Mischief Managed - 8/17

Here we are; over 50,000 words, around 500 pictures, and almost a year later, this blog is coming to a close.  Tomorrow marks my final day of service with the Emergency Response Team here in St. Louis and it is very bittersweet.  If there is one thing that I will not miss it is the scheduling.  Not knowing where you are going until the night before or how many hours you will be working each day is very taxing.  We needed to serve 1700 hours according to our contract—I served more than 2200 and I didn’t even go on a disaster where one expects to work long hours.

But that is just a minor thing, one that is eclipsed by the awesomeness of the year as a whole.  The views, our crew, the people we met, I feel like I just crammed a lifetime into our term of service.  I am healthier, stronger (debatably), and more confident than I have ever been and for that I extend my thanks to my fellow AmeriCorps members.  This year has not been easy and there was a time or two that I doubted my ability to succeed in the rigors of this program, but you all kept me going when times were tough with a healthy dose of encouragement and light heartedness.  To my friends and family back home, thank you for all of your support.  AmeriCorps St. Louis’s unpredictability and limited time off made it nigh impossible to get to see many of you and for the few trips I managed I was spent to the point that all I wanted to do was sleep.  Will have to make up for lost time and catch up soon! 

Anyways, thank you all for following along my journey.  As will always be the case, feel free to ask me about my time in AmeriCorps, the places I’ve been, anything.  I love answering questions be it here or elsewhere.  Until we meet again friends!

Forest Park - 8/14

*static* 7 days… is what I was going to say on Monday before I got distracted.  My group this week was assigned to the Forest Park project right here in St. Louis.  Coincidentally we’re working the same grounds as last time where we put in the trail.  I’m happy to announce the trail has held up pretty well!  The areas where we had removed stumps have kind of concaved into small craters and the plants on either side are crowding it due to a lack of use, but these were minor touch ups that we quickly dealt with.  We primarily worked along the waterfront, clearing it out of woody plants and invasives so folks using the trail will have a more pleasant view.  There was sooo much poison ivy in the vegetation we were swimming through that it gave Shawnee a run for its money.  I’m itching pretty badly but am uncertain as to whether or not it is bug or ivy related—if it is the latter than I consider myself lucky to have avoided it this long.

Anyways, things have been going great!  I took down a complicated tree with only a minor hiccup (hill threw off my angle) and you can definitely see the progress we’ve made this week.  Everything seems so much clearer and cleaner along the riverfront that it is hard to imagine what it even looked like before we began.  Hope all is going well in your parts of the world! 

Panther's Den - 8/7

We have come full circle.  Today as we were driving out of our campsite I realized why the area seemed familiar: the campground was the final mile of Quest for my team.  Fond memories ensued after that epiphany and the good times carried on throughout the day.  There was one point that we had to hike out of the woods to avoid a thunderstorm and we managed to do so without getting so much as a drop on us.  Don’t worry, Mother Nature made sure we got our dues.  After returning to work on the trail for the remainder of the day we were caught in a sudden downpour.  All of us were soaked through in a matter of seconds because of the surprise attack.  Most of the trail before our maintenance turned into a moat to complicate our return, but we overcame the obstacle with ease.

This is the first time I have gone through all of the clothes I packed.  I have to wear a damp A but the rest of me will start off the day dry tomorrow.  I’m hoping it stays that way as 5 wet people in a prolonged car ride can get a bit… fragrant.  Good night all!

Panther's Den - 8/6

Our conquest at Panther’s Den continues!  We switched from invasive removal to trail building with Kelly, our contact.  I really like her as her pace is nearly identical to my own.  Anyways, our trail looks top notch!  We have a long way to go, however, so it will be interesting to see how far we will get with the time allotted to us.

Missouri is hot!  Wait… we’re in Illinois, I keep doing that with Shawnee!  Illinois is just as hot!  I felt like I jumped into a pool—nay, a Jacuzzi—and then got back out to work.  I was able to wring the sweat out of my shirt…disgusting.  It sounds like there is a 70% chance of rain tomorrow so we are going to be soaked one way or another.  I’m curious as to how effectively a trail can be constructed during a downpour.  We shall see I guess!

Hmm, other than that, I made a reference to Lord of the Rings and only one of my teammates got it.  Granted it involved Shelob and her name isn’t really tossed around much, but still, I was shocked.  Bed time!  Catch you all later!

Panther's Den - 8/5

Back to Shawnee only instead of being trounced on by a St. Bernard I am tenting it up somewhere near Panther’s Den.  This tent is starting to feel more like home than my room in the Doah.  Pretty sure I’ve spent more time in this portable shelter now.  Anyways, we started off our week pulling a new invasive.  You know me, I tend to have trouble with dates and names on the first go so I will have to get back to you on what it is.  The unnamed weed is fairly easy to dispose of compared to every other invasive we’ve tangled with as a slight tug pops it right out of the ground.  The only issue is it likes to grow around poison ivy sooo, yeah, the plant may get me yet.

After that we went back and set up camp.  Liz and I set up a tarp canopy while Dan and Liana prepped dinner.  It’s a good thing we did because a thunderstorm rolled out of nowhere.  The wind pierced our improvised shelter’s defenses, but Liana’s dowsing in her short trip to the truck showed us that we stayed 85% dryer under the tarp.  If only we had a bigger one.  Regardless great start to a short week!  My record for storms while camping is still perfect!

Here and there - 8/1

Instead of another day of service the Fellows surprised us by taking the whole Corps on a journey.  We followed Lewis and Clark’s footsteps from way back when and were asked to reflect upon our own personal adventures this year as we did so.  I didn’t know where to start so I wandered into the wilderness.  As I sat in contemplation a doe wandered through the tall grass not more than 40 yards ahead of me.  It was graceful, silent—it was the embodiment of my year in the Emergency Response Team: I entered this program quietly and in all likelihood I will leave the same way.  I waited until the deer wandered out of view and in its wake I saw a member from AmeriCorps, followed by another.  This made me smile.  While I was never the most vocal of the bunch, like this reenactment of sorts people came to understand and appreciate my contributions and followed my lead as I spearheaded ideas on projects. 

Next, well, I wouldn’t want to spoil the whole experience for future members so feel free to ask me about the event in person.  Consider what I’ve provided as a sneak peek as that is all you’re getting out of me in this blog!  I will only add that another instance occurred that summarized how I took action in the program: I was rarely the first person to reach our destination, nor the last, but I ensured that I always provided high quality work.

Now we are enjoying each other’s company.  Kelly Kaufmann and I made each other tear up… It was very emotional. I don’t know how we’re going to pull through for another 2 weeks after tonight, but as is always the case, we’ll find a way!  Tonight there are some festivities planned that will lighten the mood.  I’m not sure this will be the proper place to discuss such things, but feel free to ask!  Talk to you all soon!

Ruby Creek Trail - 7/30

I found a moose!  It was just standing in a stream watching a beautiful sunset before we rudely stopped nearby to do the exact same thing.  At least Chelsea got to see it before it stomped off as she had yet to see one in Montana.

We also found two of our elusive teams.  The mountains are rather maniacal when it comes to communication devices, especially our radios, so Bruce sent us out to check on their status.  Thankfully everyone was all right, but their projects have encountered a number of setbacks—the big one being no pack mules.  They were charged with the task of building a fence but numerous creeks and streams prevented vehicles from transporting the materials.  Cue pack mules… or an ATV… apparently.  The four wheeler couldn’t make it beyond the first body of water so our crews had to carry it all over and install it themselves.  They looked beat by the time we found them, as did the team of two that was sent over the mountain to clear the trail in those hard to reach places.  16 miles in 2 days; it makes our work at Gilbert seem like child’s play.

We cleared another trail today… but it wasn’t the one we meant to do… BUT it was on the list of trails that needed maintenance.  In short, our day was indirectly productive.  There were no downed trees, just some overgrown branches and two patches of trail that needed leveling.  While our work was easier than previous days we had to cross a number of streams and we all had our own methods of doing so.  Chelsea would take off her boots and socks, I would jump on rocks, and Dan kinda did a half and half as his fire boots were remarkably water proof.

All in all it was a fun day for us, I just feel bad for our other teams as they seem to be having a much rougher time.  They’re tough though, we all are, and it sounds like tomorrow promises to be a day to cure the ails of all recently endured hardships.  Until then, good night!

Gilbert Trail - 7/29

Those 30 trees from yesterday?  Yeahhh, there were actually over 50 obscuring the path.  Combine the miscalculation with the encroaching vegetation and we got ourselves a 13 hour work day.  You know, despite the sheer exhaustion I am currently entertaining the notion of working 3 13 hour shifts a week and having the other 4 days off.  This is for after the program, of course, as I am averaging 60 hours a week here in Montana and there is no indication that the days will shorten.  Ah well; see the need, meet the need—it’s how we roll!  Awesome views and great people make it all worthwhile.

We did manage to finish Gilbert Trail with a little extra effort.  That trail has been on the Corps to do list since we arrived in Montana so I’m glad we can finally check that off.  Our team would have finished a little sooner but I caught a thunderstorm trying to creep up on us so we had to seek shelter in the woods for a time.  I consider myself to have poorer hearing than most, but I somehow am always the first to notice thunder.  Weird. 

Anyways, I’m going to go crash.  Good night friends.

Gilbert Trail - 7/28

Why are stringed instruments so awesome?  Clare was perched up on a rock yesterday fiddling away and it felt natural—a fitting soundtrack for Montana.  If I broke out a flute here it just wouldn’t have the same effect.  Maybe my instrument fits perfectly in another environment.

This week my team is being sent out to Vigilante to tune up some trails.  As nothing can be too easy round these here parts we had to hike 1 ½ to 2 miles just to get to our trail.  Upon finding the trail marker we discovered that the trail has not been maintained in years.  We needed to cut out a corridor 6ft wide and 10ft tall and Mother Nature was generous enough to provide us a 2ft by 4ft start.

Fortunately the trail held up a bit better under the shade of older trees as we progressed, but there were other obstacles.  Dathan was moving a log off of the path when he had a sudden piercing pain in his head.  Ants bite around here so that was the immediate suspect at our elevation, but then I heard the unmistakable sound of bees—lots of them.  I relayed my discovery to my team and Dathan backed away just in time before the slumbering hive roused the rest of its defenders.

Another tricky obstacle was the open plains.  There was no tread to follow so we needed to keep our eyes open for blazers and cairns.  The vegetation was so tall in the fields that it was difficult tracking down the piles of rocks—but with 3 of us spread out we were able to maximize our efficiency on getting through the trail.

The path was too vast for us to tackle in a single day due to around 30 trees having fallen and we had but a crosscut to combat them.  The important thing is we now have the whole trail mapped and will return with a chainsaw tomorrow to finish what we started.

Good night friends!

Blacktail Ridge - 7/26

We surprise attacked our comrades with water balloons.  A couple of them were tipped off because a nozzle was left out, but I volunteered to stay on their side until the last moment to ease their suspicion.  Dee was playing it off as a skit so we gathered everyone and had them stand on one side with Liana and me while the rest of the folks who came to Montana with us originally were on the other.  On Dee’s command everyone shouted “This is FLEECER!” and we threw open the coolers and launched balloons.  Despite their claims of having my back, the lone balloon that got me in the arm was tossed by one of my companions as I bolted to their side.  I made sure to give as good as I got though!

That was fun and our work today was pretty gratifying.  The Butte 100k went down today and we were sent to fix up a trail that was part of the race while bikers were using it.  It was a little tricky, but by informing each other when a rider was coming we were able to prioritize accordingly.  Every one of them thanked us for our work and a group of hikers that we kept bumping into kept offering us cherries.  I made sure to take them up on the offer a couple of times as I didn’t want to be rude and we talked about our program.

This was a good day.  My fire boots were found, everyone is here, and I just saw some shooting stars!  Those moving stars were nice as the past couple of days consisted of constant clear blue skies.  With no clouds drifting around or trees swaying Montana has put a sort of time stasis on us all.

Mm, I am barely keeping my eyes open.  Until next time!

Lady Smith and Mormon Gulch - 7/25

The whole crew is here!  Fleecer cabin looks like it is under siege with all of the tents surrounding it.  One tent in particular clued me in as to why mine has been giving me problems: I’m missing some poles—4 to be exact.  The missing poles would lengthen and widen my shelter so that the rainfly wouldn’t be all awkward and I could stretch out.  My tent and I have made it this far though so who needs the extra space!?  Our first week here we crammed 4 of us in 1 tent while spiking out in the wilderness so what I have currently feels roomy in comparison.

Anyways, today we were sent out to clean and maintain 2 campgrounds: Lady Smith and Mormon Gulch.  We cleared the roads and campgrounds of obstructions and even took down a couple of hazardous trees.  Compared to the trail work we’ve been doing in recent weeks today was a breeze.  The hardest part was probably demolishing some picnic tables but that was also the most fun.  Crowbars, sledge hammers and teamwork resulted in the end of a handful of tables that have seen their share of use.

Well I’m exhausted.  Only other thing to add is that just about everyone is calling me Hellraiser now.  I like it.  Good night friends.

Sheepshead Recreational Area - 7/24

Nights around here are eventful!  A pack of coyotes trotted up and sang us the song of their people in celebration of the eve of Christmas in July.  The caroling went on for a few hours with a couple interludes involving Mother Nature’s wind symphony… but I fell asleep pretty early on.  My tired friends had nothing but back-handed praise about the concert though!

As for today we returned to Sheepshead and finished repairing both the barb wire and jack link fences.  The devices put up a hell of a fight though.  Some old barb wire punctured me deep enough to draw blood and the ensuing wound has a rather dark look to it.  After a couple of calls back home during lunch I learned I had my Tetanus shot in 2011 so I should be in the clear!  Not wanting to be shown up, part of the jack link fence collapsed on me.  It managed to scratch me a bit, but I emerged relatively unscathed.  Other than these two incidents the day went by smoothly.

My highlight is a tie between scaling a steep gravel hill and hanging out with a bald eagle.  The first was undoubtedly fun but the latter was on the verge of magical.  You know, I’ve seen several bald eagles out in the wild since I joined the Emergency Response Team.  I think this is a sign of good fortune in some form or another.  Anyways, I should probably go clean and mend myself; tomorrow the rest of our Corps will be arriving so weekly showers are in all likelihood coming to an end.  Talk to you all later!

Sheepshead Recreational Area - 7/23

Last night I awoke to the walls of my tent closing in on me.  The wind was blowing furiously—so much so that moments after I opened my eyes there was a loud SNAP.  Another followed accompanied by a continuous flapping sound.  Rather than soldiering through a storm without my rainfly I headed into the cabin and found that Liana had beat me to it.  Great minds think alike!

It was an exciting experience, but the interruption to my sleep left me zoning for much of the day.  We went and cleaned up a campsite by Delmoe Lake then traveled to Sheepshead Trail and fixed up a past nemesis of mine: barb wire fencing.  We didn’t think to bring a chainsaw so we ended up man-handling some fallen trees off the fence and off the trail.  Tomorrow we most likely will be sent back to finish the job.  We’ll see!

On our way back to Fleecer we saw a rainbow touch down in one of the pastures.  Now we’re listening to it storm and are waiting to see if it picks up into the severe storm the meteorologist was predicting.  Me thinks the rainbow may have been a warning.  Anyways, all is well here and I hope the same is true for you all back home.  Later!

Homestake Lake - 7/22

Smog and smoke have blanketed the region.  When we stopped by the McDonalds the other day to check our emails an older gentleman noticed our fire shirts and asked if we knew anything about the fire.  We didn’t.  It wasn’t until we returned to Fleecer that we received word from an ERT alumni that he and his hot shot crew were being staged in Oregon.  The haze that has descended upon Butte is from a giant wildfire burning through Washington.

Anyways, a peculiar thing happened today; it was raining on us while the sun was shining.  There were cloud culprits in the sky although I kind of wish there wasn’t as that would have been even more fascinating.  We were fixing up the Homestake Lake picnic area when this peculiarity occurred, you know, the usual stuff—clearing trails, taking out invasives, the works.  I enjoyed the refreshingly cold shower, but not nearly as much as I did watching some locals using our modified gate.  Cows had wandered into the picnic area earlier today so we were charged with creating a sliding gate—and before we left we saw folks utilize it!  That was cool.

In other news, you may have noticed I didn’t submit an entry yesterday.  Believe it or not, it was because I was reading a book: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.  One of my friends here was told that this to-be series could be the next Harry Potter.  Very high praise.  While I was skeptical the remark was enough for me to give it a read.  Without spoiling anything, I enjoyed it and I thought the author had an interesting way of storytelling—although I would suggest reading through it without comparing it to J.K. Rowling’s masterpiece.

Well I’m off!  Night!

Skeeboggan Trail - 7/19

Skeeboggan is complete!  It took us an hour longer than anticipated, but it was impossible to predict how many roots we encountered and how deep they grew.  Due to these stringy nuisances the last couple of yards of the trail may seem a bit patchy, but Dee says that regular use of the trail should finish off the remaining roots.

As the last of the new section was being tidied up I was privileged with the task of destroying the old trail.  That was fun!  I tore out patches of grass from the sides and placed it on the tread so that it would grow.  I also threw branches and fallen trees over the path when they were available just to be certain bikers understood that this trail was no longer operational.  The whole experience was rather therapeutic—demolishing things is a great stress reliever… I wonder why.

After Skeeboggan was finished we headed over to Ennis to enjoy a meal and some cowboy poetry.  The food portions were small, but Bruce paid for us all and you can’t beat a free meal!  The poetry and music was fun too (although the only song I could pick out of the bunch was West Virginia).  The auction part was entertaining too.  The auctioneer kept pace with those fellows from Storage Wars so the whole experience was a blast to be a part of… even if it all was out of my price range. 

Another awesome day in Montana.  Night all!