OVERVIEW:
After weeks and even months of anticipation, April finally arrived and with it the start of the Trinity-Redwood Trail Crew’s 2005 season. From the start a poison seethed through our crew. A poison so foul, so destructive and so corrosive that it had the very real potential to stifle, if not ruin, our season from the get go. As the month of April passed by, the poison seeped and oozed into nearly everyone on the crew. The end was and still is nowhere in sight. The poison we’re talking about is not your usual run-of-the-mill damaging force most beginning BC crews’ encounter. Poisonous forces like trouble adjusting to the BC, or difficulty getting used to the physicality of our new jobs, or even getting along with the new, diverse, strangely foreign crew- families we will be living and working with for the next 5 ½ months. Oh no! What we’re talking about is @#$%^&* POISON OAK!
The start of our season was marred with cutting, brushing, pulling, hugging, kissing and caressing poison oak.
Alas, after several trips to the ER and countless bleeding, self-induced scratch marks we have come to accept our fate and even almost happily cope with our crew condition. Our morale has not flinched, nor wavered and we are all still able to manage the beginning of our long summer’s journey without even coming close to giving up.
Here’s to you poison oak! We fear you no more!
Thanks to Yonny Rivas (Stanislaus, 1992), Carlos Alvarado (Stanislaus, 2002), Dee Dee and Sam Alsop for your help in starting our season and for providing us with gallons of Tecnu (poison oak soap & lotion), the stylish wardrobe of Tyvex (Haz-Mat) suits, and the bars of Poison Oak Soap we needed to do battle with our black-sap foe: Poison Oak.
Thanks goes to our cook Tom Harrington for helping us on a daily basis to momentarily forget our itching by feeding us well.
Later on…Trinity-Redwoods ’05.
CURRICULUM:
Our curriculum program for April was spent mostly on orientation to our new circumstances and the requirements it imposes including camp procedures, program expectations and a wide variety of other crucial information. In addition we were graced with two days of Stress Management and Massage training from George "The Boot Fairy" Hawley. With first-aid / CPR training one-whole day and a couple of Community Meetings, April was full of important education.
PERSONNEL CHANGES:
Chris Ramirez left the crew during the second week.
INJURIES:
Did we mention extensive exposure to poison oak? Just in case you missed that part of the story, let me tell you. Lots & LOTS & LOTS OF POISON OAK!!! This means red, itchy rashes, swelling and blistering. Many of the crew members have been treated at the doctors but we are carrying on.
ODDS AND ENDS:
Thanks to the Fortuna CCC Center staff and corpsmembers who hosted us for our Orientation. Thanks especially to Diane Brown (Backcountry Crew Supervisor, 1983-1988 & 1991), the kitchen staff, night staff, and to Lorelei Wendt, formerly of the Del Norte CCC Center, who helped us with our intake paperwork.
The members of the Humboldt-Trinity 2005 Backcountry Crew are:
Adam Archibeque (CCC—Tahoe) George Butler (CCC—Camarillo)
Jessica Casas (CCC—Tahoe) Austin Cooper (CCC—Ukiah)
Richard Dobbs (CCC/NEG—San Diego) Kevin Fischer (WEB—Pleasanton, CA)
Javier Gallardo (CCC—Pomona) Ventura Garcia (CCC—San Diego)
Ian Gustafson (CCC—Chico) Ashanti Hassan (WEB—Riverside, CA)
Andrew Kasper (WEB—Madison, WI) Jose Nepomuceno (CCC—Delta)
Victor Rocha (CCC—SLO) Manuel Valentin (Orange County CC)
Karlson Hubbard Crew Supervisor (Klamath-Trinity crew, 2000)
PRODUCTION:
New Trail Construction (Reroute):
Cuneo Creek Trail —1,053 linear yards (0.6 miles lin. ft. )
