[Dramatic Music] Dan Noakes: It's the only trip I've been on where I actually did fear death.

[Dramatic Music] Sandy McRae: Turn around and get in your car and get the hell out of here.

Sen. Frank Church: Tourism could become a bonanza.

Scott Amos: It's like they want absolutely no trace of any human being ever being on this planet before they showed up.

Sandy: You had a whole bunch of bumper stickers printed up.

“Land of no use.” I've got a few of them here.

Cort Conley: They are well-intentioned people working in the government.

Jim Collord: They should at least keep our roads up and give us access.

[Dramatic Music] [Theme Music] Announcer: Funding for Outdoor Idaho is made possible by the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation, committed to fulfilling the Moore and Bettis family legacy of building the great state of Idaho.

By the Friends of Idaho Public Television.

By the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

[Theme Music] [Sound of skis] Dan: Backcountry skiing is a combination of hiking .

.

.

and skiing.

It takes place in undeveloped, remote, snow covered terrain away from any groomed ski slopes and lifts.

There's nothing quite like it.

It is clean.

It is pure.

It is complete freedom.

[Music] And the first time I got on a pair of skis was when I was three years old or so, my dad took me out there.

So skiing has been a big part of my life for a very long time.

John Noakes: Dan skied between my legs at Northstar probably when he was three years old.

We rented him skis and boots, and that's probably the first time I brought him skiing.

[Sound of projector] Dan: When my parents got divorced and I was away from my dad, skiing was a way for me to feel him.

To connect with him.

I carried that, you know, that passion with me all throughout my young adult life and even now.

John: I was glad I introduced you to skiing because something that you learned earlier.

How to use that as a vehicle to cope with difficult times.

Dan: In the summers, my dad took us on backpacking trips in the Eastern Sierras.

It got me accustomed to spending long periods of time in the high alpine and walking all day with a heavy pack.

That's about the same time I got introduced to backcountry skiing.

Backcountry skiing is the perfect mix of what I was raised on with my dad.

Skiing.

.

.

and backpacking.

And so over the years, I've backpacked in the summer and then ski toured in the winter.

But I thought combining the two would actually be the next level of ski touring.

Joel Salvino: So Dan Noakes calls me up.

I answer the phone the first thing out of his mouth.

He goes, “Hey Joel, do you want to traverse the Frank Church Wilderness?” Dan: It's one of the biggest, remotest wilderness areas that we have.

Joel: Just desolate, rocky mountains as far as the eye can see.

Steve Stuebner: You know, you got to be really mentally tough.

In the winter, in a remote place like the Frank, there's just no easy way out.

You know, you're committed.

Dan: And so I thought, what better way to celebrate ski packing than to traverse the Frank Church Wilderness.

Joel: “In the wintertime from west to east.

We'll do it on ski.

We'll be able to ski mountains that no one's ever skied before.” Dan: One of the most wild places in Idaho in the winter, on skis.

Joel: I get really quiet.

I go, “No!

No, I don't want to do that.

That sounds terrible.” Dan: The Frank Church is really appreciated in Idaho.

A lot of people will explore it through the middle for for the main fork of the Salmon, usually on the river.

The Frank Church River Of No Return Wilderness, it's basically in the middle of Idaho.

Greater in size than the state of Delaware, it's the largest contiguous wilderness in the lower 48.

It was officially designated as wilderness with a capital “W” in 1980 by Congress.

Sen. Church: We have hardly begun to tap Idaho's potential as a summer playground.

Steve: 2.3 million acre National Forest wilderness with the Middle Fork and Main Salmon National Wild Scenic Rivers, I mean, it's just an incredible package.

[Music] Scott: There is no way in the world, I think, that loved those mountains more than Jim Collord did.

[Sound of projector] Scott: And he not only carved a living out of that land for himself, I believe that he once employed as many as 250 people at the Sunnyside.

[Sound of projector] [Music] Sen. Church: Furthermore, there are no mining operations within the proposed study site.

Marj Collord: And they are making it so difficult.

They make it so expensive by having to adhere to all their requirements that you just can't mine.

A small miner is out.

Sandy: He had a whole bunch of bumper stickers printed up, “Land of No Use.” I've got a few of them here.

Cort: Wilderness is part of public lands, and without public lands, Idaho certainly wouldn't be what it is.

Sen. Church: Tourism, already a good income producer for Idaho, could become a bonanza for our state, as it has in many of our neighboring states.

[Music] Jim: Well, we've done everything we can to preserve this country.

And when they tell us we're not environmentalists, they're talking to the wrong people because it has been our backyard.

We've taken care of it like anybody does their own home, their own home ground.

But we still want access to it.

And if they're going to have the Green Gestapo and the police state, they should at least keep our roads up and give us access.

[Dramatic Music] Michelle Noakes: Start of The Frank Church Traverse.

Dan: Bye, guys.

Michelle: Love you.

Dan: Love you, too.

I'll keep in contact.

Michelle: Say, “Love you, dad.” Moose Noakes: I love you, dad.

Dan: I have zero friends to say.

“Hey, come with me to the ski tour.” So I knew that this trip would have to be solo.

Steve: You have to dial down your whole level of activity to a point where you're paying attention to the fact that you really can't get hurt.

Michelle: It's winter, the cold temperatures, avalanche danger.

Joel: And it's not like you can look out and go, “Oh, there's a radio tower,” or “there's a town,” or “there's a road.

That's where we're headed.” No, there's none of that.

[Music] Dan: I started my hike at the South Fork of the Salmon River near Penny Springs Campground.

I entered the Frank Church Wilderness at the headwaters of Indian Creek, crossed Big Baldy Summit, and made my way to Thomas Creek.

Continued to Loon Creek.

Passed Sleeping Deer Mountain, and followed Forest Service Road 86 all the way to Challis.

In total, I would cover 110 miles in about two weeks.

Total elevation gain would be 30,000ft.

I'd begin in February and end in March.

This is officially the boundary line of Frank Church.

So over this way, Frank Church and then over that way, not Frank Church.

I set up camp early that night.

Started a fire.

I was able to ski, tour and take a lap.

[Music] Dan: The extra time and energy that you spend to hike up and ski, get a run for yourself.

Super rewarding.

That was an amazing ski down Indian Creek.

This is like why I wanted to come here in the winter was for that.

For the possibility of skiing powder in the Frank Church.

So I'm so stoked that I got to do it.

[Music] Dan: I went up to Big Baldy.

[Music] Dan: When I got around Big Baldy I saw kind of where the Middle Fork of the Salmon was.

And so I made my way all the way to the Middle Fork of the Salmon.

And that was a really, really hard day, because it's a complex array of drainages and ridge lines that you have to contour and then hike up and then contour down.

I made it to the Middle fork.

Um, that was, that was awful, to be honest.

That's when I was kind of doing my research.

to what is the weather going to be like?

Where am I going?

What's the elevation of the next couple days?

The next morning I checked the weather.

Found out that a storm was coming through.

My friend texted me and warned me that the high where I was going was only going to reach eight degrees.

I started to really worry about my safety.

It's a fine line between thriving and surviving.

And when you cross that threshold into the surviving territory, that's when you can go downhill super fast.

I have a kid at home, I have a wife.

There was too much at stake for me to say.

I don't want to take my chances.

I want to come back safe.

[Sound of footsteps] Dan: So because just things were unknown for me, that's kind of, I was freaking out.

I was thinking this weather was too cold for what I had.

I didn't have enough food to wait out the storm, so I called Walt from Arnold Aviation to come pick me up.

[Sound of airplane] Dan: It was an awesome trip.

I may or may not be back to finish it, but I may just call it here and say that was it.

[Sound of airplane] Dan: Then he took me home.

I was about halfway done at that point.

[Music] Michelle: As a mother of a child who's three and, um, that, I think that's part of, like, the mental struggle and, like, why I, like, really have to gear up.

I want him to complete it successfully.

But more than all of that, like, I want him to be safe.

When I'm primarily taking care of our son, like, especially while he's on these trips, it puts me in, like, a pretty vulnerable position.

It is high risk and, you know, things happen.

I try not to think about it too much, I guess, to be honest.

[Music] Michelle: Every time he leaves, I just say, like, “You can go as long as you come home.” But those are my.

.

.

That's my, like, main stipulation.

[Music] Michelle: But knowing that he's, like, totally enjoying himself.

And it's like everything he had hoped it would be is the most fulfilling thing to me.

Dan: There was just kind of an uneasiness that I felt when I was home.

And then it came to a point when I said, “Okay, like, I can finish this.

I can finish this.

And even if I don't want to because it's uncomfortable, I'm going to do it.” And that's when I made a decision to go back.

Moose: Go, one, two, three, four, Go!

[Sound of airplane] Dan: I booked a plane flight with Arnold Aviation, and because I actually chartered the whole plane, my family was able to fly out to Thomas Creek with me Michelle: Whoa!

Moose: Hey Mommy, Michelle: Watch.

Just look.

Moose: Mom, why is the steamroller stuck, mom?

[Sound of the river] Dan: Really glad my family got to fly out here.

Just.

It kind of involves them more.

They can partake of the process.

See what it's like out here.

So going back, starting at Thomas Creek all the way to the finish line, that's about 16 miles or so.

And so I thought it would take me anywhere from five to 6 to 7 days.

As I return to the Frank, I reflect on the consequences of its wilderness designation, which echo like ghosts of the recent past.

[Ominous Music] Scott: The soldiers were the first ones to mine that in World War Two.

You could get drafted by the military and serve your your draft notice that the mine.

That mine produced over 85% of all the tungsten and antimony used in World War Two.

That the United States of America probably would've lost World War Two without that mine.

[Dramatic Music] Sandy: You're never bothered by the Forest Service.

They would help you out if you got into trouble.

They'd bring groceries in for you if you needed it.

Cort: You know, as my friend Sandy said, the Forest Service was your friend.

And it was a it was regarded as that for decades.

Sandy: The Forest Service, until, probably in the 1960s, it began to get a little different.

[Dramatic Music] Sandy: Nobody wanted to be a forest ranger in Big Creek.

Because, you know, there were enough codgers around Big Creek, and they knew that they were not liked.

And and, Jim, I was in the cabin, their cabin there one time having dinner.

And this guy knocks on the door.

And it was a guy that was now the district ranger.

He’d just been appointed.

And he says, “I hear you don't like Forest Service people very much.” And Jim says, “By God, you got that right, sir.” And he says, “Oh, okay.

Well, I just want to introduce myself.” He says, “Well fine.

Turn around and get in your car and get the hell out of here!” And we just went, [Clapping] “Yay!” Yeah.

So, that was the attitude.

Scott: The Forest Service showed up one day and said, “Everything here is going to be wilderness, and we're going to take your land away from you.” Jim Collord was getting kicked off of his mining claims by the Forest Service, who basically told him, as you read some of the documentation that he's mostly using it for hunting camp.

That he's not actually mining.

And that didn't work because they hired some independent geologists who went back there and verified that there actually was up to three ounces of gold per ton, which is a world class claim.

Sandy: Well, Jim, didn't like the Forest Service because of, their, uh, high handed attitude toward the, uh, mineral rights that were legitimate.

Scott: Well, okay, well, “You got a claim back there, and you could mine it all you want, but you can't use that road.

We're not going to let you drive to it.” or, “You can't haul supplies to it.” Cort: I mean, you couldn't punch new roads in.

You couldn't, um, use certain vehicles if they were so large that they required a widening of roads.

Sandy: So, well, they brought in big, huge rocks as big as those chairs and put them.

And it just made it wide enough so you could get a four-wheeler through it, but not a car or a Jeep.

So they limited access in that regard.

Scott: If you can’t access your mining claims, you basically don't have a mining claim.

Cort: The people who have in holdings, patented homesteads, or patented mining claims, weren't kicked off their land.

There were restrictions on what could be done on adjoining lands that belong to the public, to you and to me.

Sandy: When they went up and burned the buildings, why, uh, on the on the McCrae mine, up on Elk Summit, you know, he was pretty upset.

[Sound of projector] Scott: It's like they want absolutely no trace of any human being ever being on this planet before they showed up.

[Sound of projector] Sandy: And just piled it all up.

They left the outhouses.

[Sound of projector] Scott: He filed a lawsuit on three claims.

The judge awarded Jim Collord over $550,000 because they said that it was egregious as to how the Forest Service had deliberately stripped him of his rights.

[Sound of wind in trees] Cort: I think they are well-intentioned people working in the government.

Working to preserve our landscape.

And I'm glad they're there.

[Music] Cort: Some of this comes out of the great American experience, and the whole national focus was conquering the wilderness.

And now we've got a little of it still left, where people can learn what it's like to sleep on the ground instead of on a mattress.

[Music] Cort: For instance, when you go there, you're not allowed to use wheeled vehicles.

You're not allowed to use mechanical devices.

[Sound of river and music] Cort: I mean, we can regard it as a reservoir for a different kind of experience that's largely been lost.

They're pretty precious.

[Sound of hiking] Dan: I still had, you know, a hike, probably about 13 miles of the Middle Fork Trail.

And then I landed to Loon Creek airstrip.

I made it to Loon Creek Ranch, and this is where I have to go meet up with Cache Creek Trailhead.

The place that scared me the most with that second was I had to cross the ridge line of Sleeping Deer.

So this is the, uh, the point where I have to start going up and it's really steep and it's just white out.

And that was a steep ridgeline that I thought had some potential avalanche risk.

[Sound of wind and skis] Dan: But I was actually able to cross that ridge line pretty easily.

I got down to this, this road.

This road that went from Challis all the way to Sleeping Deer.

And it's a it's a road that's surrounded by wilderness.

But the road itself is actually not even considered wilderness.

Funnel system.

[Sound of water pouring] Dan: You can explore more with ski-packing.

You can go deeper with ski-packing.

You can experience places that not too many other people can experience.

If you go and explore the Frank Church, you feel a sense of wild that you haven't felt anywhere else.

[Music] Dan: It's kind of like a wonderland for people in Idaho.

[Music] Dan: I've reached the border of the Frank Church Wilderness.

So this is the other side.

[Sound of wind] Dan: I felt satisfied when I'd finished.

I don't know exactly what it was, but maybe it was just the sense of putting down a goal and then not giving up.

And it was done.

[Sound of wind] John: I am happy that my son had the opportunity to pursue some of the passions that he has now.

And I don't think it would have been possible had I, we, had we'd been separated, not been separated.

Maybe, I don't know.

You know, it's like if Dan hadn't been separated from me, would he be the back- country skier he is today?

[Music] Sen. Church: Tourism could become a bonanza for our state, as it has in many of our neighboring states.

John: And I look at him and I, and I tell people, I show ‘em, and I say, you know, when I grow up, I want to be Dan.

He really is designing his own life.

He's fulfilling every philosophy that I have but didn't 100% realize and fulfill.

I'm watching a son do that.

To me, that is beyond fantastic.

And I have so much joy just watching his videos and just watching his life.

I just hope that he can continue on and pass that on to his son and those around him.

Sen. Church: This is Frank Church, your United States Senator, speaking to you from Washington.

Dan: Yow!

[Sound of skiing] [Sound of projector] John: He’s a great son.

And I love him.

[Music] Announcer: Funding for Outdoor Idaho is made possible by the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation.

Committed to fulfilling the Moore and Bettis family legacy of building the great state of Idaho.

By the Friends of Idaho Public Television, by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

[Music]