Hitch 3:Tongue River Canyon

   Wyoming continues to amaze me. I spent the last ten days in the bighorn mountains of northern Wyoming working on a trail in the tongue river canyon that leads to the tongue river cave. Right now the cave is closed to prevent the spread of white nose bat syndrome.  Unfortunately, people choose on a daily basis to disrespect the closure and enter the cave anyway, risking a $5,000 per person fine.  In addition, the cave seems to attract a mischievous crowd as the walls in and outside the cave are covered in graffiti.  The trail itself wasn't in much better shape when we arrived.  The steep slopes are littered with trash and erosion is very bad as people cut off the switchbacks to find a faster way up or down the trail.  It's one of those unfortunate dilemmas of public land management.  The forest service has an obligation to maintain the trail for users to pass safely, but the trail leads to a closed cave that no one should be entering.  Are we just making it easier for the rough crowd to go do bad things?

cave entrance

 

      I spent a majority of our 10 days in the tongue river canyon considering this.  Ultimately, I realized that it isn't an option to let the trails condition continue to degrade.  All you can do is fix it up to working condition and hope that the solutions you've come up with are sustainable.  Hopefully, users will see the trail looking better and start to treat it that way.  Really what I'm saying is that if you treat a place poorly, people will follow the agency's lead.  If you take time and care to make it nice, maybe people will treat it accordingly.  I guess we wouldn't know unless we tried.  

    Aside from the dilemmas of work, we could not have asked for a more beautiful work site.
 The tongue river is running at flood levels and I could say for a fact that going for a swim in the river would surely result in death.  But, the views from the cave entrance were extraordinary.  I was lucky enough to see my first moose since moving here on our last morning of work.  Additionally, I got to see the western side of the Bighorn mountains and make my first drive into Montana in the bighorn national recreation area where another crew was working.  From the top of the bighorns, you can see all the way out to the wind river range and yellowstone national park.

Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area

       For now, I must go pack my bags as my crew leaves in the morning for Boysen State Park/Reservoir in central Wyoming.  Although the temps are certainly rising out here, it will be nice to be at a place where we can swim at the end of our work day.  It will also be my first time seeing that part of the state.  

Walking back from work on the last day-Beautiful!

40 down 10 to go

I've now reached the milestone of having visited 40 of the 50 US states.  I'm quite proud of this, and feeling ambitious as to knock of 3 or 4 more by the end of the summer.  Upon arriving back in Laramie on Wednesday morning, Kory and I threw all of our stuff into his jeep and headed south to Colorado to do some Laundry at his dad's and then hit the road.  We finally left around 6pm and by the time I had played almost all of the songs I wanted to hear on my I-pod, we stopped in Frisco off of I-70 for a really deliscious meatball pizza that we took to go.  We finally got to grand junction around midnight and realized that in order to get to the camping area in Colorado National Monument, we had to drive 19 miles of winding roads with extremely steep drop offs.  In 30 mph winds, we set up our tent and went to sleep.  Driving out of the park in the early morning was beautiful and the dramatic landscape made the 19 miles seem a lot shorter.

We hit the road to Utah and arrived in Moab around noon.  We drove into Arches national park and did the 4 mile roundtrip hike to see delicate arch, famous for its spot on Utah licence plates. We drove around Moab in search of camping and wound up staying at the KOA.  After enjoying a beer and some dinner at Moab Brewery we enjoyed the wi-fi that's available at all KOA's.  We planned to wake up around 5 to watch the sun rise on landscape arch but overslept and decided to sleep in a bit longer.  We finally left at 6 and hiked in to the arch only to find out that due to a rockfall 20 years ago, you can no longer actually walk up to it.  Bummer!

This is Landscape Arch

and this is the view of Delicate arch through another 

arch where the wind was so strong that I almost got 

blown over.  I am wind surfing in this shot in case you

can't tell.

Upon returning to the parking lot at landscape arch, Kory concluded that for the sake of being able to take either of our cars on road trips this summer, I MUST learn to drive manual.  Lucky for me we had Kory's Dad's dodge diesel pickup truck which allowed me to accidentally shift from 2nd gear to 5th gear without stalling the beast.  After a few miles we switched back so Kory could get us to the highway.  I managed about another 100 miles of driving on I-70(through a narrow canyon I might add) before I put putted my way to a stop about 50 feet past an off ramp.  Kory drove the rest of the way back to Fort Collins and then decided I needed to drive from the grocery store back to his dad's house in a different vehicle, his jeep.  Hopefully with some practice, my passengers with no longer need cervical collars to protect their spines while I drive.  Now that I can drive both manual and automatic, I figured that I'm twice as likely to see my last ten states before I ever even leave north america.  Sweet!

Hitch 1:Glendo Reservoir

A couple months of adventure have led to a total lack of blogging.  My most sincere apologies to my sturdy fan base.

Anyway, project 1 at Glendo State Park began Monday May 23rd.  My best description would be that it was a memorable learning experience.  The town of Glendo is in southeast Wyoming and home to 229 residents.  The towns only attraction is the state park, which dams the North Platte River before it continues south to the Guernsey reservoir, where another crew was doing pine beetle mitigation work.

We left the cabin Monday morning around 10 and arrived to nice weather in Glendo to set up our camp at the two moons campground where we had a huge pavilion all to ourselves.  Each day between 3 and 4, an afternoon thunderstorm either hit Glendo or blew by not far south.  For most of the week, we struggled to get much work done as communicating with our agency was difficult and its impossible to build trails in the rain.  In total we had 3 days where rain prevented us from doing any work outside of the garage.  To compensate, we spent quite a few mornings sharpening tools and washing park vehicles just to pass some time.  By friday, the agency finally had sandbags for us to distribute throughout the park.  This was great, as we were all anxious to work, but we had finished by 10am and once again had nothing to do...so we picked up trash for 2 hours.  I'll just say for the record, that even though I'm all about public land improvement, picking up trash when you're expecting to build trail is a HUGE let down.  We dabbled around with a bit more sandbagging in the afternoon and then called it a day.

Saturday, which would have been a full day off, wound up being a half day off because we weren't putting in enough hours to meet our expected 80 hours of work.  We went down to Guernsey in the afternoon to visit with the other crew and go out to eat for the coveted 'night out' meal.  Eating out wound up being a great crew bonding experience as there was no pressure on anyone to cook or clean, a really great treat after camping for a week.  Another day of crappy weather kept us from the trails on Sunday and somehow we would up painting 'road closed' barriers instead.  Monday we put in 11 hours and on Tuesday we put in 10, giving us some satisfaction and plenty of blistered sore hands.

Overall, the hitch was good.  Even though we didn't get as much physical work done as I expected, we did work in other ways.  Taking 8 people who are mostly strangers and packing them into a GMC yukon and saying 'here's you're equipment, go get stuff done for america' to say the very least, is a challenge, and we made it.  Next stop is pine beetle mitigation in our own backyard, medicine bow national forest.

Earth Week Skills!

                 Dumpster diving, welcome to my skills.  Last Thursday at 2:00pm, the crew leaders kicked off some earth day celebrations by collecting 280 pounds of garbage from the student union dumpster.  After loading the trash into our WCC trucks, we took it to the university's physical plant for some sorting.  The University of Wyoming student union is blessed with an extensive array sorting bins so that it is crystal clear where to put what refuse.  The paper bin even has a narrow slot so that only paper should fit in.  Generally, people don't put trash in the recycling, but they certainly feel free to put their recycling in the trash-THIS IS RIDICULOUS!  So, after weighing all of our sloppy food covered bags, we tore them open and began to remove recyclables.  We pulled our about 40 pounds of 'resonable' recycling. By that I mean that the bottles/plastics/and papers were clean enough to be recycled.  If you think about 40 pounds of plastics and papers, that really is quite a quantity.  Also in consideration were the heaps and heaps of food in the trash that could have been composted if the union had that available.  We were particularly perturbed by the university catering services compostable cups that wound up in the trash instead of the recycling.  Additionally, with only a 5% margin for error at the recycling plant, it is critical that people don't put trash in bottles and remove lids, which actually aren't recyclable.
                The next day, we made our way to the salvage yard in Laramie.  After spending about an hour sifting through scrap metal in the freezing cold, we had gathered enough materials to construct a gigantic sage grouse.  For those of you not from the west, the sage grouse is a very strange looking chicken-type creature that is now protected in 'core areas' in Wyoming so that it is not listed on the federal endangered species list.  Our goal, is to create the frame of a gigantic sage grouse to put in the center of campus on earth day that students can fill with recyclables that our campus actually recycles.  (Hint-you should all google the sage grouse).  My real point here is that we can all do a little bit better at being effective recyclers.  I know many people who think that recycling really doesn't matter, but is there anyone who can't spare quite literally 10 seconds to make sure their product gets put in the correct bin.  Take a little time and make a little change to your routine...Because lots of little changes make one big difference.

Happy Earth Week!

The Forest Service

Gifford Pinchot, the first chief of the forest service had an idea that the forest service would be responsible to "provide the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people in the long run".  National forests and grasslands encompass 193 million acres of land in the US, and area equivalent to the size of Texas.  Although it's managed by the Department of Agriculture, the forest service is budgeted through the Department of the Interior.    In addition to managing our nations forests and grasslands, the Forest Service is also the largest forestry research organization in the world.  Another mission of the forest service is to achieve an effective workforce that represents the full range of diversity of the american people.

By sustaining the health, diversity, and productivity of the country's forests and grasslands, the forest service is able to meet the needs of current and future generations.  One of the main missions of the forest service is to listen to the people and respond to their needs through decision making.  Through a multiple use ecological management policy, I'm sure the forest service will continue to effectively manage our grasslands and forests for years to come.

Greetings from...

Colorado fire camp, where I am well on my way to becoming a sawyer.  In fact, I've come far enough that I now pronounce the word as it should be SAWyer and not SOYyer.  Essentially, I'm learning with 13 other WCC crew leaders and supervisors how to safely operate and maintain a chainsaw for tree felling(simply put, cutting down trees).

We arrived wednesday night in a caravan of pickup trucks and suburbans in Salida, Colorado(population 5,000 and elevation 8,000 feet).  Salida is nestled up in the mountains 3 hours southwest from Denver and home to the fire camp where students can eat sleep and saw for two days in the comfort of the Ponderosa Lodge.  All day thursday was spent in the classroom learning the jargon and safety information that allows us to pick up a saw in the first place.  This morning we spent additional time in the classroom, learning all the parts of the saw and how to perform maintenance daily and weekly.  After lunch we ventured outside to the saw shop where we took our saw apart for maintenance and finally, sharpened the chains and fueled up.

My first attempt at firing up was definitely rough.  Donning all of our PPE(personal protective equipment) including saw chaps, hard hats, glasses, and ear plugs, I failed to hear the engine fire on choke, thus I instantly concluded I was a bad sawyer.  But, after a few tries and some assistance I got er' started and gave the throttle a nice squeeze.  Now, a fully fueled and oiled saw is no light object.  It is cumbersome and awkward for a beginner, and only experience makes those imperfections fade away.  Watching our instructor Mark hold the saw in class on day one, I assumed that the saw was light and as long as I studied, this would all be simple.  Wrong.  You could read saw books all day but when the saw is in your hands, your newly acquired knowledge flies out the window.  But, such is the way of learning and being a student.

Tomorrow, we head into the field to fell some real trees.  I'm optimistic about the forecast for scatted thunderstorms and 30mph winds tomorrow.  I mean really, anything worse than that would be like felling trees in a hurricane.  No biggie.  Maybe I'll switch paths and become a lumberjack(or Jill).  Maybe I'll get my red card and fight wildland fires for the big bucks.  Or maybe I'll just be a really good tree feller for the WCC.  Either way, my point is that it's nice to be a student again.   There's so much to learn!

Negotiation

Past negotiation experiences have left me not so satisfied.  As a sometimes 'glass half empty' person, I think that if I have to negotiate then I'm already at a disadvantage.  In order to gain something, then I must lose something else.  With a modestly reasonable other party, you can actually leave a negotiation having gained something of value.  The magic of negotiation, as I learned from Dr. Steve Smutko is that in negotiation, value can be created by assigning points to the desired outcomes of each party.  Dr. Smutko is University of Wyoming's Chair of Collaborative Practice and an economics proffesor.  He has facilitated numerous public policy decisions in the mountain west as well as the southeastern U.S., and teaches negotiation analysis to UW students.  Like a good economist, Dr. Smutko conveyed his points about negotiation to our class by assigning half the class one role, and the other half another role.  For example, I was assigned to be the agent of Sally Soprano, a fictional opera singer looking to get back into the industry.  The other party was the Lyric opera house, looking for a performer for their upcoming show.  With the addition of many other factors, we had to work with the opera house to agree on a salary for Sally Soprano.  Ultimately, our negotiations were what I would call collaborative.  We understood that both parties had desired outcomes and we worked together to achieve them.

I'm hoping that this summer the negotiations will be much more simple.  I've made up an image in my mind of two crew members who both want the last pancake at breakfast.  Sam and I, trusty crew leaders, will sweep in with our super-people capes and and alternating lines say "hey guys, how bout one of you breaks it in half and then the other gets to pick which half they get!".  Obviously, we're familiar with this age old trick, which ensures that the splitter will do what they can to ensure the pancake is actually evenly split.  After all, the other party will pick which half they get.

Negotiation is a two way street, but if both parties can approach the proceedings from the 'glass half full' perspective, they have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

Lately

I am officially a blog neglecter...ugh! I guess all I can do is tell lots of good stories about why I haven't written. Considering that I haven't posted in a month, this could be a long one.  Since my last post, I've made my biggest purchase in several years.  I am now the proud owner of an entire ski set up.  Skis, bindings, boots, poles, a helmet goggles, the whole deal.   Additionally each of the days I've taken them out in the past week have been fresh powder days.  PERFECT!

From March 11th-20th, I was down in Gunnison Colorado re-taking a Wilderness First Responder Course with a fellow crew leader, Josh.  Because it was my second time taking the course, I felt I was able to absorb much more information and hone in on good patient assessment and care.  While in Gunnison, we stayed at an awesome hostel called Wanderlust run by two great gals, Amy and Melissa.  If anyone is ever looking for a place to stay in Gunnison, you should check it out.  Additionally, for the second time in a month, I got to see my best friend Alli in Montrose, CO.  Although I drove a total of 3 hours to see Alli for 2 hours, it was wonderful to see her and I'm so glad I made the trip.  Driving home from Gunnison in daylight made for a beautiful drive and I was ecstatic to get home to someone special.   Thus I will introduce to the world, on my blog, Kory Cook, my boyfriend.  Kory and I met while working at the ski area and have been pretty much inseparable since our first date at the Banff mountain film festival world tour in Laramie.

After a much needed night of rest, I departed again for Denver to pick up Adam Pettee and Courtney Smith from the airport.  These two were kind enough to spend there spring break with me for some much needed fun.  Upon picking them up it was close to 70 degrees and sunny in Denver.  Although the weather was beautiful, I was really hoping for some snow so they could ski on fresh powder.  Sure enough, both Wednesday and Friday(the two days I was working) we had a few inches of snow and on friday, enough people showed up to work that I got the day off and skied for just about every minute of it.  Friday night, we all shared a new experience that really made me feel like a local, shooting guns on BLM land.   After much discussion on the ride there about everything not to do, we were all nervous, but excited to try it.  As it turns out, Adam is quite the marksman, and Courtney and I are not.  We were much better at throwing the clays and even that was not so easy.  On Saturday, we drove through some nasty weather on I-80 to get Courtney and Adam back to the airport.  After a teary farewell, I sent them on their way and made the 2.5 hour drive to Laramie one last time.

For now, I'm enjoying my last week at the ski area and then I'm off to Salida, CO for 4 days of chainsaw training with the other crew leaders at Colorado Fire Camp.  Hopefully, I'll post sooner rather than later!

Risk Management Journal

Assignment: Reflect on why risk management is important and steps you can take to make sure risk is limited.

Risk; exposure to the chance of injury or loss.  You could say that only a pessimist would see risk around every corner, but by taking actions that have real consequences(risks), we open so many doors to learn and grow.

Early on in college, I was fortunate enough to learn the famous venn diagram risk equation from Mr. Bill Schnirel in Outdoor Education class.  On one side of the diagram is human factors, and on the other is environmental factors.  Naturally, the middle is the cross-over space where human and environmental factors interact and result in incidents, or worse yet, accidents.

So, what can we do to as leaders to mitigate risk for ourselves and our groups.  BE PREPARED of course.  Most incidents and accidents are the result of human error, so the best thing we can do is be educated. Know where you are, what resources are there, and how to get out quickly if the event arises.  Know what you're doing, how your equipment works, and that you should stop if you are concerned about safety.  Lastly, know your group and their skill level so that you know who and what to look out for.  If you're always a step ahead, you'll always have the space you need to fix things before they even become a problem.

Project Management Plan

Vision: Provide recreation opportunities in state parks lands for mountain bike users
Critical Success Factors: Develop 4 miles of single track trails that will be complete and available to users at the conclusion of the 10 day hitch.  Crew learns the fundamentals of single track trail building. 
Work Breakdown Schedule: Work will proceed in a bell curve type fashion where the bulk of the work will be done mid hitch followed by a day off and then a final push to complete the project.  Day 1(Travel, frontload and assimilate to work site). Day 2-3(Develop first mile of trail).  Day 4-6(Develop 2 miles of trail). Day 7(Half day or day off depending on progress). Day 8-9(Last mile of trail and finishing touches). Day 10(Clean up and travel home). 
Resources: WCC equipment will be used in conjunction with agency equipment
Financial Plan: Yeah Tim and Kendall!

Project Team Roles and Responsibilities: Crew leaders main role is to provide guidance to team members to complete projects as planned and act as a team liason to agencies to ensure projects are accomplished as envisioned.  Crew members will serve to support this mission and provide the labor necessary to comlete tasks

Document Distribution: Documents will be distributed during travel time and discussed twice daily in group ups

Quality Control Plan:Check in daily with agency partner to determine if project is being completed to standards disucessed in scope

Communication Plan: The foundation will be excellent co leader communication, followed by group communication and then communication with the agency partner.  Twice daily group meetings will ensure that issues are dealt with and goals and expectations can be achieved or met. 

Change Management Plan: Schedule accomodates time for changes in the scope of work or adjustments to the critical path.  This will be minimized by maininting excellent communication among leaders, members, and agencies. 

Risk Management Plan: Critical parts will include the first day of site assimilation and project familiarization.  Risk can be minimized by checking in with group members and ensuring they are physically and emotionally able to work in a safe environment. 

Client Care Plan: Maintaining good contact with the agency will be critical to the success of the project.  We will check in with the agency daily to ensure that goals are being met and everyone is getting most they can from the experience.   

Group Development Part II

Assignment: Journal on 2 characteristics of healthy group development and 2 obstacles preventing group development. 

I'm going to simplify this assignment by picking two topics, and stating how they can help or hinder group development.  I'll go with 2 that seem like to brainers to me, conflict management and responsibility.

Responsibility is a burden of obligation.  In the stages of group development, a huge part of the groups forming can occur at the time they are first given responsibility.  This responsibility can manifest in many ways like taking on roles, generating ideas, solving problems, and making decisions.  When the individuals in the group are given responsibility, they become important and needed, making each individual feel like a part of a collaborative effort.  All this makes it possible for the group to develop further.  However, if responsibility is never taken, or only taken by select individuals, development can be hindered or get stuck in the storming stage. 

Which leads me to my next topic, conflict management.  I'm personally a huge fan of the storming stage of group development.  I like to think that conflict creates some temporary chaos, but if dealt with correctly, chaos can become calm.  Without it, we would never learn or grow.  But, in order to learn and grow, it's critical to confront group and other inter-personal issues among your team.  If conflict is not managed and addressed, issues will only magnify and create more issues.  If managed well though, there is exponential room for growth among your team. 

The Gratitude Filled Snow Globe

I'll admit that lately, my blogging has been cut down to a bare minimum 'must not give up on new years resolution' dreaded homework assignment where I spend far too much time staring at the computer screen.  Is this what writers block is?  Luckily, today someone said something that caught my attention, and in conjunction with a few other thoughts, I feel I finally have adequate content for a posting. 

Working at Snowy Range Ski Area is like working in a snow globe.  Some days it's tranquil and quiet as if someone had let it sit idly overnight and then let it be all day.  Other days, like today, I get the impression that a two year old has taken our 'globe' and spent their day shaking it violently.  What other explanation could there be for 50 mph gusts and white out conditions? Just yesterday, I shoveled in a long sleeve shirt and got sunburn.  Today I wore two jackets, got windburn, and still came home cold at the end of the day.  Please, put the globe down, kid.

But somwhere in the 33 miles between Laramie and Centennial, there's a buffer zone.  For me, it's a place of total bliss, where the sun and the moon never fail to entertain my mind.  Wild horses roam the range and the bluest sky you've ever seen makes the endlessness of the whole place that much more magnificent.  Most of the time I spend my drive brainstorming words to explain all this, or how to capture it all in a photo, but I always come up short.  Short, but happy, because after a few weeks I have nothing but appreciation for the fact that the place I live is inexplainable.  For that and my understanding of that, I am thankful. 

The past few weeks have been a great mix of old and new friends.  Last weekend I spent three days in Telluride with my best friend Alli, skiing and doing many other things Alli and I love to do, like clean kitchens, drink tea often, and play with children.  Spending time with an old friend is always a good reminder of where you've been and what you're doing on the path you're on.  I couldn't be happier that Alli is 'only' 8 hours away.  I also couldn't be happier to have such awesome co-workers at both Snowy Range and at Wyoming Conservation Corps.  Finally, I am OUT OF THIS WORLD EXCITED that the one and only Adam Pettee is coming out to visit for a week in march.  As much as I love my inability to explain my life here, I'm so excited to share it with someone who can make sense of all my stories. 
 

After all, it's not where you are, but who you're with. 

Group Reflections

Your middle school teachers really weren't kidding when they told you you would have to work in groups in the 'real world'.  Upon trying to list all the groups I've worked in or with in some capacity, I've filled up a whole page with no problems.  I've narrowed it down to the two best extremes I can think of...

The first is my historically favorite 'great' group-The 2007-2008 officers of the Towson University Rock Climbing Club.  To be totally honest, upon running for officer of RCC I had NO idea at all what I was getting myself into.  Luckily, the three other officers all had experience with the club and made my transition super easy.  One of the essential components of our success was our communication.  Each week we held a meeting to talk about what was going on with our club supervisor and have a small chunk of time to get some work done.  After our hour long meeting we would all go out to a secret  lunch spot together so that we could have some fun time as well. Aside from our communication efforts, we all filled specific niches in our group.  Ian was our 'techy', having a wide knowledge of climbing equipment and techniques.  Bob was our muscley workout master pushing us in workouts, but also supporting the officers to keep getting more work done.  Alli was our group mom and workhorse who kept everyone happy and loved while all the while being a master of paper work and technicalities.  All of this hard work and group cohesion really paid off when we planned our clubs first cross country trip to New Mexico in the spring of 2008.  It took a lot of extra work to convince our administration that we were prepared, but with a glossary of terms in your powerpoint, how could you ever go wrong? The leadership team finished off the year strong by making a solid transtion into new leadership for the fall semester when the club traveled to California and Alabama to climb. We definitely left a legacy-Kudos to you all; Ian Brown, Bob Spielman, and Alli Kreuzer!

And then of course, my classic 'bad group'. If you've ever experienced a humid New Jersey summer, you know it can be quite unpleasant.  In particular, working in a field with no shade from 8-4 as a slave with a 20 minute lunch break really seemed to bring out the worst in people.  Of the 13 staff, 6 were returning and good hard workers.  Another 6 had never worked at a camp, and more significantly had no experience on a ropes course.  Then of course, right in the middle was me.  I had a good amount of experience climbing and belaying but had not worked at a summer camp before.  So let me put it this way, despite all efforts to bring everyone to the same level of training and operational standards, information seemed to evaporate into thin air for the new folks.  Things that were obvious and clear to people with experience(like anchoring down and belaying with 2 hands) just didn't stick with the new guys.  Eventually the experienced folks got tired of trying to teach and the new folks got tired of trying to learn information that just didn't come accross clearly.  Ultimately, this meant that the new guys got stuck doing the slave work(moving ladders back and forth and hauling screaming 5th graders 30 feet into the air on a giant swing.  I think it goes without saying that one would not want to haul children up all day in the sun when another job(launching children from the zipline) involved sitting on a shady platform in a tree for hours on end.  I don't think there was anyone in particular to blame for these misfortunes, and without adding extra days of training, there was really no way to 'correct' the problems once the season was underway.  In conclusion, I learned a lot that summer, but not enough to bring me back for another season.  Only 4 staff returned the following summer. Wah wah...

Today...reading, not writing

Ironically, somewhere in my quest towards writing, I've become totally engulfed in reading.  I've gone so far as to invest $15 in a subscription to national geographic and got a membership to the laramie library.Today I'm experiencing a total post-superbowl food-coma writing block.  I have much bigger and better plans for tomorrow's post.  For now, I just want to read, not write.  Here's what I've had my nose in...

The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell..."What must underlie successful epidemics, in the end, is a bedrock belief that change is possible, that people can radically transform their behavior or beliefs in the face of the right kind of impetus."

Where Men Win Glory by John Krakauer..."Earlier times may not have understood it any better than we do, but they weren't as embarrassed to name it: the life force or spark thought close to divine. It is not. Instead, it's something that makes those who have it fully human, and those who don't look like sleep walkers...It isn't enough to make someone heroic, but without it any hero will be forgotten. Rousseau called it force of soul; Arendt called it love of the world. It's the foundation of Eros; you may call it charisma. Is it a gift of the gods, or something that has to be earned? Watching such people, you will sense that it's both: given like perfect pitch, or grace, that no one can deserve or strive for, and captured like the greatest of prizes it is. Having it makes people think more, see more, feel more. More intensely, more keenly, more loudly if you like; but not more in the way of the gods. On the contrary, next to heroes like Odysseus and Penelope, the gods seem oddly flat. They are bigger, of course, and they live forever, but their presence seems diminished...The gods of The Odyssey  aren't alive, just immortal; and with immortality most of the qualities we cherish become pointless. With nothing to risk, thegods need no courage." Quote by Susan Neiman-Moral Clarity

Three Feet From Gold by Greg Reid and Susan Lechter..."Remember that your real wealth can be measured not by what you have, but by what you are" Quote by Napoleon Hill

and finally...

A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold..."The problem, then, is how to bring about a striving for harmony with land among a people many of whom have forgotten there is any such thing as land, among whom education and culture have become almost synonymous with landlessness. This is the problem of conservation education."

I know that its a bit of an eclectic blend, but I generally don't make book reccommendations lightly, so when I say you should check these out, I promise that there's purpose. 

The Ongoing Debate

Assignment: Journal regarding the differences between preservation and conservation.

Wyoming Preservation Corps doesn't exactly roll of the tongue.  The idea of a preservation corps makes me giggle.  What would such a thing even mean? Momentarily, I will entertain the concept as the most ultimate preservationist would.  Maybe we would all sit around behind desks as assignments were handed to us.  I can just picture Tim and Kendall giving orders ..."Go out and meet with this agency.  They will have you fence off coordinates x,y through x,y. Oh yea and that will be barbed wire you put up.  Suckers couldn't even sneak in if they tried"  But really, could such a deep green ecological concept be any more unrealistic? 

Have you ever asked yourself, 'if I wasn't here to appreciate these spaces and species, would they appreciate themself?' 'Is there inherent value in land sans human input?'

In my mind the answer is a resounding yes.  Every form, plant or animal, serves a function in the system of life.  I have no doubt that life, in whatever forms or through whoevers eyes, bears an importance with or without me to appreciate it.  From my humble perspective though, the concept of preservation could only work in a world of an extraordinarily small population.  In other words, preservation is only reasonable for a few dreamers out there. 

And I am not one of them.  The realities of the world we live in are without a doubt startling.  With a population that is close to topping 7 billion, I couldn't bear to say that any new life does not deserve access to any particular space.  I do belive in my civic duty to contribute towards maintaining the spaces that we do have left for future generations of plants and animals(yes, we too are animals) to continue their functionality in the giant earth system.  Which is why I've found myself here working for the appropriately named Wyoming Conservation Corps.  Because I know that development of energy and other natural resources is part of a better future, but I also know that the reclamation of those spaces after development will help us bide the time until more creative and less impactful solutions are available. 

In my opionion, preservation should always remain on our horizon for reference, but conservation is as close as we can get to finding harmony with land for the present. 

Another Day In Paradise

What a good week I have had here in Wyoming.  Mostly, it was just filled with lots of little things that made me happy.  For this post, I'll go with the mildly boring 'synopsis' method that I employ when I don't feel the urge to write creatively.  Where do I even begin?...

I think it all began when climbing a week ago with my roommate Andrea at the University bouldering gym.  While working on a problem, we bumped into Mark Jenkins, author of National Geographics well known mountain gorilla story and overall badass adventurer.  Just to give some scope to the situation, I like to think about this as, 'Laramie is cool enough that Mark Jenkins lives here'...Laramie is really cool!

Following a sunday afternoon of Laundry at spic and span, I began my new job as a lift operator at Snowy Range Ski area.  The summit elevation of 10,000 feet provides striking views and on a clear day I can see quite some distance down the rockies.  Sometimes the job is slow, boring, and cold, but most days the satisfaction of taking a ski break instead of a lunch break is enough to keep me content. Two days this week I ventured into a whole new world by checking out a snowboard and fighting my way down the bunny hill. By day two, I had worked up the nerve to go down a very long and gradual trail on the board.  Learn by doing, right?! RIGHT. Half way down the hill I ate shit, essentially smashing the back of my head into the ground and sending my sunglasses flying about 10 feet.  I got up rather quickly in dull spirits, and then spent the next three days unable to turn my head in either direction.  Thus came my decision to rent skis for two days and enjoy my new free season pass on the badass trails that I can only do in skis. 

The last few days in particular have provided BEAUTIFUL weather.  In a place where wind chills can be debilitating, I was ecstatic to shovel snow at the lifts in a long sleeve shirt in temps around 40 degrees.  Aside from getting sunburn every day, the conditions also allowed me to carve a gigantic snow turtle about 8 feet long under the lift.  Something about a ski area is just special.  It's not like a gym where people feel they must go every day to stay healthy.  People ski or snowboard just because they like it and get satisfaction from it.  Certain groups, like middle school kids, are extra funny to watch while boarding a lift.  Other customers include parents teaching children how to ski on leashes that might have just learned to walk.  I even met some older folks who lost there skis in their garage 40 years ago and decided to dust em off and hit the snowy trail. 

Theres a saying in the mountains here that if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes.  Sure enough, as I basked in 40 degree conditions today I got an advisory on my phone that an arctic front is moving in and the high temp for tuesday is negative 4 degrees without windchill. 

Personally I like to think that below 0 degrees there's no difference anyway... But, I guess if you never had bad weather then the good weather wouldn't seem so good, right?

Leadership Reflections

As an assignment for my conservation leadership course I must reflect on two personal leadership strengths and two challenges. 

Strength #1-I am driven.  I don't completely understand the forces that compel me to be this way, but I am task oriented and to be frank, I get shit done.  My follow through is outstanding and I'm proud of it. 

Challenge #1-I like to be in control.  As a leader, this brings about big dillemas.  It means I have an undeniable urge to always be in the drivers seat, literally in a car and figuratively in leaderhip situations. This can drive a co-leader crazy. I've spent quite a bit of time in the last few years working on this and I'm getting better, but I still have a long way to go.  In time, I know I'll be much more comfortable as a back seat leader.

And then there's this thing called passion, my greatest strength and also my biggest challenge. 

Passion carries me through every single day. When I wake up in the morning I think, 'what can I do to make myself better today' and 'what can I do to make the world better today'.  It's part of what drives me and part of what drives me crazy.  It's difficult to explain exactly what I mean, but my best shot is a bit of a metaphor.  Passion is like the fire in my soul that makes me operate.  I feed it every day with substantial stuff and at the end of the day I usually feel warm and fuzzy.  But once in a while, my fire gets extinguised by a matter of circumstances and I'm left with terrible burns.  Passion can be great, but it can also hurt. 

"I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers"-Ralph Nader

Determination

The funny thing about New Years resolutions is that I find it generally hard to decide in December what I want to do in January and for the remainder of the year.  With that in mind, I've spent the last 20 days contemplating what it is that I would like to accomplish this year.  Task one...having an awesome roadtrip and getting to Wyoming was rather easily achieved.  But now, I have come down to the more complicated parts of the list-the parts that require determination.  I would say that determination is a comittment to overcoming obstacles and recently I have been overcome with a relentless bout of determination to do several things. 

The first of which was to get a job.  After getting rejected from the front desk of Laramies rec center, I spent the last week walking and driving all over this town responding to newspaper and craigslist ads and filling out applications.  Finally yesterday I caved out of frustration and drove to snowy range ski area where two feet of fresh powder had accumulated over night.  I should explain that snowy range is not just down the road.  It's about 40 miles from Laramie and depsite winds, the drive makes me feel like i'm in Narnia.  So, after some slow turns and hand shakes, I scored a job as a lift operator.  Luckily the job comes with a free season pass which means I will finally get my fix of powder skiing at 10,000 feet.

The second of which is to get my degree.   This unfortunately, is slightly more complicated than obtaining a job.  But luckily, Laramie is a small town and everyone I need to talk to has or makes time to meet with me.  After an early morning coffee chat with the Dean of Students at UW, I feel well equipped to tackle this challenge and get back to school for the fall semester.  Not only did he remind me that it's important, but he reminded me that it's possible. 

Next, to continue my quest towards a more healthy body.  This task has been moderately overwhelming, as fitness at 7,000 or more feet is much different than fitness at sea level.  Aside from the oxygen depletion I experience,  with wind chill the temps are usually around 15 degrees during my runs making me cold, tired, and starved for precious oxygen.  This is the thing thats going to really take patience.

And also continue my quest towards a more healthy mind.  So far this has meant appreciating my plethora of free time and seizing every opportunity to read books and newspapers. In addition, I've comitted to writing this blog and promising myself day after day that I will not neglect it. My blog is my minds expression outlet and gives me the clarity of thought that I find difficult to achieve without writing. I can definitely do this. 

Lastly, to pursue a relationship.  This time last year, motivation from a family member prompted me to go on my first date.  My logical mind realized all I had to do was ask my friends to set me up on a date and that resolution would be accomplished on the spot.  I wound up with much more than just a first date, but now I'm back at the drawing board.  Who wants to find me a date?



Time to have at it...

Engagement

The following is a response to "The Open Space of Democracy" by Terry Tempest Williams...

Mardie Murie(considered the grandmother of the conservationist movement) once said..."Give yourself the adventure of doing what you can do, with what you have, even if you have nothing but the adventure of trying.  How much better than standing in a corner with your back to the wall."  Often as conservationists, we find ourselves with our backs to the wall, overwhelmed by the enormity of environmental challenges in a country where the power of politics in Washington seems to trump or intimidate us all enough to be disengaged from our democratic rights. 

Tempest Williams argues that it's easy to be apathetic to engagement.  Believing in the reality and possibility of the democratic process is what takes courage.  Williams claims that "the human heart is the first home of democracy", and "It is through the act of participation that we change."  Engagement then, is only the first half of democracy.  The other half is the expression of our engagement; how we respond to it, share it, and move forward with continued action.  After all, "What is wealth if we cannot share it? What if freedom if we cannot offer it as a vision of compassion and restraint rather than force and aggression?"

In a nation where a history of bravery has witheld the democratic ideals we all cherish, we must step up to reclaim our rights through the exercise of shared knowledge and power.  We cannot look for leadership in anyone but ourselves. 

The time has come to ask  "If I am comitted to seeing the direction of our contry change, how must I change myself?"

Democracy in the Equality State

Only in Wyoming could you find a legislative branch where cowboy boots and hats are not out of the ordinary.  After being here for a grand total of 6 days, I seized the opportunity today to attendy the Equality State Policy Center's Citizen Lobbyist training with my Program Coordinator Tim and our Field Supervisor Darren in Cheyenne.  Most simply put, the training explained how bills get passed through the state House and Senate in Wyoming and how to employ the most effective lobbying techniques.  Although I have nothing to lobby for just yet, the training opened my eyes to a personal democratic opportunity and right that I've never exercised-having my voice heard by law makers.  Fun fact-the term lobbying originated from folks who would wait in the lobbies of hotels to have their opinions heard by lawmakers. 

Luckily, I have the benefit of residing in a state where there stands not a single person between myself and my legislators.  They are literally all accessible in person.  I should add for the record just how extremely proud of this concept Wyoming is. Personally, I hope to some day employ the note passing method where during a house or senate session, a door man brings a representative a note on a small 3 x 4 sheet of paper.  You can actually check off a box that says 'meet me in the lobby'.  This carried little significance to me until I understood that in most states, contacting a legislator is not so simple as many aides and staff members filter communications to reps. During our brief tour of the capitol building, our group even bumped into the states first lady whose Jackie O style reminded me that looking good is in fact a great  tool, political or otherwise.  

Essentially, my to-do list has now tripled.  On top of my first assignments for class, I've added to the pile a serious political task list.   But, I'm running on some great energy after the training.  In addition to my intellectually stimulating day, I am the recipient of a free bed and I have an interview tomorrow for a job at the town recreation center. 

In conclusion, I haven't exactly put my finger on why it is, but things seem to be going well here in Wyoming.  The only reason I've come up with has something to do with the peoples connection to the land that somehow brings them together.  In my wanderings on this subject, I found a quote that I will leave you with...

"Gardens, scholars say, are the first sign of commitment to a community.  When people plant corn they are saying, let's stay here.  And by their connection to the land, they are connected to one another.  "
-Anne Raver

Welcome Home

My first few days in Laramie have been good enough that I haven't had the time or mental composure to write.  Today was particularly great, and although I'm exhausted, I need to get my thoughts down ASAP.

This morning around 11 a fellow crew leader Patrick picked me up to go skiing.  Although getting to know Patrick was really great, I couldn't help but be continually distracted by the landscape as we drove up through the Snowy Range Mountains and skied down the slopes.  Calling Wyoming beautiful is a severly harsh understatement.  In fact, I still don't even know what words I could use to actually describe the place.  From the peaks of the Snowy Range Ski Area(about 10,000 feet) I am at a loss for words and just can't really grasp the concept that I am not a temporary visitor in Wyoming.  No matter how long I continue to look around like a tourist in New York City, I don't think I'll ever get bored of the new animals, the different trees, and the everlasting comfort of how close I am to all of it all of the time.

I'm so excited about Wyoming that i've decided to attend a citizen lobbyist training in Cheyenne on Wednesday.  To be completely honest, I know very little about what will go on there but I figued at the very least, I will be mildly more informed about Wyoming then I am now. 

Best of all, this is really only the beginning.  The stories I've heard about the views in the Tetons make me cringe with excitement for everything that's ahead of me. 

Stay warm out there!

Western Hospitality

Whoever coined the phrase 'southern hospitality' clearly forgot to consider life west of the misissippi river.  Since the completion of the last post in St.Louis, Steph and I have enjoyed the company of not one but two total strangers for dinner in St.Louis and Boulder.  For the protection of ourselves and these characters, we will give them code names. 

Steph-the friendly spirit that she is- believes in complementing total strangers.  This unraveled as Steph approached Elliot at Kayak's to tell him he was cute.  As the conversation went on and I sat nearby watching like a guard dog, Steph managed an invitation to dinner in St.Louis and a place to couch surf for the night for both of us.  We contemplated this for about 5 minutes before we decided that there was no good reason not to go.  So, after changing clothes and applying deoderant in a grocery store bathroom, we met up with Elliot at Pi's, a fantastic pizza spot in the Loop neighborhood in St.Louis.  Steph says it was easily the best pizza she's ever had.  I think it was a close second to Pies and Pints at the new river gorge in West Virginia.  As the conversation ensued, Steph and I both got an itch to get back on the road to our almost final destination-Boulder.  So at about 10 pm we bid farewell to our new friend and hit the road to Colorado. 

We drove through the night alrernating 2 hour shifts of driving and sleeping.  Kansas was brutally long and boring, but had the most beautiful night sky and so many shooting stars that we lost track.  Temps dropped into the single digits and as we made our way into Colorado the sun came up. Enjoying coffee in Boulder, we decided to join a gym for a week long trial with the main purpose of being able to shower at the completion of our exercise.  While I was enjoying the sauna, I over heard Steph strike up a conversation with some locals in the hot tub about where we could camp for free close to town. 

Once again, fate had its way and next thing you know JB(a contracter) was offering to let us stay in his 'extra' house in Boulder for the night.  With a bit of hesitation we decided this was a solid idea.  For extra security, we gave the address of the house to a few of our friends and told them that if they didn't hear from us shortly they should send the police to the address.  Thankfully, JB was not an axe-murderer picking up young girls at the gym as our imaginations had allowed us to think.  After a nice cruise in his 0-60 in 3 seconds porsche, we enjoyed beers at a few brewery's and spent the night in our sleeping bags in the spare bedroom of the spare house. 

Every person we've met since St.Louis has been unbelievable friendly and welcoming to two total strangers.  JB even joked to me yestereday that we could totally make a life out of this bumping into strangers thing.  I think we'll stick to our original plan and head to our final destination tomorrow morning.  Can't wait to see what Laramie has in store for us!

Smokey and Looseleaf

Greetings From St. Louis!

Today I co-blog with the wonderful Stephanie Smith-my road trip co-pilot.  It turns out that Steph (minus her current illness) was and is the perfect person to bring along for my journey.  She is funny, helps me take of my jacket while driving before I even say a word, and she appreciates the cool little places along the way just as much as I do.

We departed New Years Day from Silver Spring Maryland around 12pm.  Cruising through rainy and very warm Pennsylvania, my car got a nice 70 mph bath in preparation for the 1800 miles ahead.  After trudging through Ohio we finally arrived at my sister Cali's place in Covington Kentucky around 8pm.  On monday we embarked on a closet organizing extravaganza with my sister which included a trip to Ikea.  Best thing hands down in Cincinnati was Jungle Jim's- a grocery store the size of a super wal-mart loaded with the biggest selection of international foods, beers, ciders, honey, and hot sauces I have ever seen! Big love goes out to my sister Cali for being such a wonderful host!

This morning we set out from Covington at 9 and took not one or two but three wrong turns that led us on a long stretch of road next to the Ohio river.  Eventually we made our way back to the big highway that brought us to Indiannapolis and route 70 west-our final road until we make it to Denver.  We passed a good bit of time today by partaking in what we call 'carobics'.  Its an ecletic blend of traveling exercises that go great to the beat of good coutry tunes.  All exercises can be completed sans weights, but sometimes we use water bottles for extra resistance. 

Finally, we reached St. Louis-crossing the mighty Misissippi River and entering the gateway to the west.  Steph picked out a cool spot for lunch in an area called 'the loop' where St.Louis's old trolleys used to make their turn around.  We had some food and then walked as much as we could while enjoying some awesome shops and an adorable neighborhood. 

Finally we made our way to our current destination-Kayak's coffee shop which I spotted from the road.  Its easily, the coolest coffee shop I've ever been in, but no one here seems to know just how awesome it is.  Steph is drinking tea that came on a cute little plate with its own kettle and I'm having a delicious mayan mocha.  We took pictures of both drinks...such tourists!

From here, our plan is to drive through the night until we reach Boulder in the morning.  We will benefit from another spot to go 'back in time' an hour making our arrival time seem earlier, but in reality be exactly the same amount of flat mid-western driving that promts us both to do carobics. 
RW4L-(road warriors for life)
Smokey and LooseLeaf