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 7th 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.
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