Dev Does NCCC: Trail Shelters and Bad Weather

Firstly, let me be the first to admit I suck at keeping this up. Limited WiFi access is my excuse, even if it's not strictly true at the moment. I'll probably continue the pattern of no posts for weeks and then several posts in a 48-hour period. Life goes on.

The first two weeks were brutal, in a really good way. We worked with FOOT--Friends Of the Ouachita Trail--which is a group of retirees that have way more beef than I do. We hauled logs, gravel, concrete, and tools down a big, steep hill riddled with switchbacks. We worked 4-6 on some of the bigger logs, while 2 of the FOOT members were able to carry them down without a problem.

The first trail shelter we worked on wasn't very hands-on--we spent most of the time hauling while FOOT did the actual building. Still, the sense of accomplishment was very real when we saw the finished product.

The second was much more hands-on--the team worked on the shelter start to finish, from the post holes to the roof.

Some of us also worked on damming a stream so backpackers would have a water collection point. We named it RADS Dam to go with our initials.

When all was said and done, we said goodbye to FOOT, with many hugs and a sad tug in our hearts. When we heard our project would involve working with senior citizens--I admit--I wasn't the only one who felt a touch of apprehension. But not only did they prove to be complete beasts, they were amazing people overall. Doughnuts or brownies or other treats were an almost-daily gift--and one gentleman brought his dog, Tubby, whose playful spirit kept us going through the hardest days.

Back at "home," we ran into issues pretty constantly. In addition to the first windy night that forced us into campers, we dealt with power outages, leaks (which were duly duct taped), breaking doors... the list definitely goes on.

For a few days, ice kept us on the mountain...

... and, since it wasn't safe to do trail work, we were left to clean the campground bathrooms and clean infinities of rat poop out of the historical house onsite.

But we kept our attitudes positive... for PT one day, we had a dance party in the bathroom--the only place that was warm enough to stay.

We ended up moving a couple hours south to Historic Washington State Park to avoid an ice storm--a wise move, as almost a week later Queen Wilhelmina still doesn't have water or power. But that's a topic for another post.

Though we've had not a little turmoil this round, I'm glad it was the first. If we can survive this project, we can survive anything. And it was definitely good to be able to see tangible evidence of the work we were doing--a shelter for weary or weather-bound travelers, built by our own hands.