8 days in the backcountry. Woo!

Eight days in the backcountry means six days off. I have a six day weekend, as my reward for backpacking. Can I please do this forever?

Okay, so, those eight days were grueling - possibly the most physically challenging thing I have ever done (I only say possibly because high school volleyball tryouts might have been on the same level). Pot Peak trail climbs over a mile vertically in 10 miles of trail - most of that in the first 5 miles. It's built for Off Highway Vehicles - dirt bikes and horses and other methods of transportation that don't include good old-fashioned hoofing it. What that means is that the trail has fewer switchbacks than a backpacker would like, very steeply banked turns, and that the wheels of dirt bikes have dug out ditches in the middle of the trail and shaped it into a ten mile long miniature half-pipe. Which SUCKS to walk on, because there's no flat ground and your ankles are perpetually at an angle. Oh yeah, and we each had about 7 pounds of 8-inch leather boot on most of the time. We all learned the value of wool socks. Cotton gives you blisters - quickly.

Anyway. We hiked about 3 miles with our packs the first day, until we were stopped by the forest service guys who had gone to find our campsite on dirt bikes. Our leaders, Luke and Wayne, had hiked up to where we were told the campsite would be the day before, but they couldn't find it or the spring that was supposed to be our water source. The forest service guys said they couldn't find it either, which meant we had to hike back down half a mile to another spot, and use the stream that crossed the trail about a half mile even further down. Hauling water for 7 people half a mile up a hill isn't fun. The next day we worked the whole day, then were told that our campsite was actually two miles past where we were told it was. So we hiked up there and set up camp. Luckily, one of the forest service guys saved our butts by biking our packs up the rest of the way. There is no way we could have done that in the shape we were in. We just weren't in the right physical condition yet. 

The rest of the time we worked. 10 hour work days are really long. They start at 5:30 when people wake up to make breakfast. The actual work day starts at 7 and goes until 5:30. We have half an hour for lunch and two fifteen minute breaks. This time we were "brushing," which means clearing about four feet on either site of the trail of plants. Yes, cutting down plants. We got to know those plants really well. We used Silkies, which are extremely sharp little hand knives. One of my leaders described the motion for cutting down the plants pretty well when he said that he felt like he'd know how to slit someone's throat. Gruesome, but pretty accurate.

Anyway, highlights: 

1. Seeing a barred owl.

2. Eating on top of a cliff above two soaring golden eagles.

3. Climbing all ten miles to the top of Devil's Backbone and seeing the view.

4. Finding Old Man's Beard - a really good toilet paper. (We decided not to bring the man-made kind. Bad decision)

5. Seeing people enjoy my dinner. 

6. Massive games of riddles and jokes while working.

7. The spring that supplied our water. Everything else is dry except this pocket of moss and flowers and beauty and clear drinkable water coming right out of the mountain. 

8. The fact that the hiking got easier, and that I didn't even feel my blisters after the first couple of days. 

9. Getting to know my team better. 

10. Getting into the routine of living in a tent. 

11. Being able to say we got the whole trail done. 

12. The shower when we got home. 

All in all, a successful trip. And now I'm off til Sunday. :)

descriptions

So about a week has passed in our new home and I'm getting more settled and used to living here. 

We live at the Steliko work station in the Entiat valley about forty five minutes from Wenatchee, WA. Outside of the valley is dry, dry, dry, and looks a lot like parts of west Texas. Inside the valley is progressively greener the farther west we drive. The road through the valley jumps over the Entiat river multiple times - a river which right now is gushing with the remains of the melting snow caps. There are tons of pear, apple, and cherry trees - so excited for those to get ripe. The hills around used to be forests, but now they're covered in patchy meadows, charred stumps, and patches of forest. It took a little getting used to, but seeing the forest regenerate itself is an interesting process. I'm learning to love it. 

At our station, we have our house plus a few other houses that hold mostly guys. Manly, rock climbing, motor bike riding, bearded guys, who play a lot of beer pong. (They have more going for them than that, but that is the easiest way to describe them). And a little red cow dog named Boo who could probably spend every waking hour fetching a stick. We love Boo. 

We spend most of our time, when we're not felling trees or clearing brush from trails, reading on the porch, talking, cooking, playing games, and hiking.  Yesterday we took a day trip to Leavenworth, a little town about an hour and a half from here, where, in the sixties the community decided life was boring, so they turned their town into a Bavarian tourist destination. Best beer ever.

This morning the other two girls and I took a hike up to the lookout, about two miles up a really steep hill. We're preparing for our 8-day backcountry spike that starts tomorrow. We took my field guide and tried to identify all the plants we found on the way, which gave us excuses to stop and catch our breath. 

So living here is peaceful, but at least the girls and I are a little sad that the countryside is so dry. I'm treating it as a learning experience. First, now I know that this isn't the part of Washington I like the best. Second, I'm hoping that I learn to love it. Because even being in Trout Lake for two weeks, I was starting to get jaded to the beauty of it. Now I'll appreciate it when I go back. 

I also wish the community was a little bigger. I love these people, but anytime you're stuck with the same group for too long, it's a challenge.  Eh, I'll be fine. 

Miss everyone! I'll be back in communication next Tuesday (the 23rd). 

Being in Ardenvoir is kind of like being in a foreign country...

Tried to post this on Thursday but the internet shut down and I didn't want to make people wait for me... here you go!

Hey y'all... so I keep getting calls/messages/emails from people and sadly have only been able to get back to a few of them. Monday I tried to get a hold of about seven people to update them on the drive up to Wenatchee, but nobody answered and then I promptly lost service for the next hour before I could call more... and I still haven't been able to check my phone. Sorry!

First, a couple of things and then maybe a little bit of life stuff if we have time... my house has a landline, but no cell phone service. If you want to call me, call 509-784-0736 and then we'll either have a little chat or if you want to talk for a while, I'll go drive down to the spot on the road that gets coverage and call you back. Also, if you can't get through on that line, please let me know. We're not really that sure it works.

Second, we get internet at the (only) store in Ardenvoir, which is a little over half a mile up the road. So email me, but I'll take a while to get back to you. 

Third, we're going to be in the backcountry (Pot Peak) for 8 days starting on Monday. 

Okay! So, basically, if anyone has ever wondered if they should do Americorps or the Northwest Service Academy, the answer is probably yes. I am having the time of my life up here, the people are amazing, and the place is amazing. Oh, and the food. 

Training was awesome. A little like camp, but awesome none the less. There's around 35 of us, and we stayed in cabins. We had training most days, but went on a little work project (2 nights of camping and one day of work, which included creating habitat for steelhead trout) and had a service project (helping in the community garden) in the town of Trout Lake, where we lived. Weekends we had free, so we would explore the lava tubes and area around Mt. Adams (THE COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE IS PERFECT), went for bike rides, spent a day exploring Portland (and a night singing drunken kareoke), had a couple bonfire parties, camped out a couple times. I could go on and on - especially about the people. These people are amazing. 

On Monday the teams all went our separate ways - some to southern California, some to the OR/CA border, some stayed where we were, and we left for the north - Wenatchee National Forest, and our little home on a "work compound" called Steliko. We're living in a house built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (sort of our forerunners) in the 1930s, two stories with a big living room and kitchen and lots of windows - and doors we haven't even found yet. There's a double wide trailer that houses another guy, and various buildings for botanists and biologists and such. We're pretty in love with it. Me and the other two girls (who are awesome) share one room, the two leaders share a room and the other two boys share a room (sort of - one of them is sleeping in what we call the Boom-Boom Room, a little attic-y thing off the main room). 

For the last two days, we've been helping out at a campground felling trees that have been attacked by pine beetles or rot. A falling tree is one of the coolest things I have ever seen.