Ten years ago, the Pagami Creek Wildfire burned more than 90,000 acres of BWCA wilderness. Included in the fire's destruction, The Powwow Trail.The fire made the popular trail unhikeable. 

"So many tree falls were blocking the trail, you could not really estimate how long it would take to hike the trail," said Martin Kubik, Boundary Waters Advisory Committee Founder.

After the fire, the Forest Service started clearing the trail but stopped for budgetary reasons. So a group of volunteers decided to help them reclaim the trail.

"We recruit and organize volunteers to use hand tools to clear the wilderness trails in the Superior national forest," said Susan Pollock, Boundary Waters Advisory Committee President.

On Saturday they celebrated a decade of trail restoration.

"Well today we are celebrating an incredible achievement, achieving the seemingly impossible, and that is to clear the Powwow Trail of treefalls, making it hikable," said Kubik.

As part of the restoration effort, volunteers say they used mainly non-powered tools to clear the tree's from the trail.

So far they've cleared close to 20 thousand trees. While they're clearing, crews backpack and camp as they go.

Clearing away the dead trees allows the forest to re-grow.

"This is a very exciting trail because it's been a decade. The first year there was just a little fluff of Jack Pines, now they grow 30 inches a year and shade the trail," said Pollock.

Volunteers say they've put in a lot of time working the trail, but the time in the forest can be its own reward.

"We think it's very valuable. We think backpacking is a valuable time to be replenished in the forest," said Pollock.

To watch a video version of this story and read related reports, follow this link to the KBJR-TV website.  https://kbjr6.com/2021/10/30/ten-years-of-restoration-bwcas-powwwow-trail-ready-for-backpackers/