7/12/18 Thursday

            Today was our service work days at Deschutes National Forest, the group was split into two major groups with their own activities for the workday. One group was sent to do a vegetation survey and the other group was sent to clear and brush hiking trails within the parks. I chose to be part of the trails group because it sounded more interesting based on past job experiences. The vegetation survey, in my opinion, sounded a bit boring for my liking because it sounded too much writing and not enough action. To complete our service day we met Jessie Larson a trail technician for the DNF for four years and was an ex-wildland firefighter. Again I get to meet more wild land fire fighters that I could relate to. She provided us with gear such as work gloves, hard helmets, work glasses, and a variety of different tools. The tool that I chose was a hand saw, because it looked like a handy tool and I knew that it could do multiple tasks. Our task was to help her clear 3 miles of trail so that horses could have more room to go through since it was a trail specially design for horses.  

               Basically what we had to do was to help make the path wider by trimming tree branches, clearing branches on the ground, and my favorite part which was to saw small trees that were on the trail path. Sadly though it was not all fun for me, as the saw I ended with was a bit rusty and dull and so, I named it rusty and Pablo named his chinook. When I sawed my first few trees my saw was great but as we kept preceding my saw was working less effective. So, as a result, I had to saw twice as hard and twice as fast that my other partners that had saws. But the day was not all bad as it reminded me of my old job as a wildland firefighter. The way we were all wearing our equipment and how we all walked in a single file line. Honestly being around Jessie today gave me a sense of belonging as if I was no stranger. We then took a detour off the hiking trail with Jessie to go up-close and see the Deschutes River. On our way to the river, my right feet felt into a waterhole that was hidden in brush grass. Honestly, that was so funny because I was second to last and right as Caleb said to watch out for the whole I felt. I then I told him “oh that hole.”

 

              Another of my favorite parts of today was when we all had lunch at a lake named Lava Lake. The sight there was beautiful with a great view of Mt. Bachelor. The water was so blue and at the edge, it was so clear. Pablo and Rudy and I took a lot of pictures of that sight. Honestly, I’m even thinking of bringing my family to Deschutes after this trip is over, just to go back to Lava Lake. At our lunch spot, there were restrooms and a water fountain with really cold water. That water felt so good in that heat, it was a good idea to have lunch there. After lunch, we headed back to the vans still continuing working on the trail. On the way back I encounter a really thick tree that Jessie instructed me to cut down. Cutting through that tree seemed forever especially with my rusty hand saw. It was like cutting through wood with scissors. But that did not stop me and I succeed and that tree was as good as gone, I felt proud of myself for the work I did with my hand saw, because we were supposed to cycle saws but no one wanted to trade with me.  After we completed the service my reward was a fresh shower that made me feel good. Overall I’m really glad I came on this trip, I’m having a blast.