Welcome to the Adventure: A month in!

Sept. 21st, 2007

Day 1: There were two fences to build, both on the same property because some lady in South Lake Tahoe thought it was okay to build her own fence, and then use the land around the fence to drive through. Obviously, the NCC was there to stop that immediately with our custom built worm and straight style fence.

Funny story about that lady though, despite disliking the fact that we were putting up a fence, she actually brought out a bag of grapes, and diet pepsi at lunch time. No one really drank the soda cause it's really hot, but the grapes were a nice touch. We all kind of laughed about it, especially when she then offered her toilet (which we are DEFINITELY not allowed to use).

That night, we had dinner at camp, and by popular demand (which I will never understand) we had ramen noodles, but to make it as healthy as possible, we bought a few different veggies to cook up and put in it. It was very nice actually, especially if you didn't add too much of the salty stuff. Unfortunately for us, we left a few things out (much to our crew sup's dismay) and bears came around the camp that night, and every night after that.

Day 2: Two more fences to build, and a 2 acre plot to reveg. Again, we were in South Lake Tahoe, and both fences were on the same lot, but this time, the fences were being built because of other people that didn't live there. You could see the tire tracks from the road. I used the chainsaw this day, and let me tell you, it is hard work; you can feel the burn.

Around noon when we take lunch, we were done with the second fence, and the other half of our crew had gone to reveg at another site. What they didn't know was that our van was about to die. Yup, right there in someone's driveway our van up and quit. So, being the hardcore chicks we are, 3 of us get in front of this 15 passenger van and start pushin'. Uphill. Both ways. It was intense to say the least. By the time our sup had come back with the truck we had it up and over the hill and on flat ground so we could jump it. It worked after that, but everytime we wanted to start the van, we had to put it in neutral first and then into drive.

Day 3: The night before was windy, and we thought there were tons of bears in the vicinity (very possible). I actually had my tent picked up around me and I kind of freaked out to say the least. But the next morning found us well, and Andrew our leader was very well when he found this sweet sweet chainsaw at the US Forest Service's garage. It has a 48" bar, and let me just mention that there are actually only 3 people in the entire state that can use this saw to it's fullest potential.

This was the range right in front of where we were working for the day. It was beautiful (but windy) and the clouds were everywhere. Once again we had two more fences to build on the same lot. They were both much longer so they took the whole day to finish. It was well worth it, and they looked rather dashing.

This is Becky on the saw. It's intense work, and all of us that are certified to use it get quite the work out, even on fences. I almost feel sorry for the chainsaw crews because you can literally feel the burn in your forearms.

That evening before dinner was even done we saw a family of black bears in plain sight. It's kind of not a good thing actually because they have been retreating further and further into the city area, and not just Lake Tahoe, they have been seen as far as East Reno. Unfortunately for the bears, every time they are caught in a people-dominated place, they are tagged, and when they are tagged twice they are taken in to be euthanized because they are then deemed as pests. It's "necessary" apparently, but it's still a very unfortunate thing that could be helped by being very careful with food and other such items.

That evening for dinner we had Tortilla Pizzas. It was suggested by the man to the left, our crew leader Andrew. He doesn't even eat with us, but it was probably his best idea ever (other than the fish tacos from the week before). Tortilla Pizzas are basically quesadillas with pizza sauce instead of beans and salsa. They are freakin' genius, no joke.

That evening while driving to the 7-eleven to pick up hot chocolate because of the cold, we saw our first set of snow clouds. Not a good sign. We were slated to have 2 inches of snow, and I'm pretty sure we all prayed that it would at least spare our campsite, and be gone by morning. This was not to be the case.

Day 4: It wasn't much snow, but it was enough to cause a lot of sleet and rain and thus some people had soaked tents and sleeping bags when they woke up. I was lucky as far as getting wet inside the tent, but most definitely had to deal with a very wet, very gross tent in the morning. Once more we had two fences to build, and actually the USFS didn't think we would get as much done as we did and had to come up with projects for us to do. We rock the fencing world.

That is actually a range behind all of those clouds, and at 8:30 in the morning, it is not something you want to see. I was wearing 4 layers, and I was still cold until about 10 am.

Needless to say, I was an unhappy Beth. Completely disgusted with the weather we went back to work...

Thus, when it cleared up around 10:30 am, I was a much happier Beth...

As pictured here.

Now it's time for a little story of what happened the last afternoon before going back to Reno. We work for the Forest Service as most of you know by now, and that means that they take care of all fire damage to Lake Tahoe. So as an educational fieldtrip, they took us to the airport in Lake Tahoe where they are finishing up a very interesting process for mulching the areas that were burned. It's called hydromulching.

These are all the supplies they use: recycled biodegradable paper, a glue-y substance, green dye, and wood pieces. This sticks to the ground, but they get it up in the air with these....

...sweet one seater planes!

Then the guy standing on the wing acts as a green stuff gauge, and he tells this guy below to turn it off.

He was really awesome and answered any questions I had. I asked him all about how boring it gets, and what they do in their spare time, and he told me that he liked to decorate his helmet, so I took a picture of it. Then I took another set of pictures of a landing plane cause I thought Dad would dig it...