Wildlife Hitch 9,
The wildlife crew started the hitch going back to Leadore. It consisted of 2 full days of hiking across mountain ranges in search of Aspen. On one of the hikes, we ended in the bowl of a mountain side with a view of a talus lake. At night, our camp was littered with gnats and mosquitoes, driving us into our tents by 8pm at the latest. Once this was done, we headed back to Moyer to finish up some leftover stands that were unreachable in May due to high water levels. We were also assigned to close some temporary Forest Service roads, which was something new to both crew members. We drove into some pretty insane scenery while doing this which made it completely worthwhile. Once on some of the mountain passes, you were able to see the plumes of smoke rising from the local fire. Little did we know that this sight was finally about to end. Over the next few days of hitch, we were dumped on by rain and had the first snow of the season. Each morning we set off on foot straight up the mountains in search of aspen. This hitch was a little different. The feeling of autumn was in the air and was extremely visible. The fall colors brought about a sense of ease to us and felt like the season was anew. Even though the weather wasn’t the most opportune for hiking, we still traveled some major expanses to find the aspen. At the end of the day, soaking wet, we were able to go back to Moyer and eat a warm meal and dry off, thankfully.
