Progress Reports from the Field

Thursday, February 21st

SCA Massachusetts AmeriCorps members and staff rallied against the wind and cold to join Quincy residents in beautifying and maintaining a frequently used oceanfront park near Boston last Thursday.

The project, organized and coordinated by corps members and staff, was part of SCA Massachusett's Boston service week. With the help of Alexandra Echandi and Kevin Hollenbeck of the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), SCA worked with over 50 dedicated volunteers to pick up garbage and clear trails at Squantum Point Park.

In the morning, the seventeen corps members divided up and led hard-working Boy Scout troops in a guided cleanup as well as a Leave No Trace Workshop. They introduced and enacted, while working, Leave No Trace principles to help Scouts earn a Leave No Trace merit badge. Others donned hardhats and joined generous Quincy high school students to assist with lopping and widening trail areas.

In the afternoon, many enthusiastic college students from an Eastern Nazarene College Ecology class and a local garden club member furthered progress on lopping and trash cleanup. In spite of the inclement weather, it was a productive and fun afternoon. All told, 14 bags of trash and 6 bags of recyclables were removed from the park and over 1 mile of trail was brushed, in addition to several historical displays.

For more pictures, open the pdf below!

Our crew continues with a steady stream of hypothetical questions, meandering conversation, and late mid-afternoon thoughts that swirl and dance about our heads, a gentle reenactment of the suspended sediment whose presence we are working to reduce in Lake Berryessa. February has seen our work days extend to ten hours, allowing for six days off which we will now be able to cram full with trainings to expand our knowledge of trails, tools, and with any luck, provide us with new questions, incomprehensible stories, and inside jokes.
Our longer days have been accompanied by a larger variety of work. We started the month by installing check steps to help prevent erosion on the gullying trails at the south end of the lake near Markley Cove. Our work of cutting and installing rebar and pressure treated lumber took much less time than we had expected, so we took another look at areas that might benefit from more work. We found that several existing staircases and structures needed replacement and we set to work analyzing the areas, proposing all manner of solutions sufficient to reconstitute the trail, employing heretofore unexplored possibilities of communication consisting primarily of gestures and impromptu props. We concluded our first hitch in February by beginning a full-crib staircase on the Smittle Trail.
Our second hitch was filled with even more variety as we finished the staircase and set out to Markley to begin work on stone check steps at Pullout 12. We spent a total of three days pulling boulders up to a staging area and setting steps and gargoyles. We enjoyed an energetic two days working with Rangers Mike and Victoria helping teach fifth grade students about the water cycle, pollution, biological diversity and population trends. We had an especially delightful time as scrub jays, stealing the nests of unsuspecting fifth grade juncos.
We are preparing now for an unrelenting series of erosion control structures surrounded on all sides by the virulent, formidable and ever present poison oak.
For the stats lovers, in the last 3,004 crew hours we have performed the following work:
3,350 feet of new trail
3,130 feet rehabilitated /reconstructed
16,257 feet of trail maintained (3.08 miles)
120 ft fence repaired
17 drainage structures
64 lumber check steps
4 stone steps
3 days of rigging training
Cleared nearly an acre of Spanish broom
And we helped teach 59 students the importance of water.

The beginning of the week found the team taking the first test of the semester at Phoenix College. All studied hard and most felt they did well. A park ranger from Lower Sonoran Nat'l Monument came in and spoke for career development class. We then traveled on to the White Canyon Wilderness south east from Phoenix to use our newly acquired GPS skills. Armed with Trimbles and Garmins we mapped out 2 trails and drove on some pretty gnarly 'roads'. The following day we headed north from Phoenix back to the Copper mountain loop to do a day of trail building picking up where we left off a few weeks ago. This particular part of the trail was scattered with rocks so progress was slow. The final day of the week we went to the Horseshoe Ranch in Agua Fria Nat'l Monument to partake in an inter-agency workshop on range land monitoring. The crew found it really interesting what goes into managing the Agua Fria lands. As we were leaving the ranch one of the vehicle got a flat tire. The team was able to finish the tire changing 'class' that they were unable to finish a few weeks ago. All in all a long week all over Arizona!

New hit song for the week: A tribute to Rebecca Black's "Friday"

Hitch 7 started out not with a bang, but instead, an extra night sleeping in our beds (which is equivalent to a cot for an SCA member). After the pre-hitch day ended, we spent that night in town so we could pick our CSA (no relation) farm box. The next morning we finished the last leftover tasks from pre-hitch day, packed up, picked up the CSA order and headed out to our campsite. During the four hour drive, we took a few wrong turns. Unfortunately, one of those wrong turns could not be corrected by a simple ‘spotter otter’. The path was too narrow and dangerous for the truck with the trailer to back up and turn around. After a failed attempt at going straight back, we knew that there was only one solution – to get girdled. We unhitched the trailer, pulled the truck around to the other side of said trailer and then got our girdling pants on (which happened to be exactly the same as our work pants we were already wearing). We deadlifted the trailer and pivoted it on the left tire. Once the trailer was back on the truck we set out to finally meet up with our fellow crews. Even after a difficult day with several tiring tasks, we still found time to socialize with the other crews.

The first full day with the other crews was spent relaxing, conversing and enjoying two amazing places. After a morning of chewing the fat, we came out of camp “rolling deep” as the kids would say in a convoy of eight SCA trucks. The first stop of the day was comparable to the aunt who always gave you socks at Christmas. At least that is what I was expecting, until I saw the dunes in person. Then I realized that Aunt Mary hit the lotto and bought me a flat screen. The dunes were absolutely gorgeous. Their size alone was mesmerizing to a mere 5’6 man like me. Thinking back to that day, it may not have been the size or beauty of the dunes but the strong feeling of community. We all felt like one giant family on the beach (minus the water and crabs of course). Later in the day, we washed the sand off in the local luxurious hot springs.

The first day of trail work on the China Ranch Date Farm was most definitely a refreshing experience for everyone. We mixed the crews together into different groups, enjoyed the leadership of a lovely BLM member and got to work in a truly astonishing atmosphere. My group spent the first day clearing a path for a new trail so a 200+ year old house could be preserved. Our BLM leader Rose told us the history of the house, which sparked a connection with the work that day. We also did some maintenance work with some other trails, but the work near the amazing artifact of a home was my favorite part of the day.

As the next few days passed by, we constructed rock stairs, built bridges, touched up old trails, carved out a new trail, and redirected the water flow of a creek. On our last day of work, the owner of the Ranch treated every SCA member to a free date shake and the BLM member presented their sugar-covered thank you as well with cake and candy. The free date shake was delicious (and it was the 5th one that I had the pleasure of consuming since my time on the ranch). During the last night at our campsite, we were presented with the option of going back to the hot springs or gong to a local heated pool. I chose the pool, but both groups had a wonderful time relaxing that final night. The next day was spent taking a serene drive through Death Valley. We saw Badwater, the lowest point in the continental United States, during the drive. While we were not able to hike through or camp in Death Valley, driving through it still unveiled much of its majesty.

With four days left in our hitch, we faced the daunting task of outreach. Outreach wasn’t discouraging due to some fear of speaking to the public or anything along those lines. It was the sitting. Siting in a chair for a multitude of hours is more tiring than an entire day of restoration work. However we made it through those two butt-cramping days and in the process handed out 269 permits and spoke to 378 members of the OHV community.
The second-to-last day of this hitch was my favorite. We drove out to Sage Canyon, where I did my Environmental Education presentation about meditation. After changing into a very comfortable gi I spoke about the history, benefits and techniques of meditation. I then led my crew in meditation and asked everyone to address something that has been bothering them. Luckily the meditation went well as everyone felt at peace. Bridget couldn’t help but smile for a short period after the session. The next few hours were spent relaxing and further developing one’s sense of self awareness. We finished off the day with our post hitch meeting.
It seems as if we can go nowhere but up as a crew at this point. Sure, we have hit the occasional snafu, but that is expected. And the fact that we can surmount those problems just shows how strong we have become as a crew. The actor Michael J. Fox once said “Family is not an important thing. It’s everything.” And nowhere does that hold more true than in the family that I call my crew.

-By David Patrick Selllari

The Wolf Pack gathered in the pre dawn light to set out for the Prescott Nat'l Forest to the north for our chainsaw training. A quick stop to say hello at the BLM and we were on our way. We arrived in Prescott at the Fire Center with storm clouds and cold air blowing. A major snow storm was predicted to come through the area. Instead of camping like our original plan our agency contacts arranged for us to stay in a lodge on the edge of town. Everyone was grateful for all the modern amenities such as electricity, heat, toilets, and beds! The next morning we awoke to a light snow covering the ground. For many of these native Phoenicians, this was their first time seeing snow falling or having their first snowball fight. Playing and working in the snow was fun but very different for some. After completing our classroom work for S-212 and some work trade for our wonderful lodging we were ready to get out and use the saws. For nearly all this was their first time ever holding a saw. Some said it was scary but really exciting after getting use to the saws.

New hit songs from the week: "99% Muscle, 1% Feelings"