Both Anne and Alisa were part of  ITA’s three week Wilderness Immersion Project in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness this past summer. Here are some of their thoughts on their experience in the Wilderness.

Sensory Recalibration by Anne Favorite, Immersion Crew Member

Looking to reboot, recharge? Then get yee to the wilderness!

Lose yourself in service to others, mending the ancient pathways of the wild. Reviving historical trails through vigorous efforts stimulates neural pathways of regeneration. Escape cultural trappings, modern conveniences, and find out just what you’re made of — rough it, tough it, and maybe find your true core. For “in wildness is the preservation of the world” and so it might be for you.

Remove yourself to the wilderness where you’ll need to strategize and plan for your basic needs and navigate much that you cannot control — it’s not too different from everyday life, but the synergy changes — senses are fully engaged. Solutions materialize through concerted efforts. Life speeds up in truly real time as the pace slows down to no time. Away from all that boggles and stymies the brain, recalibration occurs as we focus on the trail work with head, heart and hand, surrounded by the ultimate truth and reality of the wild world around us.

And beauty, the mead of the gods? Be immersed in every aspect. Be awed and inspired. Feel full and gratified. Words will not express the beauty beheld. It captures souls and holds them there still, waiting for your return.

Wilderness as “medicine” for the Soul by Alisa Rettschlag, Immersion Crew Leader

It only took me about two days in this part of the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness to forget about the urban world–who is running for president or what foreign country bombed what other foreign country or even what I might “need” next to buy on Amazon.  Maybe it was the new daily routine of trail maintenance that took care of a lot of my thoughts about the grinding world back home.  

Or was it the attention-getting nature of the wilderness–the hawk soaring in circles above us, the clearest stream water that I’ve ever seen flowing down Goat Creek, or the beautiful purple fireweed, still in bloom, waving back and forth in the breeze—that made me forget?  

Spending time in this wilderness made me feel so small and insignificant and yet a part of something so wonderfully beautiful and big and perfectly imperfect. I started to become obsessed with noticing the “small stuff”. I started to hike a little slower. And in doing so, I started seeing some pretty cool things. I noticed that many of the trees I passed had claw marks from bear or mountain lion or elk antlers—evidence that we were not alone out here. How cool is that!  I noticed so many different types of bees and wasps—yellow, black, blue, iridescent green, fuzzy, not fuzzy– pollinating the multiple yarrow plants and wild flowers growing along the trail.  When I was at a creek crossing, I’d pick up rocks from the bottom. I saw aquatic insect larvae clinging to and wriggling on the underside of these rocks.  And the rocks–do you know how many rocks there are that are heart-shaped (thank you, Anne Favorite)? A lot!! I noticed how the branches of trees are in patterns like snowflakes. Sometimes I’d just stand and stare up the length of a great big Douglas fir and feel contentment and comfort.  One of our crew members told me that spending just a few minutes standing next to a tree reduces anxiety. I believe it! So on the next ITA backpacking trip, if you see me standing next to a tree, I’m not taking a break; I’m getting a mood boost. Spending three weeks in the wilderness replenished my soul!