Hitch 3

With gritty resolve and four-season sleeping bags, the crew headed out for its latest hitch, knowing well the portentous weather forecasts that threatened them with mentions of unparalleled cold. Even in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, the valiant crew charged forth in their indefatigable Dodge, emblazoned with pink and blue-striped flags of victory. They knew no fear or defeat, and with the pure fire of conservation aflame in their hearts, they bore down on their enemies of illegally created roads and turn-arounds.

Pick mattocks gleamed in the sun, their heads catching the morning light as the crew swung their way to glory. No vehicle-compacted soil nor flattened berm stood a chance against the relentless assault of McLeods. Vertical mulch and grass transplants were rained down with terrible fury until the very earth trembled at their approach. The ground was spattered with seed, T posts were rent from their holes and barbed wire fell limply in front of the flash of fencing tools, all under the all-seeing eye of the Trimble, which cast its differentially corrected judgement at one-second intervals along the hallowed fields of battle…

And some other stuff happened too. The crew saw some unidentifiable cervids fighting in the dark, although there wasn’t enough light to tell if they were dear or elk. The benefits of the hot water bottle in the bottom of the sleeping bag were discovered. An old homestead was explored, only to learn that it had been renovated in the last fifteen years, complete with a water heater form 1994 and some awfully new looking shampoo bottles.

Most importantly, the crew was visited by their Santa Fe BLM contact, James Sippel, who had Halloween candy, bandanas and some fine words of encouragement. According to him, the news of the crew’s work was making its way around the state. Several field offices were wanting to know more about those amazing disappearing roads in El Malpais, mainly who was responsible for this tremendous work. The crew happily accepts responsibility for this phenomenon and will take credit for any future incidents of vanishing incursions that may happen during the next highly anticipated hitch.