|
Now that I have returned to the material comforts of my home, I find myself craving all those things that I left on the omnipotent Mt. Rainier. Yes, the walk to go #2 in the actual toilets was way too long, my enormous fear of bees kept me on my toes, and cleaning the sump screen was positively disgusting, yet I have an indescribable desire in my stomach to be sitting in Longmire watching Mt. Rainier go in and out of the clouds. My temporary remedy?
Be outside as much as possible, but the urban “outdoors” of my deck, tainted with city lights can’t hold a candle to the sense of tranquility that I felt while just soaking in Mt. Rainier.
My crew’s job was to work on the Wonderland reroute, the section closest to Longmire. I was able to go up to the mountain a couple days early, one of my jobs as an Ambassador, and one of the things that we did was walk up to our worksite. The walk was hard for me, and during those premature moments of our journey, I wondered if I would be able to make that hike everyday for the next two weeks.
Well, I didn’t really have much of chance to worry about that because the next day, our crew officially started. It was a bit awkward, all of us standing in the Seattle office, unsure of what the next few weeks held for us, but under the curious glances, each person had that defiant look of “I’m going to take whatever you throw at me.” And that’s how it was.
How could 17 days without a shower have such an impact on me? I don’t quite understand myself, but as my mind wanders to a place that proves that nature is ultimately more powerful, I give this excerpt from my journal in hopes that you too will also understand what actually happened.
*****
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
The mountain has once again hidden itself behind a heavy layer of mist and fog, reminding us that nature has the ultimate say in our day.
Our crew heads off to work a bit dazed and sore after yesterday’s immense 40 wheelbarrows of mineral soil and trail paving. We arrive at our work site on the reroute of the Wonderland trail a bit fatigued from the hike up and take a short water and GORP break before uncaching our tools and setting off for another day of work.
The morning is spent mainly hauling forward on the trail. The “Pirates” (the ones digging for mineral soil on the old trail) and the “Ninjas” (the ones digging in barrow pits) pulled out an intense 31 wheelbarrows of mineral soil before lunch. My role was as a “Mercenary,” on rock duty. My job was to find as many rocks as possible to create a layer of them so less mineral fill would be needed for each new foot of trail. The distance from the Pirate Ship to the section of trail that we are now working at has grown and the journey with heavy wheelbarrows has become harder and harder.
After an even more astounding 50-wheelbarrow-total day, a long distance of trail, and 3 large rocks moved, our Mt. Rainier III crew headed back to Longmire (our base camp) for a nice evening. Changing my hiking boots was so nice after returning to base camp. It was a hard, but satisfying day of work and all the trail work we have achieved makes me feel really great about being out here.
*****
There was never one event where I thought to myself “this is it.” It was more of a spreading warmth from my head to my toes that still makes me want to be on Mt. Rainier. I belong outside on that section of Wonderland where I gave my heart and soul. All those days of work, oh so tiring, yet amazingly satisfying.
The work was hard. Never before in my experience with the CLC or my last conservation crew in Pennsylvania had I actually built trail before. The work involved digging wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of mineral soil out of the old trail to pave the new trail, and then following up with finishing: making the tread flat, trail straight, and ground hard. I think of all of this work, and once again the question everyone asks me pops up. “Why do you spend your time working in the dirt?”
The answer hasn’t always been easy, but when I think of my crew on Mt. Rainier, my response seems to make more sense. It’s not for the volunteer hours, or the chance to get away from my parents, I would say to this naïve questioner, but the incredible sense of self accomplishment that comes afterwards from pushing myself to new limits that I never thought possible. Yes, although sappy, I see how I have grown over this past summer by dedicating myself to the crew. By the end of the crew, that hike up to the worksite didn’t require a second thought. I knew I could do it. The hard workdays of filling wheelbarrows seemed hard in the moment, but now that I know I can do it, I know that I am capable of even more. And yet the most touching moment was on our last day of work, walking along the 600 feet of new trail, feeling the solid mineral soil, walking in a straight path on the level trail that we had laid with our hands and strong spirits.
Only 15 days prior I wouldn’t have thought that possible, but reaching the end of our work, and seeing the smiles on all of my crew members’ faces, I knew they felt the same thing as me. Appreciation for place we were in, the people around us, but mainly… Mt. Rainier Addiction.
 |
About SCA 
Subscribe to this comment's feed