This past week was our crew's first week together, and first week working. We faced a big challenge, as our first assignment was a 4.5 mile hike into the back country. We scaled 2,000 ft. in elevation for our first project, which was preventing the erosion of trails in the White River National Forest. I think facing this challenging week was a big source of growth and team building for our crew. Plus, we got enormous payoffs in views of the surrounding mountains - being so high up and being able to see so far was dizzying at times.
This first week on trail has undoubtedly expanded my sense of how big the world is. First, in meeting nine new incredible people and becoming close to them in just a few days reminds me of how many people are out there to meet. Furthermore, traveling places primarily on foot gave me a very concrete sense of how gigantic the earth is. Seeing untouched wilderness places also added to this sense, that there is still so much earth void of humans every day. Our crew talked about this in a nighttime van ride after our first work week in the backwoods - all the small places we had seen, like a rushing creek we stopped at during a hike, still continue out there in the world, empty of people, and only we and a small fraction of humanity had touched and been touched by places. As we got to our new campsite, it was profound and comforting to think of the beautiful creek rushing on, and of our mountain standing on in pastoral silence.
I think our group is already a great team. We love listening to and making music. All of our senses of humor mesh well so that even hanging out and doing nothing (which isn't very often) is still very entertaining. Everyone brings a few hidden talents to the table. We like making parody songs - this past week was "My Sump" to the tune of a Black Eyed Peas song (sumping is where the crew dumps out dirty dish water in an eco-friendly manner). We were also all SUPER STOKED when we saw a mama and baby bear close to our campsite during one of our off days. Our crew definitely loves adventure, but we also work hard. We sought out a free sulfur hot spring to play in, but when we arrived, some crew members started hauling rocks to make the area better. We certainly take pride in our work, and I can't wait to see what next week has in store for us!
-Trail Crew G (#gorillagang)
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