The big move is coming!

So the last two weeks have been relatively chill at work and I haven't really had much of a chance to take pictures. Starting this next week though, I'll be living and working out of Las Vegas, so the scenery will be changing and the projects, very different. The old camera will have to make a visit to the worksite in order to document said move, as well as the first week with the whole crew for the first time! Get ready for some pictures of the middle of California during my drive to Las Vegas and the first week of work in Lovell Canyon...

A training session!

So, last week, I was still with my normal crew, but we have been shoved together with another crew to allow a supervisor to take a sabbatical. it made our crew grow from 4 to 8, which was really cool! It gave me and Andy a chance to really try out our ability to lead more people.


But! after a day off, I was asked to be apart of a National Civilian Conservation Corps Team Leader training. They needed to learn how to build trail and then be able to teach their new crews how to build trail without us. They are a great group of people, FILLED with positivity and excitement. They've been with each other and only each other for the last 2 weeks, but you would never know! They manage to work with each other as a great team no matter who is put together and they work so hard it's ridiculous. We managed to redo an entire trail (3 miles) of the historic Flume Trail at Lake Tahoe. It was mostly moving sand, which is normally a boring job but they made it so much fun for me and them.



This is my excitement at working with the ever positive NCCC.
They loved the views and enjoyed eating lunch at some amazing vistas.

They get all of their gear given to them from the government (they are a national program instead of a state program like the NCC) and they rock it so hard!
Break time!
NCCC love! These boys worked like BEASTS all 3 days of training.


Safety meeting in the morning was freezing. Literally we were waking up to less than 32 degree weather. Every night was extraordinarily cold, and yet they kept an amazingly happy attitude.

I leave you with a beautiful view of Tahoe, but sadly it could never show how beautiful it is in real life. It is something all of those team leaders will hopefully keep in their mind while they are leading their new teams throughout the southwest and south in general. I loved working with them and they really brought a new light to my job that I can only hope I can pass on to my own crew. They taught me some things that I'm not sure I could even explain to them when they left because it's so ethereal and extraordinary, and I am bringing it next week to my crew as best as I can. I thank them for their excitement and teaching me how our job can continue to be fabulous no matter the downturn of events. Thank you thank you thank you NCCC!

The beginning of a new era...

Thus begins the a new era of NCC members. Year-long of course, and far more hardcore then I ever had to be. These guys are not only working and camping during the week, they are also camping on the weekends as well because we are all moving down to Vegas starting in October. This is a new way to run things, but it's definitely going to be interesting.
This is a chipmunk, blown up in size, that was staring at us, literally for minutes. Super creepy, and I had to show how weird this little creatures can be.
The new crew on break.
Rachel looking out over Tahoe...
Dustin and Sarah eating lunch on a nice outlook.
And a sweet group pic on a Thursday.

Orientation!

Well, Orientation started off with a bang, and tons of new people enjoying their new times. It definitely was a new beginning for a lot of them, and there was a lot of new tasks to learn, especially the swinging of a tool. As you can see below...

Or the sawing of trees...
They learned the names of tools and how to use them/carry them.
Or how to move rocks around with large sticks of steel.
They learned the 6 steps of Kate's trailbuilding.
And especially how to make funny faces at me while I'm trying to take pictures.
Mark Twain is from Nevada, and he graces the bench of a gas station on the way to work, Topher decided to sit with him for a while.
Nina, with her morning coffee!

All of the leaders getting ready for the days events.
And making faces at our new plans...
All ending with the Overall Triplets...

The Summer!

Well, the summer started with a lot of to do because of the first ever NCC youth crews coming into the mix. I was to be their leader, and we were to have fun and build lots of trail! So that's exactly what we did. Here are some photos of our exploits, adventures, and sweet sweet trail building!
Group shot in the van. Please note their awesome expressions for the most part. I loved these kids!
Dinner time!

Sleepy time!!
Morning hacky-sack!
This is Lake Tahoe from our first worksite. Absolutely beautiful vistas... I couldn't ask for a better work place.

Group photo of my crew on a log!

Obviously my co-crew leader works far too hard, he's even got dirt in his teeth...

Weeks 20- the summer...

Okie dokes folks (yeah, I went there), I bought a new camera and it's supposed to arrive in two days! Also, I thought I would catch you up on some of the projects and things going on in my version of the NCC.

After Dayton in March (wow, long time ago huh?), I've done several different projects including but not limited to: trail work/restoration at Washoe Lake, a Lovell Canyon tour with my old crew, and then another Lovell Canyon tour with the new crew leaders and supervisors. Yup, that's right everyone, I got a promotion to crew leader. But not just any crew leader, a YOUTH crew leader! Exactly what I wanted! (For real, no sarcasm whatsoever) After the Lovell Canyon tour, we had leadership training around the Tahoe area. Chainsaws, advanced trail work, Wilderness First Aid training, and several other terribly exciting moments. Our next job was orientation with the new summer people. Unfortunately this did not involve the new youth that I was to work with, but it was still fun and it was nice to meet some new people. Lots of learning and tons of excitement. It was kinda cool as well, to be on the other side of the crew member fence as a crew leader. I forgot how much more fun it is to be in charge instead of entirely grunt labour. After orientation, we youth crew leaders had 3 weeks until our proteges arrived so we became our own crew, all 5 of us.

We went to a place called Water Canyon, outside Winnemucca, NV. Though originally I thought it was barren, I was obviously delusional because this place was gorgeous! There was a beautiful stream that ran through the valley, and we were working right beside it. Together with one other AmeriCorps member employed by a group called, Nevada Outdoor School, we were rehabilitating a trail that already existed and making it FAR better then it was originally. Sadly, the weather was awful, and by awful I merely mean it rained, and thunderstormed every day but the last. Camping was terrible because of this, and it definitely was not fun to attempt cooking in it. Far from that though, it was a fun project and it was even more fun to work with another AmeriCorps member who was excited about this particular project and was willing to help to the extent that he did.

After that week, I was supposed to stay with the Youth crew leaders, but because of an unfortunate fall, and wrenching my knee, I was put on "light duty" by the doctor. Though the timing was great for me, it was sad for another crew leader because a member of her family died, but I took over her position as crew leader with a visiting youth crew from New Mexico. The age range was 17-20 and they are all at-risk, for various reasons and mostly involving illegal substances. It was hard work. Very hard work. They kept me on my toes, insisted that I keep them on their toes (by their actions.. believe me, these kids were a handfull when it came to getting them to work), and overall I had a blast! I learned more in those two weeks working with them then I've learned in my entire time in the NCC. Seriously. I had to keep my patience, learn to listen more then talk, and then evaluate what I had heard into some sense of normal speak that convinced them that doing the right thing was far better for their well-being then doing the wrong thing. It didn't always go well, but I think by the end of the two weeks that I worked with them, I had the majority of their respect and managed to quell a few fires along the way. I would do a blow-by-blow account of the time I spent with them, but it would make a novel and I can't imagine anyone really wants to know all that.

Now that their original crew leader is back, it was time to return to the youth crew leaders because orientation for our own youth was fast approaching. In fact, we are midway through their first week as Great Basin Naturalists (basically the youth version of the NCC). Their age range is 17-18, and they seem like a great group of kids so far. I'm super stoked about working with them over the next 2 months and as sad as it made me originally, none of them are at-risk, which could prove to be a positive and negative. We shall see.

Believe me now when I say, I will attempt to keep this updated far better from now on, and sorry to all my loyal readers... aka, my parents and grandma. Everyone else in the world, well, you should read this too, just because I'm THAT entertaining.

Ok, so I lost my camera in San Francisco on some time off and have not made any new posts. Bad blogger? I would say so. Thus, until I purchase a new camera, or receive my old one from the place I lost it, unless something totally exciting and fabulous happens more then likely I won't be posting much. Sorry. For me and you this is a sad thing.

Week 19 - Dayton State Park Trail Maintenance

Week 19 and it was back to Dayton State Park. Continuing our work on the trail we maintenanced last time, we were excited because apparently there was a whole other section of trail that we had never even seen and there was rock work to be done!
This is NOT a couch. I could have sworn to you it was, but of course I was wrong. It's a water break made of metal, but it really, truly looks like a coach in the middle of the water....
Day 2, and no lie, we got to do rock work like the bossman promised! It was a staircase to be built by only our crew because of the lack of rock work we got to do in Lovell Canyon.
11 steps later, we had the most beautiful staircase on the entire trail. And I'm not just saying that, I really mean it, it's gorgeous.
Dan and Graham, another two corpsmembers joined us for the week (after enjoying an 8 day with their own crew in Arizona) and worked for their first time on trails.
Part of the job was to cut off various trails of socialness, meaning that people made them because they weren't sure where they were allowed to be. One of the methods we use to cover those social trails is called "vertical mulching", which basically means we dig holes and replant plants already in the area. Though most of them will probably die, it's better then just stacking large amounts of sticks and logs to keep people from going places they shouldn't. The hope is that most of them will live through the move.
These are the two sage bushes that took over those large holes above. Graham and Molly posed for me with thumbs raised high to show the awesomeness of their work!
Ahh! What a sexy staircase! Alongside the stairs are what we call "gargoyles", they keep people on the staircase and along with the extra rocks (read: scree), we can almost guarantee that people will not try and walk up the hillside along the stairs and thus we don't have to worry about erosion.
Group picture of the wonderful people who spent a day and a half building that wonderful piece of art...
Day 3 and there is still tons of work to be done to this park. The bosses were hoping that we would be done with the whole of the park by day 3, but there was so much still to be done that the call was made and we ended up staying the rest of the week working fast and furious to finish everything in time!
Back at camp and I took a few photos to show the life and styles of living in the NCC.
Group photo! Somehow I did not have my camera set up well and it was way off of being like I wanted it. Instead I think it kind of came out better and much more... shall we say, artistic...
Angry, very poisonous centipede! Found him under a rock, and then poked him with a stick so I could get a good picture of him. Nice!
All the cool kids sit against the rock wall at lunch. Haha, it was so beautiful outside, not too hot and not too cold, so it was wonderful during breaks.
Though we did not build this set of stairs, we did put the gargoyles in here.This week was really nice. We worked really hard and the weather was perfect. Unfortunately, this next week I will be in Seattle on a vacation/grad school interviews, so I will not be with my crew. I will be working one day, and I'll probably put pictures up from that as well as ones from my trip to Seattle/Bellingham. I have no idea what we're doing when I get back to work next week, but until then, enjoy!