HUMBOLDT TRINITY BACKCOUNTRY TRAIL CREW
MAY 2005 MONTHLY REPORT
KARLSON HUBBARD, BACKCOUNTRY TRAILS SUPERVISOR

OVERVIEW:

Now to the present – The beaches along the Lost Coast Trail. Our weekend here is near its end. We fell asleep last night on the sand watching the full moon and listening to the sound of crushing waves. We awoke this morning to smell the sunrise over the mountains and feel it steal the ocean’s shrouding mist. It’s a beautiful, deferred stretch of land to witness and I got to share the experience with my first backcountry crew. A picture of Ashanti Hassan (WEB—Riverside, CA), with a defiant smile near a dead deer on the shore. Richard Dobbs (CCC—NEG, San Diego), gleefully holding up a decaying octopus. "Wisconsin"—Andrew Kasper (WEB—WI), trudging along in the deep sand, his pack enamored with unsightly litter that was left behind ages ago. And, George Butler (CCC—Camarillo), following the rear, donning a delightful and labored grin accompanied by his weeping poison oak sores that have been his long-time companion. The nights had the crew frantically rushing to move their gear up the beach to avoid it being captured by the greedy tide. The days were encrusted with along awaited, muscle-clad sunshine that cauterized some of the bits and pieces of our animosity.

We hiked together this trip. We sweated. We laughed. We wondered about everything under the cloud flecked skies. And, we were all alone at some point during our trek. The beach here is damply powerful and painfully soothing. I’ll always remember this trip, this time when I think of the ocean and beaches…………..

This month was crammed packed with a bunch of different classes. Andrea Poteet (Kings Canyon, 1985 & Stanislaus Crew Supervisor, 1995), visited the crew twice where she taught us about plants, rocks, land formations, water quality, and data collection in field work. We learned that she did not call us ignorant and invasive, but rather she was merely talking about igneous intrusive rock formations.

Yonny Rivas (Stanislaus, 1992), our sponsor foreman, showed us that it takes a little bit of guts, determination, and some tree hugging, in order to scale these tall giants, the Redwoods. Our newly acquired knowledge of tree climbing was quickly put to use when Manuel Valentin (Orange County CC), executed a skilled rescue operation when he climbed up a tree to save a crew mate from a potential fall, but a bruised ego can hurt pretty damn bad. Nevertheless, Dobbs was rescued. Luckily, he was only 5 feet in the tree.

Early in the month, we celebrated Cinco de Mayo, with a violent outpouring of blatant disregard for one another as we wrestled on the ground like mating rattlesnakes to grab as much candy as our greedy bellies could handle from the war-torn piñatas. It was a day to remember as the sugar water flowed like the blood of ancient warriors engrossed in battle.

We also came together in May as a crew to carry-out a few community development exercises as we secretly planned and executed several stinging practical jokes on Peter Lewis (twice). I don’t think there was ever a team of international assassins that could have carried out the missions with more cold-blooded precision and pin-point efficiency, than our Humboldt-Trinity crew. Like loyal and worthy ninjas captured by the Shogun, we will not and cannot divulge the details of our actions. Let’s just say that stories about inappropriate campfire behavior, dishes in the latrine, and fist-fights and quitters were our weapons of choice.

We left Austin Cooper (CCC—Ukiah), on the side of the highway with his thumb hanging out. Oh, don’t worry, he wanted it that way after he resigned.

Dan Quance (WEB—Minnesota) joined the crew to add muscle and strength in numbers and Ashley Schwab (WEB—Texas), arrived as May left to give us a flavor of Texas, garnished with a little Missouri. Plus she brought invisible playing cards.

One crew member found out his knee wanted him to pay more attention to it. He goofed his knee a little bit and suffered through a week of KP.

Our ever present friend, poison oak, nestled in and flared up from time to time, but too bad for him we had already learned how to cope with his annoyances.

The Trinity-Redwood Crew wants to thank a lot of folks, but here are a few of them.

• Thanks to the Kaspers for visiting our camp and brightening Wisconsin’s day.
• Thanks to Andrea for the class. What’s that you say? – You’ve never met a moronic flop like us? Oh, metamorphic rock lying in the dust. That’s what you said.
• Victor Rocha Sr., Nicole, and Colleen, thanks a million for the tri-tip ribs, soda-pop, Capri suns, and the chance for us to make our own music. Please come back again!
• Our Humboldt Redwoods State Park Sponsors, - Yonny, Dee Dee, and ‘Mustang’ Carlos Alvarez (Stanislaus, 2002). – Thanks for the knowledge and experience. The two things a true sponsor should share.
• Lastly, real heart-felt thanks goes to Tom Harrington, our first cook of the season. Your compassion for us helped lead the way for our season and your cooking helped lead the way as we were fed well. Enough appreciation for what you have done for us will never be enough. GOOD LUCK!