After seventeen days of training and playing in Great Falls Basin the members of WildCorps are still delighted to be here in California and ready to get even dirtier once hitch time begins. We learned about the ethics of Leave No Trace, how to drive our massive trucks through a creosote gauntlet, and theories of restoration (such as, a shovel digs a better hole than a rock bar). There was much constructive discussion about what a community is and how we want our community to operate. During our second half of training we successfully completed a Wilderness First Responder course and can now consider ourselves certified. While the discussions, training, and chance to put theory to use by vertical mulching a few incursions were all beneficial, we also had ample time to enjoy our surroundings recreationally. Highlights include frisbee, whiffle ball, soccer ball antics, starlit chats, sunrise hikes, sanctioned scrambles, and the opportunity to get to know our fellow DRC members – folks from the four crews based out of Ridgecrest. Lots of sun, sandy-stoney dirt, delicious meals, laughter (cliche but true), and lack of mirrors, showers, walls (other than those of the canyon), and internet made these days quite pleasant and allowed us the chance to focus on the environment we were in and the people around us. We have come back to Yucca Valley with a lot of new knowledge that we will hopefully enjoy putting into practice — although we’ll probably be happy to not practice pulling femur traction and stabilizing sucking chest wounds. Perhaps the pictures below will tell you more than I can…
