More Chainsawin'

Yesterday Liz and Noel got chainsaw certified! YAY! Now the whole team is ready to kill trees! This week, after a long weekend of snow and no water at the bunkhouses we were moved into an abbey in Canon city. It was nice, hot showers, cell phone service, meals provided at the cafeteria. The commute to Black Mountain was the same length as it is from the bunkhouse too. One day we spent at the forest service office, cleaning chainsaws, learning to use the grinder, and learning to make chains. We also watched some training videos and learned about the local forest service and the BLM. Now we've got another three days to finish sawing the stretch of land we;ve been clearing, then, back to Lake George before Spring Break!

3/20/2010

Yesterday we had a huge snowstorm. Theres snow up to my eyeballs at the bunkhouse. Also Marshall has decided not to rejoin us at our fire management project. He's asked to be transferred to a traditional team. I'm sad because Marhsall was always the most ready with a compliment. Marshall always has something nice to say, particularly when he was telling me I'm a good cook, that he appreciates what I do, or just telling my I'm badass. In other negative emotions, I'm pissed. 5 of the guys left the bunkhouse this morning to go and get internet and phone signal, and didnt even offer the girls house the opportunity to get out of the black hole of despair that we live in. Its blatant sexism to keep the girls segregated then not offer equal opportunities to us. Its too bad Jeremy always tells me to stop complaining when I try to address the unequal treatment. Two more weeks until we go back to Lake George. Where we are still segregated but I can at least make phone calls.

3/17/2010

Our week this week has been tough. We've been preparing an area for a prescribed burn by cutting down trees within 10 feet of the road on Black Mountain. We've been piling it by the roadside, and later on we'll use the woodchipper to reduce the materials. This ordinarily would be no small task. However the difficulty is compounded by the degree of the slope we are working on. At the best spots the slope is about 45degrees. At its worst its like looking over the side of a cliff. Even parking at the side of the road is daunting. Its difficult to try and climb up the muddy and slippery slopes while carrying the large branches. I cannot help but think of the Greek myth of Sisyphus, doomed forever to push a boulder up a hill in Hades, only to have it perpetually slipping down.

Transition Week -Monday

Today after our Unit meeting our team worked on our debrief. The most enjoyable part was creating a list of project highlights. Here it is.
· Seeing a cattle stampede
· Russ, our Fantastic supervisor
· Cutting 60 acres of Ponderosa Pines (40 in 1 week!)
· 565 piles burned
· Using chainsaws
· Living in the beautiful Picketwire Canyon
· Awesome living conditions (2 houses, 8 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, awesome kitchens)
· Seeing “the zookeeper” a tribal artwork on a cliff wall
· Ayla’s reaction to seeing trees on fire “DO YOU SEE THIS!!”
· The time Ayla got lost (across the street)
· Xbox in the guys house
· Katie’s cooking
· The time Josh spilled chainsaw gas on his balls
· Meeting Mr. Strifler aka Striff Daddy
· Good team dynamics/cohesion
· Excelling at face cuts when felling trees

Transition Week -Sunday

Once again we have returned to campus for a week of debriefs, briefs, and all around pseudo-educational meetings. Currently Noel and I are working on the team's portfolio, editing it before turning it in to our Unit Developer. Working on this document has given me a chance to see exactly what we've accomplished over the last two months. So here is a copy of our results:

·9 or the 11 team members are certified as Class A sawyers.
·Replaced culvert along handicapped accessible trail at Vogel Canyon picnic area.
·Repaired several trails at Vogel Canyon picnic area to bolster handicapped accessibility,
·Installed approximately four miles of markers along Prairie Chicken allotment boundary fence.
·Removed 2.5 miles of fence within the Packstring and Carrizo Swing allotments.
·Created a slash pile of wooden fence posts at the Carrizo Work Center.
·Rolled approximately ten miles of barbed wire fences for disposal.
·Cut piles and chemically treated tamarisk along the Purgatoire River: (Cut four acres, sprayed 50 gallons of chemical, and created 20 large tamarisk piles to be burned at a later date).
·Cleaned and maintained the Carrizo Work Center shop.
·Underwent important fire suppression training.
·Received hours of vital chainsaw experience.
·Burned over 565 piles.
·Cleared 60 acres of mistletoe infested Ponderosa Pine trees.

The one thing I'm ecstatic about right now is biking! Before we left Lake George I bought a beautiful Cannondale Mountain Bike! One of my goals for third round is to bike to the top of Pikes Peak. I cannot wait to be able to ride. After this week in Denver we are going to spend three weeks working in Black Mountain before returning to Lake George for Spring Break. By that time I hope it will be warm enough to bike often.

The temperature in Denver is ridiculously warm! Yesterday after we got back to campus I was hanging out outside without a sweatshirt or jacket. Its sunny and beautiful, not a snowdrift in sight.