So, last week for work Claudia and I went backpacking in the Zirkel Wilderness because 1 of our plots was too far to hike in and out of in 1 day. I haven't camped yet all summer so I was super excited. The hike up was about 4.5 mi... not bad at all. A couple of sucky steep parts, but a lot of flat winding parts of the trail to balance it out. Parts of the trail took us through some parts of the forest that had burned about 5 years back. It was really fascinating how the fires just STOPPED in some areas. There's this whole load of charred and ashy trees and then all of a sudden it reverts back to live trees. No buffer... just live trees all of a sudden. Anyways, Claudia and I don't really hike together because she is a speed demon and I take it slowwww. Needless to say I had a lot of time to reflect and basically have internal monologues alla JD from Scrubs. Also, talking uses up a lot of much needed oxygen.
The way up I needed to distract myself with a game because during the steep parts I found myself basically just telling myself how tired i was and when is this part over yaddah yaddah. Therefore, as with so many aspects of my life, I looked to Michael G. Scott for inspiration. In the episode "Branch Wars" where Michael, Dwight, and (reluctantly) Jim go to Utica to prank Karen, they are in the car and they briefly play the game that's like A my name is Alan and my wife's name is Alice we live in Alaska and we sellllll.......". Well that's quite easy to play in your own head. I think I ended up playing 2 rounds of that. I invented some thematic versions to keep myself semi-challenged. The first round the thing that we sold had to be a drug or some slang version of a drug and the second round the people had to be names of people that I knew and they had to live in places that I had actually been. Unfortunately, I don't have any friends named Ulysses or Xena, so sometimes I allowed myself to cheat. This tactic worked wonders, and before I knew it I had conquered the steep section. On the other hand, I had alphabet on the brain... so I proceeded to sing A you're a adorable, B you're so beautiful, C you're a cutie full of pie (??? lyrics).... Thanks for the inspiration Grandma :). It's weird how the mind can keep itself so occupied.
On the way down, (try to follow along with this craziness) I said to myself... my back hurts... as it tends to do when you have a 30lb pack on. Naturally "my back hurts" led me to Jim Gaffigan in his "Beyond the Pale" stand-up special in which he claims his back hurts after eating a Hot Pocket. Then OBVIOUSLY I started to compare and contrast backpacking to Hot Pockets. Allow me to lay out the mental Venn diagram that crossed through my mind.
**DISCLAIMER: All of my Hot Pocket research is drawn from Gaffigan and not from experience... I have never eaten one. Do not reference this blog for your next exposé on questionable processed microwavable edibles**
On the 2 outer sections of the circles, we have where the 2 differ. This is easy. Backpacking is good for you. It improves your physical health as well as provides many therapeutic benefits. A single Hot Pocket would probably eat your digestive system's lining faster than your own stomach acid. Backpacking involves a single pack, while Hot Pockets come in packs of 2. The former is best enjoyed with others. The latter- take heed sharing with others especially if only 1 bathroom is available. Finally, one burns calories and the other burns your taste-buds clean off. The intersection of the 2 circles contains more similarities than 1 would think. As we have discussed, they both make your back hurt. They both make you have to poop at inconvenient times. They both can make you a bit light-headed and sleepy. And both should be undertaken only when accompanied by a CamelBak full of water.
So there you have it. That's what I thought about while out in beautiful, picturesque forests... I hope you feel enlightened. I know I really broke some new ground here.
For those of you unfamiliar with Jim Gaffigan's rant about Hot Pockets: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-i9GXbptog
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
We didn't start the fire!!
Well, I've been living in CO for over a month now and it's pretty much turned into a fiery inferno. I like to think that it's not my doing, but my unfortunate habit of throwing lit cartons of lit cigarettes may have finally caught up with me... i know i know... It's a dangerous habit :/
A typical day: in the morning, Claudia (tree inventory extraordinaire and my boss) picks me up in the Jeep and we set out to our plot for the day. I input our plot coordinates into the GPS and have to map out the best way to get there. Sometimes the roads take us like 500 ft from our plot center and sometimes we have to hike. The toughest one yet has been 2.5 mi, which doesn't sound like a lot, but when you've got a 30lb pack and are bushwhacking through bushes and blowdown it can be pretty grueling. That day I fell in the river once and sank in mud twice *STHCORE. Then when we get to a plot we have to find a reference point which is given to us in our plot packets. We are remeasuring trees that someone else did 10 years ago, so we have to make sure we are in the exact same spot!! Sometimes finding a little metal stake in the middle of the forest is next to impossible, especially when the guy that did it last time must've had his head in a stump because some of his descriptions and coordinates are like 1000ft off!
Anyways, I digress... So once we find the RP we locate the Plot Center and then we have 4 subplots off of that plot center. We measure tree diameters, analyze vegetation, crown cover percentage, the amount of litter and down material is on the ground and then look at diseases or deformities that the trees have. I like doing the timber plots which are primarily Aspen, Spruce, Fir, and Lodgepole Pine, but the woodland plots (Pinyon Pine and Juniper) can suck a fat chainsaw. They are all branchy at the bottom with plenty of little twigs that stab you and sharp prickly needles. Basically, I turn into a Courtney Love/ Ann Coulter hybrid every time I have to deal with one. My hair is all disheveled, lots of cuts on my arms, and I have at least 1 large stick up my ass. Today I sat on a cactus...
Actually, despite all of the crazy forest fires, I am not near any of them. My hunky firefighter neighbors have been called out a bunch, so that doesn't really help put out MY fire, but what can ya do? My roommate Emily is pretty awesome. She's on the US Forest Service Timber crew... they also may be called in to help put out the fires. But i have no training in that area at all, so I will not be called in everrrr, which I'm happy about. It's hot enough out here as it is!!
Hmmm... ok updates updates. The past couple of weeks of work have been tough. Sometimes we are out for 12 or 13 hours a day (granted some of it is driving to and from a plot, but they are still long days!) The first week we traveled about 2 hours west and did a bunch of plots out there. Last week I was in Steamboat, so I got to sleep in my own bed at night. This week we are back out west.. but a different town. Meeker, CO in a pretty balling hotel room I've got to say. The state pays for all of our travel expenses and we get per diem (pretty shweet deal).
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| Juniper: I get to climb all up in that |
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| Pinyon |
Anyways, I digress... So once we find the RP we locate the Plot Center and then we have 4 subplots off of that plot center. We measure tree diameters, analyze vegetation, crown cover percentage, the amount of litter and down material is on the ground and then look at diseases or deformities that the trees have. I like doing the timber plots which are primarily Aspen, Spruce, Fir, and Lodgepole Pine, but the woodland plots (Pinyon Pine and Juniper) can suck a fat chainsaw. They are all branchy at the bottom with plenty of little twigs that stab you and sharp prickly needles. Basically, I turn into a Courtney Love/ Ann Coulter hybrid every time I have to deal with one. My hair is all disheveled, lots of cuts on my arms, and I have at least 1 large stick up my ass. Today I sat on a cactus...
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| That Jeep gets free car washes. Yay for govt vehicles. |
Hmmm... OK fun juicy stuff? My apartment is pretty awesome! King size bed... right on the river/ pond. Horseshoe pit in the back. My social life has been consisting of drinking, tubing down/ swimming in the Yampa river (WHICH IS SO MUCH FUN), and trying to meet people. Luckily I have Emily and Stu (remember him from last summer??) to mooch friends off of. Last weekend Stu and I went to a real live rodeo! We were too cheap to pay though so we had mega nose bleed seats. It was fun though! Saw bullriding, calf roping, bucking broncos, a cross dressing rodeo clown, and my favorite: they tie a ribbon to a ram and make little kids (5 and under) chase it around... whoever can grab the ribbon first wins a beltbuckle. YEEEEHAWWWW!!! I do miss the beach, but i found a semi beachish area where i can swim and tan and read along the river, so that'll have to do.
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| The kidos about to chase Rambo |
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| My room complete with Velvito |
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| The view from my living room window |
Those are my stories for now!! TTFN LYLAS OMG LOL!! xo
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Back Again
Well... I can't believe a year has gone by since I was felling trees and pooping in the woods with the best of 'em. I did not adjust back into city life as planned, SO i decided to go back to the woods.. or at least a happy medium. I'm currently in my bed in RI for the last time in......let's say 5 months. In 2 hours I'm driving up to Montreal to graduate and leave my college years behind me. It's been a fun ride, but honestly "i'm over it" (now traditionally I know this is a phrase used by betches to move past the actions of guys that they are in reality not over). Montreal may not have been a complete asshole that didn't return my calls, he did sometimes take my dignity and most definitely my money. Allors, au revoir mon ami compliqué- I'm over you. I will of course miss the friends I have made who are in various locations across the globe and unrealistically say we will see each other again. "Oh yea I'll totally come to Europe over christmas and I'm sure you'll come visit me in the middle of the Colorado wilderness". Maybe once we are all making the big post-college bucks it's more apt to happen.
Last week I moved out to CO to begin my work with the state forest service. My official title is Forest Inventory Technician, which is just a fancy way of saying I collect data about trees. The move began with the infamous road trip from RI to CO. I was accompanied by the lovely Grace and although we were not driving a giant sheepdog which we would later sell in order acquire a moped in Nebraska, we did have to sell a dead bird to a blind kid.
The first day we drove from RI to Akron, OH to crash at Alex's (remember from last year's Goodfellers my dutiful readers?? If I must reduce his identity down to the physical, he was the blonde dreads one). We had to of course make the pilgrimage to Scranton, PA to plant beets with Dwight and go see Scrantonicity II play at Poor Richard's Pub. Welllllll maybe we didn't get that far, but we did go to the Steamtown Mall (home of Women's Appreciation episode) and take a picture with the sign from the opening credits. Prison Mike made an appearance as well... he kept saying something about gruel and dementors... weird. We arrived in Akron after a lonnngggg 12 hour day of driving. But it was nice to see a familiar face and have some local brews outside in the sunshine. We ended up crashing wicked early because we were tired and had the longest leg of the trip the following day. 4am rolled around and we rolled out of bed. On the road again.
Day 2 took us to Red Wing, MN where Jake "fumanchu" MacDougall eagerly awaited our arrival. It was a lonnngggggg ass day of 14 hours driving (and Chicago really brought out the east coast driver in me), but we made it!! Just in time for the pizza farm too! This place was awesome. It's a farm typically. Rolling fields, cows, goats, sheep, vegetables, that whole deal... THEN on Tues nights they decided to use all of these super fresh ingredients to make delicious pizza. Naturally, we got something with olives and feta because those are the besttttt. Basically everyone just chills on the grass with blankets. It's byob, so very laid-back vibe and people didn't think RI was part of NY!!! Quite delightful.
Day 3 brought us through MN and SD to Badlands National Park. This day was rough because the roads became all farmland. We did get to stop in Blue Earth, MN to visit with the Jolly Green Giant. I hope I never live in a town where there are more 100' green statues than people... that's for sure. But he and his size 78 shoe were all smiles for us weary road travelers, thus giving us the drive (pun OBVIOUSLY intended) to keep going. We reached our Badlands campsite with plenty of time to set up the tent and cook a great dinner sans fire. The next morning after showers at the all too familiar KOA we departed for the final leg of the trip.
Day 4 took us all the way to Steamboat Springs. We had to make some stops along the way of course. The first was Wall Drug in Wall, SD. Let me preface by saying that we had planned on going there originally, but even if we hadn't I think it would have been morally daft to have not stopped given there were signs for like 400 freakin miles. South Dakota: "we put up billboards because there's not much else to see here". They pretty much just had any random sentence and just put Wall Drug after it. "They're back" with a painting of a Dino and then Wall Drug. "Free Ice Water"- Wall Drug. "In case you didn't see the last 50 signs" - Wall Drug. "Haha, you've been driving for sooooo long" - Wall Drug. Don't get me wrong it was fabulous in the tackiest road side attraction way possible. But we were too cold to get the ice water (RIP OFFFFFF). Then, it was off to Mount Rushmore. Now don't send the CIA to my house, but it was kind of underwhelming. The black hills were cool, but I guess i just really had hoped Washington's head was going to open up and Team America was going to fly out while "America, Fuck Yea" blasted from the sky and hoards of bald eagles lifted us up and carried us to get our faces painted with red white and blue awesomeness... Well, that didn't happen. In fact they wanted to charge us $11 to see something we could see from the road, so that was Mt. Rushmore. Final pitstop, Carhenge. Alliance, NE. Middle of nowhere. It was the weirdest thing... these junk cars in this strange formation. I wonder if it was some sort of Pagan tribute site back in the day. Where ancient Nascar fans got packs of Natural Ice tattooed across their stomachs in the hopes of convincing people their beer gut is in fact a six-pack. Guess we'll never know the truth...
FINALLYYYYY Steamboat!!! We got in at about 10pm to my apartment, which was lovely. It's right on the Yampa with a view of mountains in the back. We have a grill and horseshoe pit and there are a lot of grisly mountain men to oogle at! These are not the trailgoggles talking this time. Anyways, that was the adventure, thus far. Once I get back to CO from graduation I will be undergoing job training with the other seasonal forestry techs in Boulder. I'll keep you guys posted until I feel self-conscious for having a blog that only my mom follows.
tata for now
Last week I moved out to CO to begin my work with the state forest service. My official title is Forest Inventory Technician, which is just a fancy way of saying I collect data about trees. The move began with the infamous road trip from RI to CO. I was accompanied by the lovely Grace and although we were not driving a giant sheepdog which we would later sell in order acquire a moped in Nebraska, we did have to sell a dead bird to a blind kid.
The first day we drove from RI to Akron, OH to crash at Alex's (remember from last year's Goodfellers my dutiful readers?? If I must reduce his identity down to the physical, he was the blonde dreads one). We had to of course make the pilgrimage to Scranton, PA to plant beets with Dwight and go see Scrantonicity II play at Poor Richard's Pub. Welllllll maybe we didn't get that far, but we did go to the Steamtown Mall (home of Women's Appreciation episode) and take a picture with the sign from the opening credits. Prison Mike made an appearance as well... he kept saying something about gruel and dementors... weird. We arrived in Akron after a lonnngggg 12 hour day of driving. But it was nice to see a familiar face and have some local brews outside in the sunshine. We ended up crashing wicked early because we were tired and had the longest leg of the trip the following day. 4am rolled around and we rolled out of bed. On the road again.
Day 2 took us to Red Wing, MN where Jake "fumanchu" MacDougall eagerly awaited our arrival. It was a lonnngggggg ass day of 14 hours driving (and Chicago really brought out the east coast driver in me), but we made it!! Just in time for the pizza farm too! This place was awesome. It's a farm typically. Rolling fields, cows, goats, sheep, vegetables, that whole deal... THEN on Tues nights they decided to use all of these super fresh ingredients to make delicious pizza. Naturally, we got something with olives and feta because those are the besttttt. Basically everyone just chills on the grass with blankets. It's byob, so very laid-back vibe and people didn't think RI was part of NY!!! Quite delightful.
Day 3 brought us through MN and SD to Badlands National Park. This day was rough because the roads became all farmland. We did get to stop in Blue Earth, MN to visit with the Jolly Green Giant. I hope I never live in a town where there are more 100' green statues than people... that's for sure. But he and his size 78 shoe were all smiles for us weary road travelers, thus giving us the drive (pun OBVIOUSLY intended) to keep going. We reached our Badlands campsite with plenty of time to set up the tent and cook a great dinner sans fire. The next morning after showers at the all too familiar KOA we departed for the final leg of the trip.
Day 4 took us all the way to Steamboat Springs. We had to make some stops along the way of course. The first was Wall Drug in Wall, SD. Let me preface by saying that we had planned on going there originally, but even if we hadn't I think it would have been morally daft to have not stopped given there were signs for like 400 freakin miles. South Dakota: "we put up billboards because there's not much else to see here". They pretty much just had any random sentence and just put Wall Drug after it. "They're back" with a painting of a Dino and then Wall Drug. "Free Ice Water"- Wall Drug. "In case you didn't see the last 50 signs" - Wall Drug. "Haha, you've been driving for sooooo long" - Wall Drug. Don't get me wrong it was fabulous in the tackiest road side attraction way possible. But we were too cold to get the ice water (RIP OFFFFFF). Then, it was off to Mount Rushmore. Now don't send the CIA to my house, but it was kind of underwhelming. The black hills were cool, but I guess i just really had hoped Washington's head was going to open up and Team America was going to fly out while "America, Fuck Yea" blasted from the sky and hoards of bald eagles lifted us up and carried us to get our faces painted with red white and blue awesomeness... Well, that didn't happen. In fact they wanted to charge us $11 to see something we could see from the road, so that was Mt. Rushmore. Final pitstop, Carhenge. Alliance, NE. Middle of nowhere. It was the weirdest thing... these junk cars in this strange formation. I wonder if it was some sort of Pagan tribute site back in the day. Where ancient Nascar fans got packs of Natural Ice tattooed across their stomachs in the hopes of convincing people their beer gut is in fact a six-pack. Guess we'll never know the truth...
FINALLYYYYY Steamboat!!! We got in at about 10pm to my apartment, which was lovely. It's right on the Yampa with a view of mountains in the back. We have a grill and horseshoe pit and there are a lot of grisly mountain men to oogle at! These are not the trailgoggles talking this time. Anyways, that was the adventure, thus far. Once I get back to CO from graduation I will be undergoing job training with the other seasonal forestry techs in Boulder. I'll keep you guys posted until I feel self-conscious for having a blog that only my mom follows.
tata for now
Friday, July 29, 2011
Week 9: Pube Bombs and a Negative Drug Test
SOOOO the results are in!!! Came in 2nd in the cooking contest last weekend...so jipped :/ but we did win candy bars. whooopppeeeee.... haha I'm not bitter or anything. AND I passed the employee drug test. We ended up having to get them done because of insurance purposes or something and I guess because the other saw crews had to get tested it had to be fair or something. We all passed though, so no harm done I suppose besides wasting a Friday afternoon.
Rendezvous was fun. Basically just chilled out at the lake..met some cool people from other crews... ate a lot of yummy dutch-oven food from the cook-off...and enjoyed some great talents around the campfire. Then there was the Pube Bomb... You may ask yourself, what exactly is a Pube Bomb?? Well the idea originated on the way back from a sunset hike in Buff Pass. How could we make our mark at the talent show?? What's something that would really grind some gears, but not have to potential to harm?? What's gross that we have a lot of?? Naturally, pubes came to mind (not my mind). Now the smell of burned hair is quite atrocious, but add the sweat and frumundacheese that happens to accumulate in the pubic area and that's a whole other story. The plan was to have the crew shave their pubes and collect them all into a paper bag and then throw it on the fire at Rendezvous, creating a memorable conclusion to an otherwise relatively wholesome campfire.
Although I did not personally contribute, most of my fellow crew members,along with the other Saw Crew, did. Needless to say, there was quite a pile. The delivery was carried out by my delightful 6' 7" dreaded friend Skeeter. Upon the apparent closure of the talent show/campfire, he raised his hand, signalling one final act. As he rose to his feet and approached the fire, he nonchalantly asked the audience if they had ever heard of a Pube Bomb...naturally, no one answered because that's RIDICULOUS!! As they sat in bewilderment, he simply tossed the tiny bag of wonders atop the flame. 10 seconds passed... then the smell. Those downwind were the first to witness the horrifying smell (myself included). People started to clear out of the circle whilst shouts of SAW CREW IS VICTORIOUS and TALENT SHOW WINNER echoed over the lake. It was definitely a success, reinforced by the talk around the water cooler the next morning. We made our mark for sure.
This past week was our last week at Independence Mountain, where we've been living for the past 5 weeks. We finished our thinning project on Monday and felled trees for the rest of the week. I'm definitely feeling more comfortable with a 40 foot tree looming overehead than I was earlier in the season.
Now we move to our new worksite/home for the final 2 weeks of work. It's right near where Rendezvous was at a place called Pearl Lake, which is about an hour outside of Steamboat Springs. We are hopefully going to be felling hazard trees and maybe planting baby trees for our final projects. Then, we are going to breakup the work weeks with a 4 day backpacking trip in Medicine Bow National Forest. I've had a blast this summer, and can't believe the season is practically over. I am ready to return to civilization I think, but I know as soon as I'm driving through 'gansett surrounded by New York and Connecticut license plates, I'm going to wish I was back in the woods...
xo
Rendezvous was fun. Basically just chilled out at the lake..met some cool people from other crews... ate a lot of yummy dutch-oven food from the cook-off...and enjoyed some great talents around the campfire. Then there was the Pube Bomb... You may ask yourself, what exactly is a Pube Bomb?? Well the idea originated on the way back from a sunset hike in Buff Pass. How could we make our mark at the talent show?? What's something that would really grind some gears, but not have to potential to harm?? What's gross that we have a lot of?? Naturally, pubes came to mind (not my mind). Now the smell of burned hair is quite atrocious, but add the sweat and frumundacheese that happens to accumulate in the pubic area and that's a whole other story. The plan was to have the crew shave their pubes and collect them all into a paper bag and then throw it on the fire at Rendezvous, creating a memorable conclusion to an otherwise relatively wholesome campfire.
Although I did not personally contribute, most of my fellow crew members,along with the other Saw Crew, did. Needless to say, there was quite a pile. The delivery was carried out by my delightful 6' 7" dreaded friend Skeeter. Upon the apparent closure of the talent show/campfire, he raised his hand, signalling one final act. As he rose to his feet and approached the fire, he nonchalantly asked the audience if they had ever heard of a Pube Bomb...naturally, no one answered because that's RIDICULOUS!! As they sat in bewilderment, he simply tossed the tiny bag of wonders atop the flame. 10 seconds passed... then the smell. Those downwind were the first to witness the horrifying smell (myself included). People started to clear out of the circle whilst shouts of SAW CREW IS VICTORIOUS and TALENT SHOW WINNER echoed over the lake. It was definitely a success, reinforced by the talk around the water cooler the next morning. We made our mark for sure.
This past week was our last week at Independence Mountain, where we've been living for the past 5 weeks. We finished our thinning project on Monday and felled trees for the rest of the week. I'm definitely feeling more comfortable with a 40 foot tree looming overehead than I was earlier in the season.
Now we move to our new worksite/home for the final 2 weeks of work. It's right near where Rendezvous was at a place called Pearl Lake, which is about an hour outside of Steamboat Springs. We are hopefully going to be felling hazard trees and maybe planting baby trees for our final projects. Then, we are going to breakup the work weeks with a 4 day backpacking trip in Medicine Bow National Forest. I've had a blast this summer, and can't believe the season is practically over. I am ready to return to civilization I think, but I know as soon as I'm driving through 'gansett surrounded by New York and Connecticut license plates, I'm going to wish I was back in the woods...
xo
Friday, July 22, 2011
Weeks 7 & 8: Whoa...sandals. Right on
OK. So a lot has happened in the past couple of weeks. Let me think... So last week we were working on building a buck and rail fence, which was really fun actually. We utilized the wood we got from cutting down beetle kill trees and cut them into 5 foot long 'bucks'... then, at the work site, we used a jig to notch the bucks so they would fit together into Xs that we could use for the fence. The fence was built at North Sand Dunes Recreation Area...which is really awesome because you're in the middle of the mountains and then there's this big area of just sand. There used to be an inland sea there back in the day and then when the mountains formed the water evaporated and voila...SAND! The fence we built was put there to protect a plant that is suspected to be very endangered and is only found in this area...it's call the Boat Shaped Bug Seed...or something like that. A lot of the ATVers that use the sand dunes have been riding through the area that the plant occupies, so it was imperative that we establish a more distinct boundary with our fence. Now, hopefully the rogue riders will stick to the trails and this plant can be protected and studied securely.
This past week we did some more thinning... this next portion is also going to be posted on the RMYC website as our Saw 3 blog portion...but it explains moreso what we did.
We have spent 4 weeks up on Independence Mountain outside of Walden, CO. Our time has been occupied mostly by swatting away mosquitoes, but in our down time, we like to pick up a chainsaw or two and help out the BLM. One of the projects that we contributed to was tree thinning. The recent invasion of the pine beetle has left a great deal of Colorado forests in dismal condition. In an effort to prevent another influx of the devastating insect, we worked to make the trees more resilient. This new forest (planted back in the 60s& 70s) was pretty dense; therefore, the little trees that were trying to make it were battling it out in order to obtain the most resources. What we did was go in and cut down some of the trees in order to ensure that the dominant trees receive the highest amount of valuable resources and flourish. That way, if the beetles come around again, those dominant trees would be resilient enough to create enough sap to push out any unwanted visitors. We had about 27 acres allotted to us and worked on it for about 2 weeks. About 12 feet was to be left in between trees, give or take. The trees that we did cut down were then put into tipi-shaped slash piles, so they can be burned this coming winter. When you aren’t on the saw, you’re swamping- picking up the trees that didn’t make the cut. As a swamper, we developed some pretty exciting techniques when it came to getting tall trees up into a teepee shape. There’s the pole vautl; the heave ho; and the this is just too damn heavy. Buck it up!
The work site is about 15 minutes up the road from our marvelous campsite, which overlooks the Zirkle range. It also provides an awesome overlook to see storms a brewin. Stu, our resident weatherman, is never lost for words when it comes to predicting the projection of thunderheads or pressure systems. More often than not though, we just tug on Jake's ear and get a reading- it's a 50% chance of precipitation. Besides Lida’s breakfast song, one thing we on Saw 3 we like to remember daily is "Here on Independence Mountain, there aren't always mosquitoes ...sometimes it rains".
This past week we did some more thinning... this next portion is also going to be posted on the RMYC website as our Saw 3 blog portion...but it explains moreso what we did.
Saw 3: The GoodFellers
Tree Thinning: Atkins Ain't Got Nothing on Us
We have spent 4 weeks up on Independence Mountain outside of Walden, CO. Our time has been occupied mostly by swatting away mosquitoes, but in our down time, we like to pick up a chainsaw or two and help out the BLM. One of the projects that we contributed to was tree thinning. The recent invasion of the pine beetle has left a great deal of Colorado forests in dismal condition. In an effort to prevent another influx of the devastating insect, we worked to make the trees more resilient. This new forest (planted back in the 60s& 70s) was pretty dense; therefore, the little trees that were trying to make it were battling it out in order to obtain the most resources. What we did was go in and cut down some of the trees in order to ensure that the dominant trees receive the highest amount of valuable resources and flourish. That way, if the beetles come around again, those dominant trees would be resilient enough to create enough sap to push out any unwanted visitors. We had about 27 acres allotted to us and worked on it for about 2 weeks. About 12 feet was to be left in between trees, give or take. The trees that we did cut down were then put into tipi-shaped slash piles, so they can be burned this coming winter. When you aren’t on the saw, you’re swamping- picking up the trees that didn’t make the cut. As a swamper, we developed some pretty exciting techniques when it came to getting tall trees up into a teepee shape. There’s the pole vautl; the heave ho; and the this is just too damn heavy. Buck it up!
The work site is about 15 minutes up the road from our marvelous campsite, which overlooks the Zirkle range. It also provides an awesome overlook to see storms a brewin. Stu, our resident weatherman, is never lost for words when it comes to predicting the projection of thunderheads or pressure systems. More often than not though, we just tug on Jake's ear and get a reading- it's a 50% chance of precipitation. Besides Lida’s breakfast song, one thing we on Saw 3 we like to remember daily is "Here on Independence Mountain, there aren't always mosquitoes ...sometimes it rains".
______________________________________________________
This weekend is Rendezvous at Steamboat Lake. RMYC puts it together and it's basically a big gathering for all of the crews (11 i think all together) to mingle and participate in FUNTIVITIES and workshops. I'm hoping it's more like chill at the lake and less like Michael Scott's Beach Day (if it is shotty Team Voldemort)... which brings me to my next exciting news. HARRY POTTER 3D SUNDAY!!!! hopefully...unless my leader is a complete muggle about it :/... I'm trying to butter him up by going above and beyond the call of duty this weekend. Trying to rack up what I call Potter Points. So wish me luck!! Also, Stu and I are representing the GoodFellers in the cookoff this weekend. Gonna make Mushroom Risotto and Balsamic Pork Loin... hopefully the Iron Chef Chairman will do a back flip for us!
ooo and i have photos this week from Jake's camera!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Week 6: Half way through... wowzerrrss
Wow already half way through the summer. Some skills I've developed so far: 1) How to properly handle a chainsaw 2) How to hold my own amongst a plethura of male genitalia and bodily function humor 3) Knowing when i can change my underwear and still have a clean pair come laundry day 4) The exact angle my pants must be in vicinity to my ankles to NOT pee on them in the woods 5) How to kill 5 mosquitoes with a single fist 6) How to fall asleep without a TV showing playing on my laptop 7) How to deal with other people selecting the music for the car rides 8) How to avoid not being "it" in fart tag (just act like you don't care if anyone farts on you...then they don't :) ) 9) How to block out the odors that arise from showering but once a week and finally 10) How to deal with a viscious case of trailgoggles when you enter back into town (they're kind of like beergoggles). It helps you from checking out any guy with a pulse
But in all seriousness, I've learned a lot out here so far. I am definitely comfortable with using a chainsaw when before I left, my dad showed my for like 10 minutes on a log in our yard and i was very hesitant...freaked out even. I am able to go without constant sensory stimulation, when before I couldn't even walk to campus without my ipod. I am reading so many interesting books and learning lots just from the people i'm with 24/7. I split wood for our fire for the first time yesterday using only a hatchet. I do miss elements of my primary lifestyle, but I'm not desperately yearning them.
This past week we began cutting down hazard trees (dead trees that could potentially get blown over by wind into roads). These trees that we cut are going to be the material that we use in our buck and rail fence that we will begin building this week. Buck and rail has the x's with the post lying horzontally between them...?... I'll try to post pictures. I was pretty nervous to begin actually cutting down big trees this week because even though we learned the method and everything in our trainings, I was not that confident. Stu, my leader, stuck with Lida and I all week though and we are definitely improving. I went from cutting a tree probably 6 inches in diameter to a much larger one that was like 12 - 14 inches by the end of the week. It's actually really fun once you get over the fact that there's a 40 foot tree looming over your head.
This weekend we are staying local because it was a shorter weekend since we had Monday off for the 4th and had to work Friday. I'm in Steamboat Springs right now. It's a mobscene. There is a hotair balloon rodeo...?? IDK. Lots of vendors and like fleamarket type deal. But I'm going to go to see Evan from Outward Bound play in a Rugby tournament that's up by the ski area. Then it's back to camp tonight. Hopefully swimming in Lake John tomorrow. I definitely miss the beach, but mountain lakes aren't too bad either.
Skeeter and Jake finally shaved their facial hair today. They decided to do "Fu Man Chu" style..?? Fumanchu I think i'm gonna let mine grow out though. When in Rome right??
Hope everyone is enjoying their summer just as much as I am!! I always love hearing from people, so drop me a line or send me a singing telegram.
xo
The buck and rail fence is the second from the left
But in all seriousness, I've learned a lot out here so far. I am definitely comfortable with using a chainsaw when before I left, my dad showed my for like 10 minutes on a log in our yard and i was very hesitant...freaked out even. I am able to go without constant sensory stimulation, when before I couldn't even walk to campus without my ipod. I am reading so many interesting books and learning lots just from the people i'm with 24/7. I split wood for our fire for the first time yesterday using only a hatchet. I do miss elements of my primary lifestyle, but I'm not desperately yearning them.
This past week we began cutting down hazard trees (dead trees that could potentially get blown over by wind into roads). These trees that we cut are going to be the material that we use in our buck and rail fence that we will begin building this week. Buck and rail has the x's with the post lying horzontally between them...?... I'll try to post pictures. I was pretty nervous to begin actually cutting down big trees this week because even though we learned the method and everything in our trainings, I was not that confident. Stu, my leader, stuck with Lida and I all week though and we are definitely improving. I went from cutting a tree probably 6 inches in diameter to a much larger one that was like 12 - 14 inches by the end of the week. It's actually really fun once you get over the fact that there's a 40 foot tree looming over your head.
This weekend we are staying local because it was a shorter weekend since we had Monday off for the 4th and had to work Friday. I'm in Steamboat Springs right now. It's a mobscene. There is a hotair balloon rodeo...?? IDK. Lots of vendors and like fleamarket type deal. But I'm going to go to see Evan from Outward Bound play in a Rugby tournament that's up by the ski area. Then it's back to camp tonight. Hopefully swimming in Lake John tomorrow. I definitely miss the beach, but mountain lakes aren't too bad either.
Skeeter and Jake finally shaved their facial hair today. They decided to do "Fu Man Chu" style..?? Fumanchu I think i'm gonna let mine grow out though. When in Rome right??
Hope everyone is enjoying their summer just as much as I am!! I always love hearing from people, so drop me a line or send me a singing telegram.
xo
The buck and rail fence is the second from the left
Friday, July 1, 2011
Week 5: Starting to feel a little like the Griswolds
So this week, I'm comparing my experience on the "Goodfellers" to that of Clark W. Griswold in Christmas vacation. There's the obvious cutting down of the trees and having the sap remnants linger on my left middle finger, where a hole has been worn in my glove. At night, as I finger through the pages of my latest book (i'm reading more books than a procrastinating English major btw, which rocks) the lone sappy finger often catches the page. Luckily there's no Cousin Eddy equivalent on my crew (although i do wish someone rocked the dickie), however, the phrase "shitter was full" often comes to mind as someone realizes the trench for the poopchair has reached its capacity and has to dig a new one. Now we have a dog too!! My leader's German Shepard is with us for the weekend :) I'm so happy to have a doggy with us. He dribbles a basketball around with his snout...so cute! Makes me want another dog more and more.... oh mommmmm ;)
SO, recap of the week. We are camping outside of Walden, CO..which is like nothingtownville, USA, but our campsite is on a mountain with a view of the Zirkel mountain range (SO SICKKK). We have it all to ourselves, which also rocks. The only drawback are the bugs. I hate using DEET, but it's kind of necessary... eating lots of garlic...hopefully that'll keep them away too. (oh sidenote before i forget: confirmed that i will be able to see HP while i'm out here!! SIGH OF RELIEF!!!)
THis week we started a new project, which is up the mountain from our campsite about 10 minutes or so. The whole tree thinning thing i discussed last week. It wasn't bad at all! The only thing is Monday, I knicked my chaps (yep assless and everything). They are made of Kevlar (sp?) fibers to protect the chainsaw from gnawing into your legs. The saw was on idle and i had it resting on my right leg in order to put the chainbreak on, but the chain still moves kind of... it pivoted just right so that it got my left leg. BUT the chaps did what they were supposed to do and stopped my chain. Didn't even cut through my pants! So all is well. But it's policy that you have to "swamp" (move trees and limbs out of the way for the sawyers) for 3 days if you cut your chaps, so that's what i did for the rest of the week...yea my biceps are kind of a big deal now.
4th of july weekend: We are camping outside of Leadville, CO with another saw crew until Monday (we get the day off). Hopefully, if the weather holds up we are going to be hiking Mt. Elbert and Mt. Massif, which are the 2 tallest peaks in Colorado...(2nd and 3rd in the Continental US). That would be sick!!! We have to leave wicked early to do it though because at that altitude the storms get really bad in the afternoon... it's pretty much like clockwork. So we are waking up at like 430am tomorrow i think so we can summit by like 9 and be down by 11. Got my work cut out for me i think.
My crew keeps asking how much i write about them individually soooooooooo here goes. Jake, Skeeter, Alex, Peter, Stu, Sam, Colin, Lida. How's that for namedropping?!
Half way through the season... crazy thought.
Happy Birthday 'MURICAH
PUnmaster,
reveal yourself... I'm stumped (yea that just happened)
SO, recap of the week. We are camping outside of Walden, CO..which is like nothingtownville, USA, but our campsite is on a mountain with a view of the Zirkel mountain range (SO SICKKK). We have it all to ourselves, which also rocks. The only drawback are the bugs. I hate using DEET, but it's kind of necessary... eating lots of garlic...hopefully that'll keep them away too. (oh sidenote before i forget: confirmed that i will be able to see HP while i'm out here!! SIGH OF RELIEF!!!)
THis week we started a new project, which is up the mountain from our campsite about 10 minutes or so. The whole tree thinning thing i discussed last week. It wasn't bad at all! The only thing is Monday, I knicked my chaps (yep assless and everything). They are made of Kevlar (sp?) fibers to protect the chainsaw from gnawing into your legs. The saw was on idle and i had it resting on my right leg in order to put the chainbreak on, but the chain still moves kind of... it pivoted just right so that it got my left leg. BUT the chaps did what they were supposed to do and stopped my chain. Didn't even cut through my pants! So all is well. But it's policy that you have to "swamp" (move trees and limbs out of the way for the sawyers) for 3 days if you cut your chaps, so that's what i did for the rest of the week...yea my biceps are kind of a big deal now.
4th of july weekend: We are camping outside of Leadville, CO with another saw crew until Monday (we get the day off). Hopefully, if the weather holds up we are going to be hiking Mt. Elbert and Mt. Massif, which are the 2 tallest peaks in Colorado...(2nd and 3rd in the Continental US). That would be sick!!! We have to leave wicked early to do it though because at that altitude the storms get really bad in the afternoon... it's pretty much like clockwork. So we are waking up at like 430am tomorrow i think so we can summit by like 9 and be down by 11. Got my work cut out for me i think.
My crew keeps asking how much i write about them individually soooooooooo here goes. Jake, Skeeter, Alex, Peter, Stu, Sam, Colin, Lida. How's that for namedropping?!
Half way through the season... crazy thought.
Happy Birthday 'MURICAH
PUnmaster,
reveal yourself... I'm stumped (yea that just happened)
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