Hiking in Yosemite.

Let me just start by letting you know that blogging here at Sugar Pine is a difficult undertaking.  If I want a good WiFi signal I have to sometimes sit outside in the snow and reconnect over and over again.  I have been considering wrapping myself in tinfoil to increase my reception.  To top it all off the screen on my digital camera busted yesterday from being out in the cold air.  It just isn't an easy week for me technology wise. 

I do have good news in that I can still upload photos from Silver 5's trip to Yosemite the other morning.  They aren't high definition as the internet is too slow for that kind of thing but I think that despite that they are worth posting.

'Giant' is no hyperbole.

Tiny, tiny people.

The Grizzly tree.  One of its branches is bigger than the trunks of all of the other species of tree in the forest.

A small car could drive through here.

The Clothespin tree.

The Jeff to sequoia ratio.

A faithful couple.

Reaching the peak.

We could be an inspirational poster.

Since I'm having a frustrating night with uploading photos and getting my internet to work long enough to blog I think I'm going to call this the end for tonight.

I'll update you all with more words and some bigger, clearer photos soon I hope!  I have so much to tell you about Yosemite.

Trek.

In the past three days I have line danced, sat near a cast member of Star Trek, and rolled huge logs into the mouth of a bulldozer.  Not too bad for the first week of round two if you ask me.

Seeing as how these entry experiences into the new rounds are such whirlwinds it is hard for me to quantify everything I have done since arriving at Sugar Pine.  I will do my best to collect my memory though.

The four hour drive down here was less than exciting.  We traveled in a bleak covering of fog for most of our trip.  From Sacramento on it was as though we were trapped on some kind of old time horror movie set with a fog machine.  However when we reached the foothills it was as though we were meant to see the nature around us.  The sun came out and we were able to take in the beautiful land around us.  I guess I can't complain about the fog blocking out my view of suburbia after being treated to a clear sight of green mountains and valleys.

We stopped in the downtown area of the town we work at, Oakhurst, to gain our bearings and grab a bite to eat.  I knew from just the few minutes we spent in the area that I would love the town.  Everywhere we went people asked how and who we were, told us all about their quaint little town, and one lady even entrusted us with some money to bring her back some fries from the local diner.  People have been nothing but nice to us since we arrived.  We don't always get such warm welcomes as people don't really understand what they're seeing when nine young people step out of a government van in fire boots and matching uniforms.  This town however has already embraced us.

The camp itself is a little paradise.  The location of the grounds certainly is a plus as we are stuck right in the middle of the Sierra National Forest and Yosemite National Park.  Everywhere I look there are mountains, streams, wildlife, and snow.  While it is taking me a while to get used to all of the snow, I am thoroughly enjoying everything else Sugar Pine Camp has to offer.

Silver 5 is doing a lot of great work here.  I have been doing everything from burning brush to chainsawing fallen trees.  The staff is very clear with the work they want done and are obviously appreciative of our presence here.

So far the best thing about being here has been our extra-curricular pursuits.  Last Wednesday we all went line dancing at the local community center.  The small group there seemed so happy to have us.  The leader of the group made sure to point out that Grace Lee Whitney was a patron of the troop.  Unfortunately as a sci-fi fan I didn't get to talk to her before she left but I am having her book shipped to me here so I can get her autograph during next Wednesdays dance.  It's crazy the people you meet when traveling through places.

 
At this point in the blog I would like to apologize for the lack of info and pictures in this post as well as for my less than witty rambling.  Internet is a come-and-go thing and on top of that it's getting late and I have a big trip to Yosemite in the morning!  I will try to do better next time but life is too exciting right now to be on my laptop!

Until I find a small trace of WiFi again,

-Josh

Chief? McCloud.

I don't have long to blog as I have an early morning tomorrow.  We will leave at 5:30am for our four hour drive to Oakhurst/Yosemite.  For the most part I am packed but I will angst for a few more hours about things that I believe I am forgetting.

Today was the most physically exhausting day of my life.  I spent most of my day behind a McCloud (it's like a rake and a shovel had a baby) creating 25 chains (66 feet a piece) of fire line up and down the hills of El Dorado today.  After that I ran drills up the mountainside to see if I could deploy my fire shelter in a reasonable time.  I thought my lung might collapse during the scenario training but somehow I made it though.  I wish I could tell you more about the day I had but I am just that tired.  My eyes are beginning to blur and close as I am typing this.

I hope to update you all as soon as I can when I get to Sugar Pine Camp!  Should be a fun day tomorrow!

Lookouts, Communication, Escape Routes, and Scabies Zones.

My room is cluttered with wildland safety books, fire gear, plastic bags full of bedding and clothes, and unsteady columns of paperwork balancing on my dresser.  Hopefully that is some indication as to why I haven't been the best blogger as of late.  These transition times between projects are generally crazy but this one takes the cake.

I figure I should dissect my week in reverse chronology as the more recent (and disturbing) events our fresh on my mind.  Once when we were waiting in the lobby of the urgent care of Gresham, Oregon waiting to get check for lice I said, "What next for round two? Scabies?".  We all had a good laugh and eventually left there with all but one of us lice free.  Well guess what the majority of our team (and others) have now?  Scabies.  Yes these horrible little bugs have me putting all my belongings in plastic bags, washing everything I own, and putting on medicated cream every time I turn around.  Luckily I do not currently have them but a lot of people living in the dorms do and they are pretty contagious in dorm type living spaces.  Let's hope we can get this all cleared up before we leave for our next project on Tuesday.

To help ease the pain I made my team some scabies related whimsy awards (as I am the team's whimsy coordinator).  I got a pretty great reaction from them.  After a weekend spent in the laundry room washing clothes I figured that we needed the pick-me-up. 
Scabies aside it's been a busy week.  We have spent the last week in the classroom earning our wildland firefighting certifications.  It's been a really interesting course with our teachers being from some really cool forests such as Tahoe and Plumas.  There is a pretty good chance that Silver 5 will have a round 3 at one of those two locations.

Come tomorrow I have the field day for the course where we do everything from cutting fire line to practicing using our fire shelters.  It's going to be a long day but totally worth it.  I look forward to having a little more knowledge to put behind my fire helmet.

Now to step back in time a little more.  Silver 5 has done two more mini-projects since I last blogged.  We spent MLK day leading community volunteers at a local elementary school performing some grounds clean-up.  It was kind of neat being a bit of a director and not just a laborer.  My volunteer team cleaned off a huge portion of fencing that had become overgrown.  Before the MLK day project we worked at a historical cemetery and rose garden of Sacramento.  Our team helped beautify the cemetery by moving some rose bushes and cleaning of grave markers.  It was a strange little project but nonetheless we enjoyed being in such a beautiful garden space.  I plan to go back when the roses are in bloom.

I don't spend all my time lurking in cemeteries and putting on scabies cream though.  The other night Kaitlin, Andrea, Ellen, Tucker, and I went to go see the Sacramento Kings square off against the Portland Trail Blazers.  Portland won which was fine with us because I believe we all feel just as attached to Portland as we do Sac.

I hope to blog before I head off to the Yosemite area on Tuesday but if I don't then plan on not hearing from me in a while.  Internet won't be readily available where I am going but I'll do my best to keep you all updated somehow!

Chainsausage and Eggs.

The whirrr of chainsaws and the smell of new fire boots are becoming quickly familiar to me.  I have had more time with both in the last four days than in all of my life combined...which isn't really saying much.

I am very proud to say that I can now one day put into my memoirs that I have fallen a tree.  Yes I, Joshua, took the life of a small douglas pine outside of Lake Tahoe the other day.  Though its death was not in vain as the knowledge I took from it can help save acres of trees when I am cutting protective fire line!  Frankly I am surprised at how well I stepped up to home plate to be the first in my small group to saw down a tree.  It may be cheesy to say but I can already see hints of more confidence shining through most days.  I find myself volunteering and taking on things that I would have shuddered at before.  I am pretty proud of having this training behind me.  I am even more proud of the fact that I am sporting all ten fingers as of the time of this blog post.  I cannot wait to show you pictures of me with my fallen tree.  Hopefully the person in my group who took them will be e-mailing them to me soon.

Do you like my fire helmet?



Andrea sports a chainsaw like no other.



We have also been getting some practice wearing our fire uniforms and gear.  The other day our team went on a hike with another FMT group in Auburn (which is located outside of the aptly named Cool, California where you can get a new doo at Cher's Hair Salon).  Though breaking in those new fire boots isn't easy, we had a great hike and got to see some beautiful sights.

Silver 5 by the riverbed.

Tucker and Andrea chilling by the cove.

The fire duds.

By the river.

Crossing creeks to reach the peaks!

The awesome cove.

I came close to falling in just so you know.

Silver 5 is doing more than just running chainsaws and wearing boots - we're getting some projects done too.  Yesterday we cleared out some space for a new exhibit at the local Space Museum.  I would have been such a happy boy had I got to actually go inside the museum and nerd out for a little while but I ended up just having to be content with raking their leaves outside.  At least I got one cool space-ish picture.

Earth below us, drifting, falling...

So as you can see I have been very busy at work doing my typical awesome Ameriwork.  To add to the awesomeness I am now the official Whimsy Coordinator of Silver 5.  I am not sure if I have mentioned it in my precious blogs but when our group was in Portland I was known to force whimsy into every aspect of our work and living experiences.  This has meant arranging tea parties, playing dress up for debriefings, and today it meant dressing up for PT.  Oh how I love my job.

Ellen looks like she's being teleported into another dimension.



Well folks it is far past time for me to be in bed.  I have to get my rest in as we have a project tomorrow beautifying one of SaSacramento's historical graveyards.  Call me crazy but I'm really excited about this little project.  It should make for some good pictures.

On a side note one of my fellow Silver 5 teammates has become an active blogger as of late.  Check it out!

 

Unburned Fuel between Me and the Fire.

It has been a very busy Ameriweek folks!

First off I am two-thirds of the way to being a certified sawyer.  Before you know it I will be juggling chainsaws with one eye closed while playing the harmonica.  Well, at least that's my PT goal for the end of the year.  Juggling aside it is a pretty exciting deal.  I am going to be spending a lot of time behind these crazy machines in the next seven or so months.  We've seen how much work our team can get done with shovels and rakes...imagine what we could do with chainsaws!  Or gas powered rakes for that matter.  Now that'd really be something. 

The two days of training I have completed so far have all been classroom based.  We've learned mostly about safety techniques and equipment but we have also spent a great deal of time on various cutting maneuvers as well as the mechanical functioning of the chainsaw itself.  I'm pretty proud to say that I can clean out an air filter and remove the entire chain bar like its nobody's business. Come Monday I will be out in the field chopping down some trees (don't worry, they're small ones) to prove my worth to the sawyer community.  Wish me luck and limbs.

Today was the busiest Ameriday I've had yet I think.  Not only did we have a project today but we had to cook dinner for ours and another team, get fitted for and receive our fire gear, and serve on security duty for the night.  Aside from the few moments I'm taking to blog it up I haven't had any real down time today.  It has been a good day nonetheless. 

Our project today consisted of working with another Fire Team at Danny Nunn Community Garden on the southern side of Sacramento.  Not unlike our time spent working at Northridge Elementary, it was a day of many dirty coveralls and tired young people.  Despite the fatigue by the end of the day we got a lot done for the community.  By the time all was said and done the entirety of the plot was weeded, the tool shed had a fresh coat of paint, and several bags of freshly harvested veggies went to the kitchens of our neighbors.  All in all it was a really productive day.  We even got to go play in the park afterwards!

I think I need this weekend more than I've needed any weekend so far.  After having two very lazy weeks at home, jumping straight into the life of manual labor and physical training has me running low on fuel.  I need to make sure to get plenty of mental rest as I don't want to miss out on anything too important in our upcoming wildland firefighting trainings....you know, things like how not to let yourself catch fire.

Time to hit the sack in Sac.  Until next time....

Nancy Sinatra Wrote a Song about these Boots.

My official Americorps fire boots came today in the mail!  I feel like I should be in a Lady Gaga concert with the huge heel on them though.  I might appreciate that few extra inches of padding when I'm walking near embers.

Check them out!

Home and Back.

Returning to this blog after break reminds me a lot of returning to base.  It is only vaguely familiar and I don't entirely remember how to navigate my way around it.  It's amazing how two weeks away can turn your mind into a blank slate.

A blank slate is probably exactly what I need though.  Being back in North Carolina was the best kind of mental rejuvenation one could ask for.  Though it stung having to get on that airplane yesterday, I know that there are big things in store for me coming up these next few months that I should set my sights on.  The most reassuring thought of all though is knowing that all of these people at home who care for me will still be there waiting when I come back in July.  Until then I can just keep making them proud here on the west coast.

I got to do a lot of wonderful things back home.  I think the best aspect of the break though was getting to feel like a normal person again.  Waking up whenever I wanted and not having a stiff schedule to stick to was quite a treat in itself.  I think that my sloth like behavior over the break will come to haunt me tomorrow morning during PT however.  Nonetheless it felt great to briefly live like I did before starting NCCC even if it can sometimes be a little less fulfilling playing XBox first thing in the morning instead of doing push ups.  I hope to keep riding this high from being home for the next seven months.  It'll keep me sane while I'm rushing around the west coast as some kind of service gypsy.

Now I am afraid I have to move on to talking about things on base before I get myself all homesick before bedtime....

My next two days will just be spent as a transitional time as many teams are leaving on the 5th for their round 2 projects.  As my team is a fire management one, I will spend the next two weeks on base in wildland firefighting and chainsaw training.  It will be a little strange being on campus while the majority of the corps is off on their second spike but I am really excited about spending the next period of time earning my firefighters uniform.  Come Tuesday my team gets to converse with Green Two who will be taking our place in Portland.  I think it will be a great opportunity to share what a positive experience we had working for Habitat.  We also get briefed on our upcoming spike at Sugar Pine Christian Camp from Blue Three who were serving there previously.  I cannot wait to hear what they have to say about their time there.  I happened to be at baggage claim yesterday with their team leader after hopping off my plane.  She shared with me the wonderful experience she had there.  It makes me all the more excited about Silver Five hopping in the van and taking the ride down to beautiful Yosemite country.

Well it is past bedtime for Josh!  Afterall we have our first post-break PT in the morning.  Should be loads of fun!