Welcome to My Office! ~~ PCT - Green Springs Mountian

After 4 days of work the three-tier rockwall is complete! Whoa, what a feeling :)

I would like to welcome everyone to my office for the next four months. I would like to warn you first, if you are coming to my office please bring your own toilet paper because our restroom is all natural and yes you do have to dig your own hole. Next on the agenda at work for this week: Rockwalls, Drainage systems, new tread construction, leading volunteers, lots of fun with a sledgehammer/pic-matic/forrester hoes, and also a sore back! You want in?


The engineers---Valerie, mua, LT.


Really though, this was my first hike for my PCT 1 team. We are stationed out of Hyatt Lake Campgroungs which is about 20 minutes from our worksite, which is Green Springs Mountain that sits at about 4,500 feet. This is it, this is what I signed up for. Hyatt Lake is absolutely beautiful and it has Mt. McGloughlin in the background so the scenery is fantastic. The only downfall is that the nights drop


I'm a little obsessed with my 1st...


Our three volunteers are good friends that met while hiking the PCT. Chia and Mama have completed the PCT by breaking it down by sections. Papa Bear is the bearer of all the useless and interesting knowledge you could imagine. He has just down a nationwide tour of all the National Parks.

Tom, Jackie, LT, Marguerite, Drew, Tanya, Chia, Mama, Papa Bear, Wake.


We were lucky enough to get a project that was entirely new trail construction which is fantastic to get that type of responsibility on our first hitch. You can really notcie your progress because each day we walk in we are walking on the brand new tread that we created. It is fullfilling to see how much tread we were able to create each day as we leave. Your product is visible and physical and it makes the soreness walk back to the rig enjoyable.


Rockwall...day 2.



Morning PT. Yoga time. What a view.

Papa Bear workin' the calfs.

Columbines.

Some days the clouds stayed with us the entire day. We were IN the clouds.

The view from our Hyatt Lake campsite.

My 1st apron for a rockbar.

Frontcountry hook up on our first hitch.

P-Town For Some Serenading, la la la la

Hey Folks,

Here are some beauties from our Karaeoke night at the Alibi in Portland. It was our last big shibang before everyone broke off into their separate teams for the remainder of our term.

There were highlights and lowlights of the evening with former far outweighing the latter.

The Blue Trippletts made their first public appearance with LT, Dan and myself stealing the show with dance moves that couldn't be rivaled by perverted Michael J or Usher.

We began the evening with a splendid Thai dinner at a small place with about 12 of us enjoying the food. This 12 turned into about 25 once the night was over. Everyone made their way to Alibi with their dancing shoes and their beautiful voices.

Rover Dan stole the show with some Frank Sinatra.

I have so many great moments in the night that I would love to share with all of you but I have to keep it somewhat PG-rated for the Grandma's and possibly young cousins. So, if you would like to hear a halarious song that was sung by a lady at the Karaeoke shoot me an email at daviswake@gmail.com and I will fill you in. Haha, it was dirty funny!

Kate, from the Gifford-Pinchot team, was the savior and unanomous decision for All-Star of the night by organizing our dinner, drinks before hand, and letting all of us stay at her Aunt's house in a Portland suburb. We did some camping outside and also a little hottubbing for those who were up for it.

Truly, the people I have met during the 1st two weeks of my term have been so interesting and fun that it almost seemed like this could be considered a grown-up summer camp.

As you will find in my next posts that isn't the case because real work has started and trust me, it is no picnic in the park.

Keep in touch, God Bless, and stay tuned for more.

Love you all,
Wake

Pacific Crest Trail Schedule :)

PCT What!! --- That's our team name.

Here's my schedule for the next 4-5 months!

6/9-6/14 - Hyatt Lake, OR: Green Springs Mountain Relocation 1
-Hike 2 miles to work site, new trail construction, sidehill construction, rock structures.

6/15-6/17 - Off

6/18-6/22 - Hyatt Lake: Green Springs Mountain Relocation 2
-Front country spike with 5 volunteers

6/23-6/24 - Off

6/25-7/3 - Happy Camp, CA - Big Ridge Wildfire Rehab (Marble Mountain Wilderness)

7/4-7/8 - Off

7/9 - Travel back to MAC

7/10-7/16 - Buck Peak, OR

7/17-7/19 - Off (Based out of MAC)

7/20-7/29 - White Pass, WA - Goat Rocks Wilderness

7/30-8/2 - Off (Based out of MAC)

8/3-8/7 - Summer Summit - All teams are back at the MAC

8/8-8/9 - Off (Based out of MAC)

8/10-8/15 - Paradise, OR

8/16-8/25 - Horseshow Meadow

8/26-8/29 - Off (Based out of MAC)

8/30-9/4 - Old Snowy

9/5-9/7 - Off (Based out of MAC)

9/8-9/12 - Natural History Service Trip with the other PCT team at Ross Lake up in the North Cascades National Park!!!

9/13-9/17 - Travel to SoCal

9/18-9/25 - North Folk, CA

9/26-9/28 - Off (Based out of Lake Arrowhead)

9/29-10/7 - Mission Creek, CA

10/8-10/19 - Off (Based out of Lake Arrowhead)

10/19-10/22 - Travel back to MAC

10/23-10/30 - Wrap up

Mt. Adams Center is bliss

Before. After.

Drew bucking the fallen Ponderosas.

Cleaning up the carnage to clear way for the new fence.

About 80 years old. That Pondo lived a great life.

LT lost a paper airplane contest...pink pants was the consequence.

Mt. Adams halo prevails.

Good day mates!

Well just about a week and a half in the books here at Americorps and I will do my best to explain the atmosphere and energy that has been created here in Trout Lake.

Trout Lake is swarmed with organic farms, class 3-5 rapids with beautiful falls, a glorious view of 12,000 ft Mt. Adams, bike trails, endangered frogs, coyotes, bald eagles, and some very pleasant live music at the local community center. It is a small town that is well connected and families support each other with their farming and local industries.

There are about 45 members/leaders here at the MAC (Mt. Adams Center) and we are a part of the Northwest Service Academy. It has been days filled with the best organic food I have every tasted and paired with a slew of genuine friends with a common goal of serving our country with fantastic personalities of unity, selflessness, and hard work.

The aspect of the program that has been so fantastic is the organization of each day with our orientation. Each morning at 6am there is an activity conducted by one of the team leaders; the activities have been disc golf, yoga, bike rides through Trout Lake, or a run down by the water. Then a designated team is put on breakfast at 7 and our training begins at 8am and runs to approx. 5pm.

There have been so many useful skills that I have gained each day such as sharpening blades of our tools, putting up barb wire fencing, backing up a trailer, cooking for vegetarian and protein rich foods, and proper safety procedures for every possible trail work activity you could imagine. I also created a nice journal at arts and crafts night which I decided to list the different things that I have learned throughout my term.

Mt. Adams Center is 4 different dorms with 2 people to a room. There is a volleyball court, horseshoes, disc golf course, ping pong, and so many walking trails you don't know what to do with yourself. It's been great with my hyper-active personality because there is always something for me to do.

It is such an honor to be a part of a organization where the team is truly larger than any individual. My team is absolutely fantastic and I don't exaggerate one ounce because the mixture of personalities seems like a great fit for the type of work that we will be doing. Our leaders are Marguerite from PA and Drew from North CA. The other members in our team are Tom from NJ, Tanya from WA, L.T. from OR, and Jackie from KS. We truly bonded on our first hitch when we traveled to nearby town to remove three ponderosas that fell on a barb wire fence. We had a day of brush removal, chainsaw bucking, and re-wiring of barb wire. It was great to finally get out and work as a team to set up a fence that will keep cattle out a stream that needs to be preserved for the salmon of the area.

Oh the food! Holy shit! I can see why people eat organic. The flavor of everything is a party in your mouth and everyone is invited. It is going to be a pleasure learning to cook from my members because Tanya is vegan and Marguerite/Drew are fine cooks as well.

Off to Portland tonight for some good ole' fashioned fun!

Cheers,

Luke Davis