First Hitch of a New Beginning - Paul Twedt WWCM

The mornings were chilly and Carhartts were downright cold, but fresh coffee and a stretch circle do wonders to wake us up and get us ready for the day. The mountains surrounding our camp are a phenomenal backdrop for our viewing pleasure throughout the work days. Working hard to remove brush from an overgrown trail has been tough, but fun at the same time because we get to use tools (brush-cutters and chainsaws) that we would probably not be using if we weren’t here with the MCC. We have rotated duties each workday so that our crewmembers have gotten a variety of work including digging trail re-routes, falling and bucking trees with chainsaws, and clearing brush. Our crew is comprised of a very broad spectrum of people, but we all seem to communicate well because we are all open to new ideas and differing points of view. Our crew leaders gave us a very thorough demonstration of how to properly and safely fall a large tree at the end of one of the first days. They had a very funny teaching point about remembering to always use a sharp saw to drop a big tree. Rain plagued us for a few days mid-hitch, but didn’t slow down our work. We were even able to enjoy a night around a fire despite the rainy weather. Evening hikes around the surrounding mountains really enable my crewmembers and I to experience the beauty of our location and appreciate the work we are doing here at Grizzly Creek. We are able to expand our sense of place by gaining knowledge of the area by navigating with topographical maps on our hikes. By seeing and experiencing the area, we learn more about it and begin to feel “at home”. On our last day of the hitch we were surprised to find moose tracks following the trail we were working so hard to clear. It was really exciting to follow the tracks down the trail we were working even though we didn’t see the moose itself. It’s great to see that while we are benefitting the human trails users, we are also not disturbing the wildlife. With the excellent crew dynamics we have shown each other, I am excited to see what this summer’s experiences will bring us.