MCC Alumni Mark Genito and Zoe Zulakis named finalists in the AmeriCorps Week Photo Contest

Check it out and vote here: www.americorpscontest.org

Zoe Zulakis recounts the adventure behind the photograph:

It was easily our most physically demanding hitch. It was an eight day hitch, three days of which involved hiking up to Ptarmigan Tunnel to open it up for the season. The tunnel connects two valleys through ptarmigan wall and is very popular among visitors to the park. Hiking 2300 feet in 5 miles was STEEP and I don't think any of us had ever done it before. For our crew it was an incredible bonding experience because it was so challenging and it was so incredible. I've never been to such a beautiful place in my life. We were very proud of the work that we did there, even though most of it was rocking and shoveling, and that is probably because we tested ourselves and we made it.

As far as the story behind the photo: the trek, as the photo shows, was covered in a significant amount of snow. Sometimes we slipped and slid down the mountain side. It was REALLY difficult to climb back up. I so happened to turn around (I think that I was turning around to help Felesha) and noticed that Steve already was. I knew that it was an incredible photo moment, and really symbolized everything that MCC means. Hard work, and Team work, in the most beautiful place in the world. So I took the photo. I'm glad that I did.