A Philosophy of Connection: Honoring Emily Sandall through Stewardship
This past summer, we did something bold and expanded our popular Trail Ambassador program to include two new long-term positions at trailheads at both ends of The Beaten Path—the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness’ most popular and iconic thu-hike.
With the installation of new bridge at Rimrock Lake late last fall, we knew that The Beaten Path was likely to see a surge in visits from hikers, backpackers, and trail runners who had been putting off their planned trips along The Beaten Path since the vital bridge was washed away—and many miles of trail destroyed—during the historic 2022 floods. As the only nonprofit organization whose sole mission it is to steward the near million-acre Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, this impending uptick in the trail’s use constituted a call to action for us. With increased foot traffic comes the need to increase education efforts to ensure those out enjoying the landscape are empowered to do so in a safe, responsible, low-impact way.
East Rimrock Lake, along the East Rosebud Trail, popularly called “The Beaten Path”
Photo by Madeline Polivka
Our Trail Ambassador program has long been one of the key ways we disseminate advice and information about respectful wilderness use; our wonderful Trail Ambassadors (here’s looking at you, Lisa and Bob) sign up for shifts at popular local trailheads, set up a table full of outreach materials, and engage visitors in friendly and informative conversations as they prepare to step out on an adventure.
The Ambassador-in-Residence program expands (and deepens) this model by placing volunteers in long-term assignments throughout the summer months. These ambassadors live near and work at their assigned trailhead for several weeks, building a relationship with their trailhead by committing around 20 hours per week to Trail Ambassador- and USFS-related work: connecting with visitors, conducting light campground maintenance, sharing responsible recreation practices, and collecting valuable visitor-use data.
Our first ever Ambassadors-in-Residence volunteers were Lydia Long and Bob Bailey of Texas, who served at the Clarks Fork Trailhead, and Eastyn Armstrong of Kansas and Jack Dunlap of Alaska, who had sequential placements at the East Rosebud Trailhead. They did an amazing job helping us pilot this program, and by connecting with so many trail users this summer, played a vital role in helping keep The Beaten Path as special and well-respected as it should be.
Our philosophy for this program is best described as this: active dedication to the belief that moments of human connection and community-building are powerful forces for fostering a conservation ethic and, ultimately, building a better world.
Ambassadors-in-Residence Bob and Lydia engage with a backpacker at the Clarks Fork Trailhead
Photo by ABWF
This philosophy is also why we are so honored that our Trail Ambassador program was chosen as the recipient of a donation from the Emily Sandall Foundation. Emily was, by all accounts, a person who lived her values wholeheartedly.
Travis Burdick, a former colleague of Emily’s at Outward Bound, says of Emily (called Emu by her many friends), “Emu genuinely approached life with a sense of wonder and joy and a belief that she could help. Whether it was going to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and helping survivors or being the first person on a dance floor as a band played, or the first person to share a vulnerable story, she knew how to help in disarming and direct ways.”
This summer, to honor Emily’s birthday, the Emily Sandall Foundation donated to support the Trail Ambassador program. This support directly allowed us to take a risk on building something new with the Ambassador-in-Residence program, and the results speak for themselves. Over the 2026 field season, our Ambassadors collectively logged over 3,500 conversations with trail users at five trailheads across the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. The Ambassadors-in-Residence further conducted 44 days of trail and campground maintenance duties as assigned by the USFS, directly improving visitor conditions, in addition to conducting outreach and education.
A University of Montana grad and Outward Bound instructor in Red Lodge, Emily hiked the trails of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness often and was a keen steward of this landscape. We are so proud to play one small role in continuing Emily’s legacy of service and stewardship.
We can’t think of a person who better embodies the spirit and philosophy of the Trail Ambassador Program than Emily. In her own words, "My hope is for my life to continue to evolve in a way that is gentle on the world around us. I come from a background, a race, a culture where I know I breathe easier. I hope to live in a way that balances it. Live in a way where my choices don't hinder another, and rather support a system, a movement, and a lifestyle where others, animals and the natural world live in a place that is just and fair."
Emily Sandall’s joy and conviction left an indelible mark of her friends. Her legacy continues through the Emily Sandall Foundation.
Photo courtesy of David Kallenbach
David Kallenbach, our own former executive director and the former program director of the Voyageur Outward Bound School was a friend of Emily’s. He recently shared these memories of her with us:
“We all called her ‘Emu’ because that’s what she told us to call her when she arrived in Red Lodge in the summer of 2006 to spend 3.5 months as an intern for the Outward Bound program here in Montana. Lots of modern-day “hippie-kids” arrive to imprint their back-to-the-earth idealism on the young people they lead backpacking and rock-climbing in the wilds of Montana, but Emily Sandall stood out, like her namesake flightless bird. She walked her own path and truly gave back to others everything she had. Despite being all of 24 years old, she came off as an “old-soul,” so much more experienced in the world than her peers.
When she showed up to work, despite being an experienced backpacker since childhood, she nonetheless had to borrow a lot of the gear she would need to lead trips—I think because she didn’t believe in acquiring a lot of shiny, expensive specialty equipment like other staff. She wore tattered wool clothing she got in thrift shops and wore the same thing every day of the summer she was on trail. I still can picture the outfit in my mind today. Emu didn’t call the least bit of attention to her own accomplishments despite being an incredibly physically strong woman, a cross country athlete, and a gifted musician. Of the six interns in her class, she was one of the first interns who earned the chance to graduate to a paid assistant instructor position before the end of their season. It was not because she had the most trail experience or was the most trained naturalist. Emu had a knack for being able to identify and get into the skin of her fellow young person and be a kindred soul to some pretty disaffected kids who came to Outward Bound to learn more about themselves. Her most applicable prior experience was in teaching life skills and music to street kids in Mexico, of all things! But she was a natural teacher and soulful mentor.
Emily was at peace with herself in the world at an incredibly young age. Once, a bunch of us went to see Montana’s George Winston play a piano concert in the gym of Roosevelt Middle School. It wasn’t exactly dance music, but nonetheless Emu went out on the gym floor first and danced with herself for a whole song, until she silently compelled the rest of Red Lodge to join her in a George Winston dance party! That’s hard to do! People naturally gravitated to her cause! She was that little self-conscious.
Her generosity of spirit may have come from her parents, Paul and Becky Sandall, who have given generously to the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Foundation and to Jane Ferguson Wilderness Adventures over the years. But it’s equally as likely that Emily rubbed off on them to an even greater degree. They saw fit to start a charitable foundation in her name, that has helped the very causes that she felt so passionate about.
We only had Emu for two seasons before she was taken in a tragic accident. We all were shaken deeply that someone so strong, vivacious, and generous could be taken so young and with so much left to give. She gave it all away. Many instructors have come and gone through our program over the years, but none left their mark so indelibly as Emily Sandall did on all of us. Most nights she would come into your room, sit on your bed with her guitar and play you a song—sometimes a silly song, composed right there on the spot—to send you off to sleep. She was just so incredibly kind! Twenty years later my memories of Emu are still crystal clear, and that’s hard to say about many people you meet for just a short time in life.”
So here’s to you, Emu. We hope that through the generosity of your parents and the foundation they created in your honor, we are able to do you proud.
– Your friends at the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness Foundation
