Hitch 6 saw us heading out to the Riverside Mountains Wilderness in sight of the Colorado River, green fields, distant sand dunes and the lights of Parker, Arizona. On our first day of work we returned to our roots by putting in a post and cable fence with the purpose of blocking OHV traffic into the wilderness. After much digging, burying, planking and shot-putting of rocks we deemed the border thoroughly defended from any sort of motor vehicle. The rest of the hitch was spent monitoring and restoring other incursions leading into the wilderness. Tasks that involved many miles of hiking with our trusty GPS and occasionally testing the true meaning of four wheel driving. We found that our recently re-sharpened restoration skills had not been lost over winter break and we successfully managed to make multiple incursions disappear back into the wilderness landscape. We had a few memorable nights including making ravioli from scratch, battling ferocious winds whilst gathering escaping papers and a phantom coyote visitation. During the day we were able to do a little scouting in the neighboring Big Maria Mountains, the location of our Hitch number 7 and the site of mid-season AllCorps! We also managed to take the time on our last day to investigate nearby interesting features including the nearby Blythe Intaglios (mysterious giant geoglyphs carved into the desert floor) and the scenic Colorado River where some of our members dared to brave the cold to perform handstands and imitate surfacing sea monsters. We returned to Yucca Valley with our data bin overflowing, semi-dry clothing, and pounds of dust clinging to every available outer and inner surface of our equipment. And with the knowledge that we will be able to share this amazing area with the rest of the DRC on our next hitch. I think I can speak for the entire WildCorps crew when I say that we can’t wait!
