Monday: Traveled from Denver, to Lake George, then to Black Mountain. I did not recognize the place without the 7 feet of snow. It is not as much a Black Hole of Despair that it was in March. Also the showers no longer spit poop at you.
Tuesday: We went to a prescribed burn. Only 50 acres this time. I got to light it though. It was physically difficult to wear the ~25lb pack, carry a drip torch and a tool while walking back and forth across a steep and densely wooded area. I lit for 4 hours before asking to switch with someone who was holding the line. After lighting I patrolled the perimeter of the burn, watching for spot fires. After the fire was lit we left.
Wednesday, Thursday & Friday: We have been working with Alphonso’s seasonal crew cutting, piling and chipping trees on Black Mountain preparing the area for a prescribed burn they will do this fall. While working with Alphonso’s crew we played the “phonetic alphabet game” which consists of each person saying the next word in the phonetic alphabet down the line, over and over again, and doing pushups if you don’t know it. By then end of the day Brendan and I knew it.
Saturday: The team went to the Great Sand Dunes for a service learning trip. We learned about sand dunes, the different geological structures present in the area, as well as the surrounding grasslands, different ways the sand dunes are formed, and the effects of sand, wind and water on the environment. The wind was terrible. There were gusts up to 40mph. The winds blew sandy bullets at my legs rubbing my skin raw. Eventually I just walked along the nearby creek, where the sand was not able to sting me continuously.
Here is a poem I wrote:
Sand
Blowing in the wind
Not Blowing. Shooting.
Shooting tiny sandy bullets at my legs.
Ankles, Calves, Thighs.
My mind can see a body
Soon a skeleton scoured clean.
Scouring Sands
I fear my legs will soon be bones.
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