354 vertical mulch, 382 seed pits, 1,297 m2, 7 incursions, 5 cinnamon rolls, 1 fire, 424 people hours, and 10 days later, we have successfully finished our first actual full hitch out in the field. Although physically demanding, we pushed through and accomplished more than we had originally planned. It felt great to be in the full swing of things and have our project leader hand off the reigns to us.
The crew decided to camp closer to our work site and stray away from the popular SC88 site. This came without forfeiting the beautiful sunrises and sunsets, the coyotes howling at the full moon, and outstanding luck with weather. During our work days, we experienced the fatigue, hunger, and accomplishment that come with this type of trail work. We managed to restore an average of 1 incursion a day, which means we were kicking some serious dust butt.
On our hump day (5th day of work) we had a warm fire with cinnamon rolls cooked in a Dutch oven. It was a perfect complement to a successful days work. We all look forward to spending more days and nights in the desert. Without spoiling too much of what went on during hitch, I will now leave you with a haiku for each day of hitch and let your imagination take charge.
12/12
We have enough food?
Hey, Don’t forget the soup, k?
Forgot the darn soup.
12/13
Finally loose dirt.
Cheddar sticks, more cheddar sticks!
Skoz, drink some water.
12/14
I built a wizard
Eh, put it on the pizza
“Serve, spike, ace.” Grace wins!
12/15
Cold mornings are cold
Dazzle your sense of flavor!
Cheesy dirty mash
12/16
Finished two today,
The next one looks pretty long
Dude, cinnamon rolls
12/17
Wonder why we fart?
Two logs of mozzarella
Dear God, so much cheese
12/18
Ominous clouds rolled
O’er Big Rock Candy Mountain
We shivered and worked.
12/19
Hottest day of work
Let’s play hacky sack and eat.
Tennis continues…
12/20
Feliz Navidad
Hohohohoho hoho
Hoho ho hoho
12/21
Ho hohoho ho
Hohohoho hohoho
Post hitch hohoho