Since my last post I have completed two hitches, which pretty much is the extent of my July. Hitch #2 was on Whiteface Mountain in Wolfeboro. For this project my crew was building a trail from the base of the mountain to the summit. This meant each day our sawyers would cut down the larger trees and then we would follow through removing stumps, cutting out small brush, clearing the leaves and top layer of organic soil before building structures if they were necessary. The trail would be nearly a mile long and over the course of 11 days we made it more than halfway. A second crew went back to the site for hitch #3 to finish the trail.
Our campsite was about a 20 minute walk from our truck. But because we lacked a water source at camp and we knew that there were bears in the area (we did have three sightings) this became a backcountry hitch. That means that we hung our food in a bear hang each night and during the work day, we hiked and drove to a nearby water source before carrying 6 gallon jugs back to our site to filter the water, our campsite and kitchen site needed to be far enough apart that any nosy bears would not mistake our tents for food storage, and because we were working on a trail that grew each day we hiked further to work each morning. I can easily say it was the most tiring work I've done since arriving here. By the end of our supper each night (being approximately 7 pm), we would all retire to our tents until our 6 am breakfast rolled around again.
This hitch also marked the hottest and most humid weather I've experienced since arriving here. Due to a one day shortened hitch we did not have a day off. So after agreeing to work an hour extra one day we took off an hour early the following day in order to take some much deserved off time. We drove into Wolfeboro and found a beach on lake Winniepesaukee to go swimming. Afterwards we stopped for dinner and ice cream, which is always a nice treat on hitch. On our final day we hiked to the summit and picked blueberries.
Our shortened hitch came about due to an event called All Corps. This is when NH Corps, Adirondack Corps, and Massachusetts Corps all get together at one of our headquarters for a couple days of fun, service, and a not-so-friendly friendly competition. This year All Corps was held at Mass Corps home. So our entire crew, including our interpreters and CLC, came back from our respective locations throughout the state and drove south a few hours. I enjoyed getting to meet so many other corps members and have a few days of fun, including a dance party, ice cream, lazy day by the lake, talent show, and more ice cream. On our last morning in Mass we had our All Corps challenge where our three corps compete against each other in a series of mental and physical challenges for one of three trail tools: copper loppers, a silver swizzle stick, and a golden pick mattock. Despite being in a tie for first coming into the final event, we lost in the tug-o-war and came in second place. But over the course of the challenges we reconnected as a corps and while cheering for our crew we became a stronger community. It was a great sight to see our corps wearing our matching shirts, cheering loud enough to loose our voices, and seeing the pride on our staff's faces as they watched us encouraging each other.
After returning to Bear Brook and taking our much needed weekend off, we returned to begin hitch #3. This time I headed to Dry River Campground in Crawford Notch, which in my opinion is one of the most beautiful parts of New Hampshire. The complete opposite of backcountry, we had a site within walking distance of running water and a bathroom with showers. Our project was to build two shelters in the campground. This may not sound like too much of a challenge until you realize that all other hitches that have been shelter building have been one shelter, and it still takes every bit of 10 days to complete the work. But we were tasked with two shelters and two shelters is what we finished.
We worked several 11 hour days. The hardest part was getting our foundation set, which took until our third day on site. We literally built from the ground up. We set the base of the shelter on the foundation, added floors, framing, siding, a tongue and groove roof followed by shingles, and by the final day at 7 pm in the rain we had two completed shelters. My favorite part was once we put up the bents, which are the main structure for the walls and roof, I was able to climb up and stand on top of the shelter. Even though it's only about 12 feet off the ground it still felt pretty cool to be using a nail gun to put on the tongue and grove boards.
Shelter #1 with foundation, floors, bents, and the beginning of roofing
Shelter #1 completed
Side view of Shelter #1
Shelter #2
We also had two bear sightings on this hitch. We were told by the park staff that there is a resident bear at the campground, and we saw it on one of our first days while working. On our last morning the bear returned to got into some of our food. I had decided I wanted to sleep in our completed shelter for my last night and surprisingly I wasn't awoken at 7 am when the bear was rummaging through our granola and butter roughly 10 feet from where I was sleeping. But no one was harmed and now it will be another story to share.
Notice the fire pit in the second picture of shelter #1 above, which will show you how close the bear was to where I was sleeping
Tomorrow is pack out for hitch #4. I will be headed to Greenfield State Park to build another shelter. Yes, just one this time. I'm excited to be working on another shelter because I now know what to expect, versus last hitch where I was being newly introduced to the entire process. After this hitch we will be halfway finished with our conservation season and will have our summer break. It's hard to believe that in 2 1/2 short months my time at Bear Brook will be finished. My plans after this are still up in the air, but I know that I don't want to rush my time here or spend a moment worrying about the future. I find that it has a way of working itself out.
