Having returned from east Glacier and a nine day hitch, I am preparting for a ten day hitch in west Glacier starting tomorrow.  When I get back, I'll recap both of my Glacier hitches and all the amazing wildlife I saw while out.  For now,  I thought I would give a look inside what I take with me when setting out for ten days in the woods, backcountry style.


10 Day Backcountry Gear Packing List:


sleeping bag
sleeping pad
65 liter backpack
4 pairs of underware
2 sports bras
5 pairs of socks
3 sock liners
first aid kit
emergency blanket
2 liter camelbak
(2) 1 liter water bottles
MCC uniform (t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, pants)
1 smartwool long underwear medium weight long sleeve shirt
1 sun hat
1 bug shirt
journal
ipod
magazine for reading
camera (in waterproof case)
cell phone
MCC hard hat
sleeping bag liner
headlamp
sunglasses

I've Been in the Woods

I apologize for my lack of updates, but I have been busy in the woods and just as busy when I get back to town.  I have been on two hitches since I wrote last, the first being my first full hitch since I hurt my arm five weeks prior.  We were headed to Star Peak (formerly known as Sqaw Peak) for a nine day backcountry adventure clearing brush and fixing trail on a very pretty but brutally steep trail.  It was nice to finally be back in the woods with my crew and for the first time all summer my head was also completely on board with the whole adventure.  Despite some terrifying and wet weather, the hitch felt like a success and I made it out alive yet again.  What follows is an exerpt from my journal I keep while out on hitch.  I think it paints a vivid picture of what it's like out there when the weather is anything but cooperative.

8/4
Later that evening, on the day of my last entry, the rain started again.  And it didn't let up for 24 hours.  The morning didn't start of so bad, it usually never does.  You don't know how bad it's about to get as the day goes on.  You just get colder and more wet and more unhappy.  It's dangerous because you feel less like eating, drinking water and the early onset of hypothermia sets in.  We were taught the anti hypothermia dance (a feet tappin good time!) and the sure-fire method to get blood back into your hands.  I have "waterproof" gloves that don't keep my hands dry, but they do keep them warm and thank goodness for that!  By the end of the day everything I owned was soaked and I was quite unhappy.  Jed then informed us that we also had to move out tents from the meadow we stayed in to avoid the lightning storm back up to the top of star peak where our camp was originally for the remainder of the hitch.  There is no good way to take down a tent in the rain and still keep it dry.  No sir.  I tried to keep the rain fly up while I took down the inside but the sides and bottom still got soaked.  So alas..I set up my new and improved sleeping pad and curled up in my down sleeping bag hoping that it would stay dry and warm and that the following day would be sunny.

Here are a few photos from the Star Peak hitch:

Dats me!  And that tiny bilding in the distance is the first fire lookout ever built in Montana! And we camped alongside it.

Backcountry dinners are the types of meals kids have nightmares about when thinking about school lunch.

Last day, hiking back out of the woods!  That's about 40-45lbs on my back there.

We were lucky enough to watch each sunrise and sunset as the days passed.

Another view of the lookout.  It was super cool on the inside.

Our basecamp.

A little rock cabin that a couple lived in back in the early 1900's.

Our very luxurious outhouse.

Fixin tred

Finished!

The view of the lookout from our trail.

Personal Post Saturday!

Getting a little  away from business with MCC to tell yall about my incredible hike yesterday.  Parker, a good friend of mine from Milwaukee happened to be on a road trip with a friend of his and they were rolling through Montana.  I drove them around Glacier in the morning to show off the fantastic views.

We then made the Journey to the east side of the park to Many Glacier and hoped on the Grinnell Glacier trail.  It was about 10 miles round trip with a steep elevation gain.  It is easily my favorite hike I have been on in Glacier so far, the views were spectacular and unreal and the weather and company was just perfect.  Some of my favorite points included walking under a sizable and heavy waterfall only to get soaked with refreshing cool water, walking on snow and ice, the incredible waterfall and the echoing sound that resonated among the mountains and of course the glaicer at the end as payoff.

As promised, here are just two more photos of my shorty of a hitch.  I am sorry I didn't take more, my excuse is that I was feeling so under the weather the whole time.

My temporary crew from left to right: Candice, Shonto, Alzada, Evan, me, Matt and Nathan.

This hardly does justice but all these trees are dead dead dead.

Pondis

We’re headed into the third week of July and I am still in a brace and still haven’t seen too much action.  I must be thankful however for what I have been able to do while injured.  Last week I spent a day volunteering with Habitat for Humanity doing light load projects for them and last Monday I set out on a four day hitch with Candice, Evan and their crew.  I welcomed the opportunity to work with Habitat, I have put in a lot of hours with them all across the states and it was nice to be on a construction site and feel useful again.  Wherever we work, even if it’s at the office we have to wear our uniform which inevitably draws attention and question from the other volunteers.  If nothing else, my unattractive uniform is a conversation starter.             

                Well, Sunday the 7^th rolled around and while I should have been packing and preparing for my upcoming hitch I was getting violently ill throughout the day getting weaker and more tired as the day went on.  It was clear by 6pm that I would not being going out the following day as I would be far too tired and tried to accept what felt like another hold up.  I spent the day Monday sleeping, drinking Gatorade and trying to get my gear ready while having to take numerous breaks because I was getting tired just way too fast.  Because the crew was already situated and out in the woods, I had to drive myself to the site.  I got up at 430 that morning and drove the hour and a half to get to the site.  I met up with everyone and was out on the worksite by 7!

                The crew had the task to hike around the Condon Forest that had suffered a pretty large forest fire some 2 years ago wiping out much of the trees and vegetation in the process.  As we hiked, we were on the lookout for ponderosa pines that were 60-70% scorched by flames and had very little green pine needles that had survived.  Ponderosas as pretty easy to spot with their orange, puzzle-like bark, large stature and a soft spread out needle.  A larch pine looks similar in the color of the bark but the needles are very obviously different and hard to confuse.

                       

Once we located a tree that fit the requirements we stapled a verbenone packet to the northwest and northeast side to prevent pine beetles from inhabiting and eventually killing of a tree that was barely surviving after a destructive fire.  We did this for two days, climbing up really steep, completely charred and mostly dead cliffsides in search of ponderosas.  “Pondis” as we started calling them fondly.  I went and entire 10 hour workday having only found 2 for the entire day.   This of course is frustrating of course when I’m hiking up daunting hills for what feels like any reason but, it was nice to talk with and get to know new people and enjoy new company.

                I was also particularly struck by how strongly the forest still smelt like a wildfire.  If you happened to rub against a tree or climb over a downed log you’d surely get coal and ash all over your clothes and by the end of the day we looked a lot like chimney sweeps with coal smudged on our faces.

                My stomach was still being fussy during the three days and I am surprised and proud that I was able to keep on keepin on through everything without too much difficulty.  We stayed at an eco visitor center type grounds so we had a pretty nice area to set up our tents as well as a port-a-potty and a bunk house to wash up in.  As expected, the new crew had very different ways of handling camp life and chores but they were kind enough to keep me out of any chore circulation and just enjoy everyone’s company.  Two highlights of the hitch were the morning dance parties to get our blood flowing before work and a roaring game of spoons where I was the victor being completely letter free the entire game!

How my legs looked after a day of walking through the burned forest, all while wearing my ben davies work pants!  You can also see where my socks came up to.

I forgot to bring my camera to the coffee shop to load more photos. Stay tuned.

Early. too early

This message comes way too early.  I am supposed to be in the backcountry of Glacier National Park working with a fuels and fire specialist removing trees and brush that could potentially fuel unwanted fires.  However, I can't remember if I had mentioned that I previously fell on my right arm and what I thought was a bruise developed.  It hurt immensely through the weekend

all while icing it and placing bengay patched on it.
Unfortunately, my arm still hurt as I prepared for my 10 day hitch.  My crew leader knew of my injury so I thought I would head out and hope for the best.  Over the course of the next few days, my arm didn't feel any better and on Wednesday, a week after my initial injury it was just my luck that a staff member came out to our camp to drop off my other crew leader who had injured his knee.  I showed her my arm and she confirmed it needed to be looked at and that I would be headed into town with her the following day.  I went to urgent care today to be informed that I had tendonitits in my right thumb and that the only way for it to heal is to not use it.  I am stuck in a brace that imbolizies my thumb and wrist for four weeks.  I can't lift anything heavier than 30lbs or take part in any repetative work...which means I can't really do my job.  Since Wednesday I have been on "light load" duty and working on officey things around the office.  Misery loves company and my crew leader is hanging out with me too, his knee proved to still be painful when he tried to hike in and went back into town with me.
 My mood has been low and I've been pretty unhappy feeling stuck in town and unsure of when I wil be able to head back out into the field.  I am trying to remain positive and optomistic but I am feeling left out ad I can't wait to be reunited with my crew!   Being pulled away from work has solidified in my heart just how happy I am to be working with MCC in the wilderness and while I may feel like what I am doing is just too hard, it's what I want to be doing with myself at the moment.
I found out today that I will be headed out with another crew on a light load hitch. I will be headed out with Candice and Evan's crew which also happens to be my roommate Alzada's crew.  I am not exactly excited to be joining crews sporadically while my arm heals.  As thankful I am to be going back outside, I want to do it with my crew and the people I have been growing with and leaning on for the last few weeks.  Not to mention I will be on a different schedule than my crew making me feel even further from them I am sure. 
Oh, I hope my arm heals fast!

Here are some photos from the beginning of my last hitch:

The very classy and rustic outhouse.

The inside of the cabin. You can see the cast iron stove, the foot of the bunkbeds and the white cabinet folds down to a table.

Another view.

Backcountry Glacier

Hikin. A lot.

My Crew at the cabin, gettin ready to hit the road.

Out little spot was spectacular.

This is me, ready to go with my bags, a little worried.

The forest ready and mapped out by small white flags for the new trail.

New Trail!

My crew and a close up of our first trail!

Oh yea. I cut down baby trees too.

Like a boss. Look at those assless chaps.

The sunset from out campsite.

First day of work face!

My tent and its location on my first hitch.

My crew and our forest service workers from our first hitch. From left to right: Carolaa, Jade, Alex, Ellie, Walter, Me, John, Jess, August and Gary is our giraffe mascot on the roof.