works for Longmont Meals on Wheels.