Report from the Field: May

An outdoor baggage claim in sunny southern California is where thousands of people each day end their journey only to begin a new one. I had everything planned, I had the scheduled set (for the most part), I had the budget figured out, and I would be lying if I knew exactly how the next three months would transpire.
The Angeles National Forest is the most urban forest in America. Tens of thousands of people from the LA area come up to the forest every year to enjoy everything from swimming and hiking to horseback riding and filmmaking. Now imagine that a quarter of that forest has been devastated by fire, all of the closest campgrounds, picnic areas, and trails are closed, and the main highway through the forest has been washed out by flooding. These are just a few of the problems facing the Angeles National Forest one year after the Station Fire.
This is why we are here.
After a couple days of training and a tour of the forest, we got straight to work. We headed off to work on a volunteer trail project on the PCT near Sawmill Campground. Volunteers are the crux of our project. Since the Station Fire, the forest has received numerous requests from volunteers who to help the restore the forest. This two day trail project was our first taste of working with volunteers.
We closed out the month of May with a trip to McCall, ID for SCA training and a Wilderness First Aid course for the Corps Members. Upon our return to the Angeles, we set up base camp near our barracks to begin two weeks of living in a base camp in an effort to get used to camping for some of our projects.