Hitch Dates: June 17-24, 2013
Crew leader: Patrick Magrath
Members: J Poulos, Ambereen Alvi, Ruth Addante, Dana Prennan, Jade Mendiola, Patrick Magrath, Kailee Lindahl
After a month of long days of training, it was finally time this week to hit the dusty trail, with U Routes! Part of a program created by the forest service to shut down unauthorized trails, U Routes combines long hikes with gps orienteering and gis data management.
Rising early monday morning, the crew of 8 set out to conquer trails east of Leadore, Idaho, about two and a half hours drive from our little home in the mountains. The hiking was difficult, especially at first. Each day ranged from eight to fifteen miles, sometimes in rain, snow, and hail–we even got to try out our lightening positions when a storm came up on us! The weather wasn’t all serious, though, we saw some of the most complete rainbows any of us had ever seen as well as some gorgeous sunny days.
The work was not without reward. We saw 2 baby moose, a mother moose, a young buck moose, as well as plenty of birds, a baby bear, and more cows than you could shake a stick at. We took the work very seriously, impressing our facilitator and finishing up the region. See ya next time, U Routes!
# u-routes inventoried: 114
miles u-routes inventoried: 65