Hitch 2 (6/21/2010 - 6/30/2010)

Hitch 2
Hithch Leader: Chris
Originally scheduled to leave the BLM on Monday 6/20 for our second hitch, the WildCorps departure into the field was postponed by one day due toa suddne nast onset of the malicious poison oak contracted by Megan. Concerned for her safety and well being the group agreed it would be best for her to visit the highly regarded Garberville ER. After her triumphent emergence from the ward, the group decided that the prudent thing to do would be to wait until day two before heading into the wilderness. On the morning of the second day we parked at Northslide Peak trail head where we embarced for 9 days in the woods. Between the trailhead and our eventual campsite we brushed and retreaded 2.5miles of trail. Home sweet home was unanamously agreed upon to be a small but cozy spat just below bonus springs on the Miller Loop. Bay 3 began our onslaught of the Miller Loop which was rumored to be in great disrepair. It also provided the group with the opportunity to begin teaching Leah (our newest member) about trail maintenence. This would perpetrate throughout the following days. Days 4-9 were devoted to the same cause. It turned out that the rumors were true. 56 windfallen trees were removed, 10 drain dips repaired and 3 rock walls repaired and 41,184ft of tread restored! To provide ourselved with a change in senery, we decided to spend day 6 working towards Rattlesnake and Bear Hollow campsite. You may have heard of this treacherous trail and the 97 switchbacks that await any brave enough to include it in theiritinerary. This would be a project. Four cross-cuts were made by Erik and Chris while the rest of the group re-treaded. On day 7 we recisited Miller Loop to finalize it's completion. 3.1 more miles of King Range Trail in the books. Days 8 and 9 were devoted to working as much of the Rattlesnake as we could. Finally, day 10 had arrived. It was a day that we had been excitedly awaiting with anticipation because Alex (our firefighting friend) had mentioned the idea of a BBQ on this day. We arrived back to the BLM at about the same time as him however, he was not returning from doing 9 days of trail work. He was returning from a morning of diving and spear fishing in the Pacific Ocean. His trip proved to be a success because he was holding two Abalone and an admirably sized Capazone. Judging from our calused hands and full bellies both the hitch and BBQ were a sucess!