12 hours and 115 trees: Friends clear North Idaho's Revett Lake Trail in one day

PRICHARD, Idaho - Walking up the Revett Lake Trail in Coeur D'Alene National Forest on Sunday, hikers, anglers and paddlers alike shared the trail as trains of families with kids and dogs marched to the stunning Revett Lake at the end of the 2-mile path up the Idaho mountains.

With the sun beating down warmly and a light breeze weaving through the woods, it was hard to imagine that just two weeks ago the clearly defined trail had been a perilous obstacle course of uprooted and fallen trees.

Volunteers Jeffrey Durocher and Chris Celentano spent a Saturday - from 9:30 a.m. to 9:15 p.m. - sawing and safely removing 115 fallen trees out of the way of hikers.

After 12 straight hours of work, the two hiked out in the dark with a dead headlamp, a sense of pride, a deep exhaustion and a healthy fear of a 500-pound grizzly bear they knew was in the area.

"This is why we do it," Durocher, 53, said as he stepped aside for a pair of kids no more than 2 feet tall to pass on their way up to the lake with their mom. "Because of the kids, because it's one of the most popular and family-friendly trails we have in the area."

After a devastating winter storm with 85 mph winds and gusts topping 100 mph last December, many of the National Forest trails in northern Idaho suffered. With minimal help, the Forest Service has struggled to return every trail to a usable state.

"The storm damage - for people that aren't out and about very often - it is almost hard to comprehend how much worse it is this year," Celentano, 37, said. "It is exponentially more downfall this year."

That's where Celentano and Durocher come in to assist.

With experience clearing trails - primarily on the Backcountry Discovery Route, an off-roading motorcycle and adventure biking route - the pair was looking for a way to help.

About five years ago, the Revett Lake trail was one of the first that started their passion for clearing trails. After seeing on social media the trail was once again in rough shape, Durocher said they reached out to the trail manager to ask if they could tackle the project.

"It's kind of like our pet," Celentano said. "You know the adopt-a-highway thing? We adopted a trail."

Much of the work Celentano and Durocher did five years ago is still visible on the trail next to the fresher cuts from this year.

Though Celentano and Durocher previously volunteered independently from any official group, the magnitude of the storm and subsequent damage exposed a need to step up their game. In March, they attended a class with the Forest Service and became certified U.S. Forest Service sawyers. They also received a grant to help cover the costs of new saws and safety gear.

Because of the severity of the storm, many of the fallen trees were massive, old growth timber. Usually, the fallen trees they clear are much smaller and weaker. This year, Celentano said the largest tree they cut was 36 inches in diameter.

"These bigger trees had a lot more consequences," Durocher said.

"If we do something wrong, it could actually kill us," Celentano chimed in.

Like much of the West, the area received very little snow in December and instead got significant amounts of rain, meaning the ground wasn't frozen. Consequently, when the storm came through, the wind ripped trees clear out of the ground from the root ball.

From there, a domino effect occurred, knocking down other trees, leaving behind the distressed state Durocher and Celntano found the Revett Lake Trail in.

Despite the danger and challenge, the pair insisted the trail work they do is a lot of fun for them.

"We enjoy giving back," Durocher said.

"It's a good way to spend a day in the woods," Celentano continued. "We're gonna be out here anyways, so why not do it and kinda contribute and help the community."

Durocher and Celentano, who both reside in Coeur D'Alene, first met in a photography class that Celentano was teaching in 2018. They instantly hit it off because of their shared love for "type-two fun," a term they use to describe the type of activities that require grueling mental and physical toughness.

Both husbands, fathers and full-time workers, the two sacrifice hundreds of hours a year clearing trails. When they aren't, they can be found enjoying a variety of adventures, including rock climbing, kayaking, rappelling, backpacking and adventure-biking - true "weekend warriors," they said.

Usually, Durocher and Celentano spend about 100 hours between May and July clearing trails, but this year, they got started in early January, just weeks after the storm hit. They've cleared more than 1,000 trees this year, a record for them with about another month and a half to go before they plan to stop.

Celentano, a self-described conservationist, said one of his driving motivators is a sense of duty to take ownership of public lands and contribute to their stewardship. He said more than half of the trail work done in the National Forest is done by volunteers.

"They are trying to do their best," Celentano said. "They're trying to do as much as they can with what they have to work with, both resource-wise and funding-wise."

Throughout the years, Celentano and Durocher have cut trees and rolled them off the trails, and came up with a signature mark to denote the work they have done - two hash marks right in the center of the log.

"We tried doing initials, but that was too dangerous," Durocher laughed.

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