The wrath of January hit Jawbone as the snow accumulated on the ground and the six-crew members huddled together to keep warm. Or maybe it was 75 degrees, sunny, and calm as the crew experienced horrific armpit odor that could serve as a love potion in future pursuits. Fortunately, the weather gave Josh an opportunity to lessen his sunglass tan by sunning himself in his free time. The hitch started off with the original four and their fearless leader, finishing chevron after chevron with the occasional check dam. Together they collected rocks like it was their hobby. They played fun games of Tetris as they fit the rocks together for those even and flat check dams. Darn, did they look good!
The original four were accustomed to the bodily odors of their crew mates and their fearless leader, yet anticipated the arrival of the others. Day 5 finally arrived. As Nico and Josh smacked golf ball after golfball over 100 yards, Amelyne, Emily and Karina excitedly waited for Darren to arrive with Andy and Carly. The SCA vehicle finally pulled up SC120 and Carly and Andy greeted us with tasty treats and chocolates from Hawaii. What a nice surprise! They soon entered the realm of the white wall, and were welcomed by balloons and signs.
The full crew headed out to a nearby cottonwood grove, where they saw a water source. Astonished by this miraculous finding, some crew members dipped their heads into the small creek, wetting their hair and faces. They could not ask for a better shower. Later that afternoon, they devoured the seitan/tempeh Rubens for lunch and explored the glorious Robbers Roost. After an eventful day, the new, full crew ate a delicious dinner in the dark. Why in the dark, you may ask. With the lantern malfunctioning, our fearless leader returned to town to gather the materials for light. Without a functioning lantern, we used our headlamps in the most practical manner, on strobe light mode. We danced into the depths of the night to the rhythm of the strobe. Actually, we all passed around eight in the evening, which was late for our exhausted bodies. It was a great day as we united in number and became the seven Jawbon-ies.
Together we finished the third incursion of polygon JB19 with vigor. While the original four and their leader completed the first two incursions of the polygon, the full crew was able to collect rocks for 22 chevrons and 2 check dams for the third incursion. All together the crew completed 670.4 squared meters of vertical mulch restoration on three incursions and planted 239 items of mulch with 207 seed pits and 37 erosion control chevrons and check dams. After multiple days of gathering rocks, the crew was ecstatic with their accomplishments.
Beyond learning the tricks and trade of vertical mulch, Carly and Andy had the opportunity to meet The Steve Gomez. He showered them with gifts of navigation, as the crew learned to plot generic points and navigate to the coordinates using GPS technology. As some were distracted by the wildflowers budding in January, others found themselves intrigued by the sensitivity of the Trimble technology as they walked in circles. All in all, the crew was able to find the points and plot the distances. Success!
With the eagle as our protector and toned calves and buns from our massive hill climb of an incursion, the full crew returned home certain to remember their days in the rock gardens of the desert during the sweltering January temperatures.
Hitch six in the books.
Be kind and rewind,
Emily P
