Hitch #6

It seems that each hitch is more challenging then the one before, and this hitch was no exception. We returned to the La Garita Wilderness, where we were last hitch. But this time our site was on the opposite side of a mountain from last time. We also had the added complication of sickness. One of our crew was sick from day one, and subsequently each of us came down with various levels of illness.

On day one we had the first, and luckily only severe, rain of the week. This led to setting up our bear hang in the cold and wet before a late night getting to bed. Due to the fact that we would be working above tree line our crew leaders decided to start our days early. This meant 5 am breakfast and hitting the trail by 6:30 am. If you know me you know that I'm anything but a morning person. I had to put aside my exhaustion each morning, or at least try to stay awake. But by the time we began hiking the sun was starting to rise, adding warmth to our hike.

By the time we hiked about a mile uphill to our first stop on the trail we were all ready to stop and work. On day two we did some work on that section of the trail but then we began our real work. Our project sponsor told us we had about 3/4 mile hike to our final work site; we estimated nearly 2 miles. As we soon found out these 2 miles were steadily uphill followed by a steep final climb to nearly 13,000 ft. This hike was made more difficult by each of us carrying an apx 4 ft log. Needless to say, this was my most difficult part of the work day. We did this for three mornings before we had placed the required number of check steps.

Now of course our hitch was not without its rewards. When we reach our final work site we were rewarded with the most amazing view of our trail winding down into the valley. We were working in an alpine meadow, well above tree line. On Sunday morning we were given time off to continue up our trail, which ended atop San Luis Peak at 14,014 ft. We were able to summit my first 14er as a crew, and the experience was one I'll never forget.

The rest of the hitch we were able to sleep in a little more each day, due to the fact that we'd be working below tree line and wouldn't need to worry as much about afternoon storms. Sleeping in meant breakfast wasn't until 6:30 am, which I'm amazed at how happy I was to hear. We put in a total of 47 log check steps and 20 rock check steps by the end of the week.

Our hitch ended a day earlier than usual, with us driving back on Wednesday. This is because we spent from Wednesday night thru Friday morning at Raspberry Gulch just outside Salida. This was the final hitch for our summer crews and we spent the time camping together and completing exit paperwork and joining in celebration of all we'd accomplished together. Friday was a super de-rig were we cleaned all our gear, vehicles, dishes, and tools to the best of our ability. We said our goodbyes and most people went their seperate ways. My crew, along with one other five month crew, have one extra day off before returning on Friday August 29 to help plan the orientation for the new crews that will come in for the remaining two months.

These next four hitches will be filled with new adventures. One of our crew leaders has been chosen to lead a post 9/11 veterans crew for the fall. Because of this we will have a new co-leader. Luckily we have already met her as she was a crew leader for the past three months. This new dynamic will be our first obstacle, hopefully one we'll quickly overcome and we'll grow closer because of it. For now, enjoying my time off and preparing gear for the colder weather ahead.

From a Best Friend

There are people in this world who we only meet in passing. There are others who remain in our lives for only a portion of it. Then there are those who will be ingrained in our future from the moment we first meet. And then there are best friends. They fall into a different category entirely because they are not only a part of our everyday existence, but from my experience they have the ability to become involved in every aspect of our lives. We can tell them more secrets than we can our parents, they tend to have personalities as similar to us as can be, and sometimes, only once in my life, we can meet a best friend who is so entwined with who you are they are practically family. I'm lucky enough to have a "sister" such as this in my life.

Over the past five years there have been ups and downs, we've laughed and cried, and cried from laughing so hard. We've have late night, into early morning, Disney movie marathons and Minecraft sessions while acting as immature as possible. We met new people along the way and others have gone. We've explored underground caverns, maneuvered various rope obstacles like skilled tight rope walkers, climbed to high peaks, raced down rushing rapids, hiked endless miles, and a million other adventures that would take too long to explain. You've overcome fears of a raging river by getting back on it, I've been on it only to get ejected in the river. I've fished in the last frontier, you've survived an RV trip across the desert.

Yes we've come a long way, you and I. I've become more adventurous in my pursuit of thrills and dragged you along for the ride. You've tried to use your teacher mentality on me and I have been the worst possible student (but really, what kid is gonna sit still while you read a book when they're waiting for a movie to start?). We've worked in the sweltering heat of summer, singing Disney and Country songs at the top of our lungs. We've worked in bitter cold of 3 degrees, with a wind chill, until we were sure our fingers and toes no longer existed. We've bonded over a shared love of books, and shared how much we love certain things. You with your penguins, all things orange, hippie and Hawaii. Of course we also love our cats.

We both tried, but in the end had to succumb to the inevitable fact of being super seniors. But looking back, it just wouldn't be right with the universe if we graduated at separate times. We've grown so much as friends, as young women, in our career pursuits, and in independence. I've gone on several wild adventures, but now, for really the first time, you have also left the comfort of home in pursuit of your dreams. For the first time, neither of us knows when we'll be together again. But in a way, this is the true test of a friendship. Being together while we're apart may be hard, but I know that we'll meet again and it will be as though no time has passed.

And so, while I could write on forever, I shall add my final remarks. Buddy, my special friend, yo-yo, Yoda, and whatever other nicknames I can't remember; I so look forward to hearing everything about your new adventure. I have seen you work towards this since the moment we met. This is only the beginning for you, and me. Seize the day. I know you'll do wonderful things, but remember who your best-est buddy is and always will be.   -D

Hitch #5

This was our first back country hitch. This means that we did not have our vehicle easily accessible and everything we brought with us had to be packed in on our backs. We were in the La Garita Wilderness, working on the Colorado Trail and the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail. On Wednesday we drove the roughly three hours to the trail head and met our project partners. For the first four days we worked alongside two Forest Service rangers.

On our first afternoon we hiked the 1/2 mile to our first campsite. We stayed there until Monday morning. Each day we walked to our work site, crossing a stream twice a day. Our main job for this hitch was building structures on the trail to route the flow of water off the trail. This meant many heavy rocks that had to be dug into the ground and even more logs. Being that this is a National Forest no machines can be used. This means that instead of chainsaws we used cross cut saws. That was a tiring yet exciting opportunity. To use a saw that has existed for decades longer than I've been alive, it feels historic and a bit nostalgic.

On Monday morning we packed up camp and hiked another 4 1/2 miles to our next site. This was done with packs that easily weighed 50 lbs or more, plus the addition of carrying all our tools. But the view was worth the exhaustion. At this point we were close to 12,000 feet and we were surrounded by mountains were the tree line was just above us. We camped in a small valley where we could have a 360 degree view. My only regret is that I forgot to bring my camera so I could capture the beauty.

Monday afternoon, about an hour after we reached our site, I was in the group setting up our bear hang. At this time the rain began. Being that I was a ways from camp I did not have my rain pants on me. The rain quickly escalated into a lightning drill and by the end of the hour of sitting in the rain, I was soaked. Along with everyone on my crew we changed what we could and went back to work in boots that were so wet we were standing in small puddles.

Luckily for us by the time we began work on Tuesday the sun had come out, and continue to stay out for the day and the next day. It's a true testament to the attitudes and skill of our crew that throughout the entire process we were able to be positive and even joke about how wrinkly our feet were at the end of the day. Eventually all our socks dried and work continued as normal.

We made the decision that if we could finish our work Wednesday morning we would pack camp and hike out that afternoon, rather than waking up before dawn on Thursday. We were able to accomplish all our tasks and by 3 pm on Wednesday we had begun our five mile hike back. This took about three hours, even though our packs felt substantially heavier. This is an interesting phenomenon, given that we had eaten 99% of the food we had packed in. I won't go into detail about our meals, but basically breakfast but oatmeal, lunch/snacks was trail mix and one tortilla with pb & j, and supper consisted mostly of some sort of grain and curry flavoring. Needless to say I was excited when we stopped for lunch on our way back Thursday.

Overall this hitch was the most tiring yet, but it also gave us the chance to get even closer as a crew. Our next hitch will also be back country, in the same general area. But next time we will be camping close to tree line and working above tree line. This means higher elevation and more possibly for severe lightning storms. We are now halfway through our season, and after next hitch the summer crews will be finished. We'll be camping as a big group one more time before saying goodbye. Then a week later we'll receive about 40 new staff. I'm looking forward to seeing how the season progresses as the weather starts to cool.

Hitch #4

Our 4th hitch began two days earlier than expected. We had one day of classroom training for our chainsaw work and one day of field training. Then we headed out on our first chainsaw hitch. We were lucky enough to be able to camp in a beautiful meadow surrounded by huge Cottonwood trees. This meadow is a part of Star Lazy R Ranch; which is a ranch owned by a lovely couple who we had the great fortune of meeting.

In all we had eight day of chainsaw work. We worked on a stretch of road, clearing trees to allow for a 40 foot corridor of space in the event of a fire. Mostly we removed small Junipers and Cottonwoods; many of which were already dead and posed a great fire hazard. As this was my first time working with chainsaws I was especially nervous. But I quickly gained confidence (and muscle) as the week went on.

We also had the opportunity to visit Sand Dunes National Park twice during our hitch. Though I thoroughly enjoyed our hard work, this was the highlight of the week. The dunes are an incredible natural phenomenon, surrounded by creeks that flow from snow melt off the nearby Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The mountain peaks jut up just behind the dunes, and on the other side grassy fields stretch into the horizon. Being able to walk barefoot through the sand after a hard day was a joy in and of itself.

On our last night we were invited to the home of the ranch owners, Wayne and Nancy. They treated us to locally raised Bison burgers and homemade potato salad. Needless to say we thoroughly enjoyed that meal and the amazing company. One of the greatest joys of this job is the people we meet and the appreciation we receive. Our project partner was so pleased with our work he asked our director if we could return in September for another hitch. If we do so we would be able to see the dunes surrounded by fall colors in the Aspens and Cottonwoods.

I now have five days to rest before beginning our next hitch. It will be our first back country hitch and we will be using cross cut saws. I'm excited and nervous about the challenges ahead, but so far I have found the best solution is just to take it one moment at a time.

Hitch #3

My third hitch began Wednesday July 2. From the beginning I knew the next 10 days would be quite different from our previous work. Our crew, along with "Mountain" crew, took a 9 hour drive to Oak Creek Canyon outside Flagstaff, Arizona. Wednesday night we camped in Mesa Verde National Park, before continuing on to Arizona in the morning.

We spent the next 6 days stacking sandbags throughout different properties and businesses in the canyon. Due to a fire last month the area is highly susceptible to flash flooding. The soil is unable to soak in the majority of the rain and instead it sheets downhill, in most cases directly towards houses. And being the start of monsoon season, we had to finish the sandbag walls quickly.

During our time we had two large and fast moving afternoon monsoons, both creating hail, lightning, and flash flooding. These afternoons we had to stop work early and evacuate the canyon. Due to these storms we were able to witness our work in progress. We could go back the next day and see where our sandbag wall had diverted water away from homes.

The appreciation from the community and our project partners was amazing. Being able to see the people who live in the area we were working to protect made all the hard work worth every minute. And we did work very hard. We moved about 30,000 sandbags in 8 days, with 15 people for all but the last 2 days.

We left on Wednesday July 9 before lunch to begin our drive back to Salida. That afternoon we had the opportunity to visit Grand Canyon National Park. I could hardly fathom the enormity of it, even while standing on the edge looking out. Watching the sunset over the northern Arizona desert was also an incredible site. During our time our two crews bonded and worked as one. It was great to see how another crew functions and the leadership styles, while making some amazing new friends.

Our break between this hitch and our next is being cut short by two days for more chainsaw training. We will being working with saws on Wednesday July 16. This is what each of the members of our crew was brought here to do. I'm looking forward to the new challenges ahead of us.

Hitch #2

            The second hitch for “Constellation” crew began a day early. Along with our fellow chainsaw crew we had a full day of saw training. For most of us this was our first time ever using a chainsaw. Our training consisted of safety protocols, basic maintenance, proper saw use, and a few demonstrations. At the end of the day we had the opportunity to practice a few skills. Overall our crew felt prepared to begin saw work. But due to a change of plans we were instead given another trail project, with the promise of saw work next time.

And so, on Wednesday June 18^th we departed for Southfork, about a half hour from our previous site. We arrived at Trout Creek Trail and set up camp, eager to see our worksite. This area was vastly different from our previous site. Aside from camping along a busy road, the terrain was more wooded and grassy. One side of the view was a rocky cliff and the other side was tall mountain peaks. We only hiked about a mile each way our first afternoon.

Thursday morning we did our daily routines, picked up our tools and began hiking. We were told that we would see a sign at our worksite. So we hiked up one peak, then down to a valley, up another peak, back down to another valley, and stopped for a break at a junction in the trail. We then hiked on about a mile before being stopped by a mountain biker. This turned out to be Steve, our project coordinator. He told us that there was no sign and that our site began at the junction. We were filled in on the details of the work and soon hiked back. Along the way we ate lunch at a beautiful meadow alongside a creek. By the time we began work on the trail it was 2 pm. We worked until 4 pm and then sharpened our tools and hiked back to camp. Needless to say the approximately 10 miles of hiking had us ready for a good night’s rest.

We woke up Friday ready for a full day of work. Our basic job was to make a two track into a single track trail. We did this to stop the use of ATV’s on the trail. This was accomplished by loosening the soil on the lower track to encourage growth and adding rocks and dead branches. The work was hard and dusty, but the forest was a beautiful site to work in.

Saturday and Sunday we had the pleasure of working with volunteer crews from VOC and NCCC. They provided us with five delicious meals. This opportunity was unique because it allowed us to work on a new trail, doing different work, and with new people of various ages and experience. Our SCC crew was separated into two groups and placed with a second crew leader and several volunteers. My crew worked on several sections of the trail; widening the path. This experience gave us a greater appreciation for the people who enjoy trails and are willing to spend their weekend working to preserve it.

On Sunday we finished working at 1 pm and said goodbye to our new friends. We then had the opportunity to visit a section of forest in the west fork of the Rio Grande that had burned in a fire in the summer of 2013. The fire consumed over 110,000 acres of land. This was my first time seeing a burn area up close. The charred leafless trees and silence from lack of wildlife made the area seem ruined. But grass and flowers blanketed sections of forest and streams ran clear among the ashy soil. Life has begun again and someday the forest will be lush and green once more.

That afternoon as we sat near a lake at the base of the burn area we were told to think about the vast age of the forest. I began to wonder, if we are such a small fraction of the forests’ life, then what difference does our work make? As soon as the thought crossed my mind one of our crew leaders Aaron said “This is why we’re here.” I realized that we do our work because it is the best way, however small, to give back to the environment we care about. And hopefully our work will continue for generations because someone becomes inspired to do their part.

            On Monday morning we had two black bears visit our campsite by Trout Creek Trail. Due to this we moved our camp down the road to where the volunteers had stayed. This move gave us the chance to meet some people who had just begun working for the Forest Service and other agencies. Monday thru Wednesday we continued work on Trout Creek Trail. Wednesday afternoon we finished our designated section of trail. In all we worked over an area of about three miles and completed nearly a mile of actual refurbished trail.

            Thursday morning we had the luxury of sleeping in before beginning our routine of breaking down camp. I was able to give my education talk on “How to go the bathroom in the woods.” We arrived safely back at the office, ready for a well deserved break before we head out to our next adventure.

What Comes Next

3 weeks ago I had the opportunity to travel around Rocky Mountain National Park and see many amazing views and wildlife. In one afternoon I saw 7 moose, 3 of them at the same time. I was absolutely amazed by the enormity of the mountains, being that it was my first time seeing them. I also very much enjoyed seeing snow in June.

2 weeks ago I was on the verge of starting my new job working for the Southwest Conservation Corps in Salida, Colorado. I am now on break after completing my first 11 day hitch. The past 2 weeks have been full of new people, new areas, and some crazy experiences. It took me about a week to get adjusted to the altitude and a few more days to adjust to working at elevation. Our job site for 9 days was around 9,000 ft.

My crew of 7 other members are a diverse group of characters. They come from all over the US and from various backgrounds. We already have a tight bond and I know that will only continue to grow. Our first site was just out Del Norte. We built and maintained over a mile of mountain bike trail in some of the most unique landscape I've ever been to. The area is desert-like with rocks dotting the landscape. The trails wind among the rocks and sand in harmony with the environment. The area is filled with artifacts and abandoned rock dwellings, some with rock paintings still visible.

But the most amazing part of our site was the people who we saw. As bikers came through they would thank us for our work. The appreciation of the community was astounding. We were brought homemade donuts, a baked potato and chili supper, and even had an archaeologist come out and tell us about the area and it's history.

Our next hitch begins Tuesday with a full day of chainsaw training. Then it's out to the field for another 9 days. The next 5 1/2 months are sure to be filled with many more adventures and challenges. I'm looking forward to facing it all with my amazing crew at my side.