Driving north on Highway 95 along the Little Salmon River, one wouldn’t guess an obscure turn off south of Riggins leads to towering, craggy peaks and pristine high mountain lakes in just sixteen miles. The Seven Devils mountains are incredible, and word is getting out. More hikers, backpackers, and equestrians are flocking to the area each year to experience the stunning trails in this range that rises over 8500 feet from the depths of Hells Canyon. But with this use, unfortunately, have come impacts like trash in fire rings, unburied human waste, and an overabundance of fire rings.

ITA has worked in Hells Canyon and the Seven Devils for years, assisting the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest (WWNF) in clearing the well-known loop trail as well as other popular routes to mountain lakes or down to the Snake River, far below. Staff and volunteers have noticed increased impacts as popularity of the area grows, and last spring two generous donors approached us about doing something about it. So began Year One of ITA’s Seven Devils Volunteer Wilderness Stewards program, funded by ITA donors and coordinated with support from the WWNF.

The concept is simple. A volunteer spends anywhere from two weeks to a month in the Seven Devils, basing out of a Forest Service trailhead cabin and making day hikes and overnight trips into the area to connect with visitors. The idea is education, not enforcement, talking with hikers about taking care of the Devils through Leave No Trace practices and by observing wilderness rules, like keeping group sizes to eight people or fewer. Volunteer stewards also perform backcountry campsite cleanup, bury waste where someone has failed to dig a cathole, and note trail conditions, as well as larger trash or old hunter caches too heavy to remove without pack stock. They are also a friendly face at the trailhead, willing to share information with hikers should they have questions. The WWNF is short-staffed this year, and our stewards have also stepped up to help keep bathrooms stocked with toilet paper and to check the developed campground, helping keep it clean.

This year, our first volunteer steward, Owen H., stayed for the month of July, hiking miles of trails and meeting lots of friendly faces along the way, as well as packing out trash and creating a list of larger caches to retrieve with pack stock. Following Owen was Matt E., who inventoried trail conditions, sharing information with the Forest, as well as cleaning up and packing out fire ring trash. Scott G. is our current volunteer and will stay through August before Milena A. shows up for the first two weeks of September.

This year has been one of learning and planning for the future; ITA is there to stay as long as we can be of help to the WWNF. We’ve got plans to work with a Backcountry Horsemen chapter to repair the Forest Service corrals for use by the Agency and packers supporting volunteer trail crews like ITA’s. We also hope to work with the Forest to plan repairs to the two cabins, there for use by trail crews and our volunteer stewards. In addition, we will continue to make visitor contacts, encouraging people to leave the Devils better than they found them so they are just as special for generations to come.

Stay tuned for an end-of-season summary of our work out there, and if you find yourself in the Seven Devils soon look for a lone hiker carrying a shovel, wearing an “ITA Wilderness Steward” shirt. Say hello and thank them for caring about this incredible area!