The Emergency
Response Team is not for the faint of heart. Some of us woke up to find
ourselves covered in what seem to be bug bites. It’s bad. My arms
feel like braille articles detailing how delicious I am. What’s more is
that this doesn’t make sense! Yesterday our area was the coldest place in
the continental United States—weighing in at just under 20 degrees. I’m
no pest expert, but I’m pretty sure insects shouldn’t be alive when the
temperature reaches the freezing point!
While we’re on
the topic of freezing, I feel like I have taken the Black. When we opened
the cabin door our team was faced with a wall of snow close to 5 inches
high. No white walkers thus far, but I am almost constantly cold.
So long as I keep active my layers of clothing keep me warm; I have to say it
is a very weird sensation to be wet yet warm when it is below freezing.
Alas, a few moments of standing idle and your sweat soaked garments become your
worst enemy—even if you are adorning synthetic gear. In short, like the
Rangers who wander beyond the Wall, ERT members are hardcore.
Our team of six
departed the innocent-looking cabin and trudged the snow just as the Fellowship
did the Pass of Caradhras. As we had a two mile hike of tough terrain to
cross we came up with a game. The mechanics were simple enough: hit a
tree and cause a mini avalanche to fall on someone. I managed to avoid
the white wash, but Whitney and Andy weren’t so lucky. We made it to the
truck in good time considering the obstacles and drove to our next site, Hogan
cabin. Well, tried to. The snow was so deep that we had to abandon
the attempt.
Instead, we
returned to the Wisdom bunker that we stayed at for our first two nights in the
area. Our team did some more chainsaw training at the nearby Ranger
station followed up by some radio work. And then? And then we had
free time! We played a game called Worst Case Scenario where you had to
figure out the best course of action to take in bad situations. I won by
a hair due to a tie breaker. As this is most likely our last night in
Wisdom it would seem that the Tri-Force shall remain elusive. Or… maybe I
was able to win these games because I had already unknowingly stumbled across
the artifact. Open for speculation I suppose.
These photos were brought to you by... me, actually. These were all taken by May Creek cabin..
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