By: Cooper Schulz
This month marks our first Hitch of conservation season. We’ve spent the last month and a half doing intensive training, everything from Wilderness First Responder training to how to build a rock staircase. While that’s been an incredibly enjoyable time on its own, the past ten days have been the first time we’ve been able to prove to ourselves that we can use these skills on our own.
Our first morning was filled with the anxiety and excitement of the official new chapter in our program. We piled into our vans and headed off on our next adventure wondering what to expect when we got to our sites. For the most part things went smoothly for the first couple days. That is, until the rain started.
A large majority of members woke up to soggy sleeping bags, swimming pools for tents, and cold appendages. However, every crew found their own creative way to stay positive despite the cold spring rain. Some did the boot dance until they neared exhaustion, some screamed until it transformed into laughter, and some played cards on the bath house floor. By the end of the hitch we all learned some very valuable lessons: “waterproof” is a lie, soak your beans, you’ll always forget something, and a good attitude will make a world of a difference when conditions aren’t optimal.