king range, ho!

oooh, sorry for not updating in weeks. but i have an excuse! really! i was camping, doing trail construction, in the king range mountains in northern california (humboldt county, ground zero for pot growing in the states--you'd like it, eloi). on a mountain for 2 weeks, no showers, not to mention computers.

it was a great trip. 15-28 july. people of all ages (21-79), from all parts of the country (philly to san francisco), and from all backgrounds (mountain boy to neurologist) volunteered (actually, paid $60 plus transportation) to do trail work in the mountains for 2 weeks. there were 13 of us (10 volunteers and 3 blm employees) the first week and 10 the second week. the first week, we camped at nadelos campground near the town of shelter cove and day-hiked up to the worksite each day. started off as an hour hike each way, but by the end of the week, we had made enough trail that it was a 2 hour hike each way. quite a commute. the second week, we backpacked up to a campsite we had just made, and camped there, working within 10 minutes of camp, so we could work longer each day. the first week was car camping, essentially, with loads of good food. the second week was all about ramen and oatmeal. mmmmm. but, i must say, we managed to have good coffee every day for both weeks.

the views from the trail were amazing--we were 2500 feet above the ocean, but only a short distance horizontally. the second week, fog enshrouded the coast, but up high, we were in the free and clear. watched the sunset each day from up on the trail, then stayed to see the stars. for an east coast city girl such as myself, being able to see the stars (and shooting stars and satellites!) was a real treat. it was especially nice the night the local interns shared their weed with a few selected, known pot-friendly volunteers. mmmmm. humboldt county's biggest cash crop is pot, and most everyone grows. though the area is *very* rural, there are more garden supply stores that you can shake a stick at. [i have *no idea* where that expression comes from.] there are side-of-the-road stands selling fresh berries and "baked goods." the population is part old mountain man, part ex-hippy, part retired astrophysicist. the mountains are rugged, the water is blue, and the air is fresh. i would move there, given the chance.

i'm sad to be back. back in the humid east. back to my "real" life, which is bearing down with oppressive rapidity. being in the mountains, doing hard physical labor, was good for my soul. i miss it already.

the hard physical labor was trail-building. the first week, we were mostly just reclearing an old trail. there was an existing trail bed (that needed work in places, but hey), and we were mostly cutting back the manzanita bushes that had overgrown the trail (it can grow 2-3 feet a year!). later in the first week and all during the second week, were were building *new* trail. trail where there had never been trail before. scott, our blm contact, had decided where the trail should go and had flagged it, in some places belly-crawling through the manzanita. nick (nicholas mattole raphael--what a name!) chainsawed a rough clearing, then we volunteers came through with handsaws and pruning shears ("loppers"), cutting the smaller branches, then with mcleods, creating the trailbed (with an outslope to get rid of water of about 3%). it was hard, hot work. my favorite tool was the pulaski, and boy, can i ever wield an axe now! whooo, don't piss *me* off!

we created a backcountry camp where an old pot patch had been. it was near water (which is scarce in that part of the country). on day at camp, we actually got buzzed by a CAMP (campaign against marajuana production) helicopter, coming back to check on the site of the old patch. they must have been awfully confused to see 10 people sitting in the old patch, calmly eating lunch and waving at them. heh heh.