Corps Member Training - May 23 to June 3

The George Washington Jefferson Trail Corps team met in person for the first time at Camp Evergreen in Longview, WA on May 23. Over 100 SCA Corps Members, project leaders, and admin staff convened to train the 2011 summer crews of the Trails, Native Plant, Fire, and Restoration Corps. Despite frequent rain and a camp cold that sickened more than half of the attendees, all had a fun time getting to know other SCA people, learning the nuts and bolts of SCA life, earning a Wilderness First Aid or Leave No Trace Trainer Certification, and learning workskills for the upcoming season.

Trail Corps members divided into groups named for different styles of facial hair, and turned approximately ½ mile of western Washington soil into a new trail for the future enjoyment of Camp Evergreen's visitors. Along the new footpath, the Chinstraps, the Soul Patches, the Goatees, the Sideburns, and the Handlebars built rock steps, a rock crib wall, a timber crib wall, and a log bridge. Coming to dinner every day sporting fresh coats of Pacific Northwest mud, the Trail Corps members nonetheless beamed with excitement over the new skills they had learned, and the work they had accomplished that day. Various members of the George Washington Jefferson crew described Corps Member Training as “better than last year”, and “baller”.

After training had closed, the George Washington Jefferson team flew to Virginia, where we began preparation for our first hitch at the Sherando Lake Recreation Area. Thanks to our new skills and fresh enthusiasm, Sherando's trails will soon be wider, straighter, better drained, and more stable.

Thanks for reading,
Dan Solmon