Just kidding!

Hey!

My camping trip actually got delayed because of snow in the mountains.  We hiked some tools into our work site on Monday, and we were hiking through a foot of snow!  It was pretty crazy, especially considering that it was a fairly mild day down in town, only a two hour drive away. 

We spent the week back on Barr Trial, continuing the same kind of work we were doing before.  More steps, more tread work!  It felt good to get even farther than we thought we could and really have time to perfect some sections.  We also got to spend a day working with RMFI and community volunteers at the Garden of the Gods.  There were some spots where users had gone off established trails and caused a lot of erosion, so we spent the day passing buckets of dirt along a fire line to fill those holes in.  Moral of the story... stay on established trails!  =)

We're all packed up and ready to head out tomorrow.  The weather forecast is pretty good, except for snow and cold temps on Wednesday.  Hopefully we won't have to delay any longer or come back early.  I'm excited to start our work, and excited to tent camp for the first time. 

I found out what project I should have for my next (and final!) round.  I'll be heading to Brazos Bend State Park near Houston, Texas to build trail and work in the nature center.  I'm really excited to take a fun road trip, get out of Colorado and continue environmental work!  And be near some Texas family. =)  That said, I could get swapped to a different project at the last minute like I was last time.  Nothing is certain until you are in the van starting your journey there.  Actually, you're not even safe then.  Haha.  Nothing is certain, ever.  But that's okay. 

I'm getting really excited to attend MSU and be back near family and friends.  Happy where I am though, and thankful for all these opportunities. 

Goodbye Barr, Hello Bear

     Yesterday was my last day working on Barr Trail.  I'm really proud of what we got done there.  All in all, we built 121 new timber steps, 3 stone steps and improved 900 feet of tread.

An example of an improved section.  New sturdy timbers and no more gully!

     Now I have the weekend to relax and pack, but on Monday I'll head to the backcountry to begin my work in Bear Creek!  It will be difficult to stay in touch during weekdays, but on the weekends I should be able to come back to Manitou.  Hopefully then I'll have lots of pictures and stories. =)

The Countdown Begins

99 days until I come home! <3

Life at 6,412 Feet

Hello!

     It's been a good week and I've gotten to do a lot of fun things in the Colorado Springs area. Last weekend I explored Manitou Springs, the town where I technically live, and Old Colorado City, a similar town whose business district is actually a closer walk from my house.  They are both really cute, and full of unique local businesses. 

I have to search for the best ice cream wherever I go... I am my father's daughter.  Colorado Creamery was delicious, though a little pricey.  I loved their Red Velvet.  Even better than Colorado Creamery was Josh & John's, whose main store is in downtown Colorado Springs but their ice cream is also served at Pike's Peak Chocolate and Ice Cream in Manitou Springs.  I am addicted to their Oatmeal Cookie!

     Last weekend Fire 6 and I also hiked the Manitou Incline.  The Incline is a popular, rigorous trail made up of the remains of a former incline railway.  It is very steep!  In less than a mile, you gain more than 2,000 feet of elevation. It is right next to our worksite on Barr Trail... many hikers actually will hike up the Incline and down Barr.  That is why the first 2,000 feet of Barr is our priority... it gets twice the wear!  Two other teams from my unit that have nearby projects came to do it with us.  We were all so tired and sore when we finished, but it was fun and had great views at the top.  The only downside was slipping and catching myself on a cactus on my way down.  I still have a few needles in my hand!  Haha.  I guess it was my official Wild West initiation. 

All of us before we started.  You can see the trail in the background!

          Work went well this week.  I feel I'm really getting into the swing of things, and can do more without asking a supervisor to double check me.  Nine hours a day of physical work is starting to wear on me, but I know I'm getting a lot stronger.  And the trail is looking nice!  We get constant encouragement from hikers and runners passing by, complimenting our work and thanking us for our time.  That really means a lot.

Here's an example of a section of steps that needed replacing.  They are steep and not very stable.  Can you see how the soil beneath them is eroding away?

We're replacing them with nice, new 6x6 pine timbers.  They're very heavy, but luckily there's a military base in CO Springs, and some Air Force cadets who needed community service hours helped carry a lot of them up.

My least favorite part of step construction is pounding in rebar.  That's the metal pole on the left... it's 2 feet long and a half inch wide, and has to be pounded through 6 inch timbers.  For that, I use the double jack sledge.  We have a love/hate relationship. (Those tools are lying on a new step.  See how pretty and level it is?)

The hard work feels worth it, especially when this is the view from my worksite.  Love all those pine trees.

     Now it's the weekend again.  I've done a little resting, and today I went downtown Colorado Springs for the first time.  It was nice, but I prefer Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs.  There's just more to do and a nicer vibe. 

And a French bakery with homemade eclairs.  Trump card!

     Hope you're all doing well.  Heard the weather in Michigan is terrible right now!  Hopefully spring will turn up soon.  And hopefully it will get consistently warmer here, too!  Only one more week until I'm living in a tent.  Bye for now!

   

Birthday, Chris' Visit, New Project

Hello!

     It's been a long time since I've posted and a lot has happened.  Sorry about that!  Here's a long update with lots of pictures to make up for it.

     My time in Center finished up well.  The last week I was there, my students had state standardized testing, which I hope I helped prepare them for!  I gave them and the staff I worked with my email so we can all stay in touch.  Though it felt sad to leave, I feel I had good closure with my students and the community.  The superintendent threw us a going away party on our last weekend in town.

     Also, I celebrated my 19th birthday!

 My team helped make that day really special... I woke up to a decorated house!

That weekend, we went to Calvillos, an amazing Mexican buffet in Alamosa.  It was the best food ever, I was sung to in Spanish and got a free pinata!

  I was also overwhelmed by love and well wishes from family and friends through the mail.  Thank you so much, guys.

     We journeyed back to Denver and had a blur of a transition week.  It was really busy!  On top of the normal transition week trainings and activities, we had to change over from our primary teams to our new shuffle round teams.  Round 3 is a shuffle round where all corps members are moved around to different teams within their unit. That way, we all get to know different people outside of our primary teams and also have a better chance of getting a project we're passionate about.  For shuffle round, corps members get to submit individual project rankings for the "lottery" instead of having to average their rankings with the rankings of their teammates.  Usually, after Round 3 shuffle, teams go back to normal for Round 4.  However, Fire Unit has lost so many people that Round 4 may be a shuffle round also.

     It was sad to say goodbye to Fire 1.  I have traveled, lived and worked with them since November, and they've become really special to me.  I know we'll stay in touch, though, and there's still a small chance that we could be back together for Round 4.  We went to Ben & Jerry's to celebrate all of our accomplishments together, and have a happy "bye for now". 

     I know I told some of you that for Round 3 I'd be with Fire 3 working with the Coalition for the Upper South Platte in Colorado Springs, helping restore areas burned in last year's wildfires. However, there was a change at the last minute, and I got moved to Fire 6.  More on that later!

     Besides switching from Fire 1 to Fire 3 to Fire 6, transition week also involved a service day at the Food Bank of the Rockies and a special day called Life After AmeriCorps (LAA).  It was all about helping us decide and plan what we'd like to do next year.  Even though I already have my plans to attend MSU, LAA day was really helpful and interesting.  There were a lot of different presentations we could go to; I chose one on financial literacy, one on the Peace Corps and one on resumes and interviewing.  Then there was an opportunity fair afterwards, where a lot of different nonprofits and government organizations had tables set up. 

     At the end of transition week (Easter weekend), Chris came to visit me in Denver.  It was so wonderful to spend time with him and show him all of my favorite people and places out here.  We explored downtown, I showed him campus and my friends there, and we even got to meet up with Aunt Niecer and Uncle Michael!  It was the best weekend I've had in a long time.

State capitol.

 Rockies!

     Speaking of Rockies... right after Chris' brief visit, I left for my Round 3 project.  Since Monday, I've been in Colorado Springs with Fire 6, working with Rocky Mountain Field Institute.  They're a nonprofit "dedicated to the conservation and stewardship of public lands in the Southern Rockies through volunteer-based trail and restoration projects, environmental education and restoration research."  Awesome, right??  With them, we will be doing two different projects.  For these first three weeks (April 1 - April 19), we will be working on improving Barr Trail, the most popular trial leading up to Pike's Peak.  Pike's Peak is very famous.  It is over 14,000 feet high, and the woman who wrote "America the Beautiful" wrote it on her way up to Pikes, inspired by the awesome views!  Since Barr Trail is so popular, it is in danger of being "loved to death".  All of the people walking up and down it cause erosion.  The trail needs to be maintained so it can be enjoyed by everyone for many years to come.  Maintaining it has mostly involved replacing worn out timber steps, and working the soil of the trail so it slopes down instead of inward.  That way, water can run off of the trail into vegetation instead of down the trail, wearing down its infrastructure.  It has been a blast so far; I am learning how to use a ton of different tools, I am outside all day on the side of a gorgeous mountain, and our supervisors are very passionate about their work and teaching us new things.  I love it!

     While we're working on Barr Trail, we're living in a small house in Manitou Springs, a cute little tourist town next to Colorado Springs.  However, after our work on Barr Trial ends, we'll move on to working in the Bear Creek Watershed!  From April 22 - May 10, we'll be backcountry camping near Bear Creek, working to protect a threated species of fish: the greenback cutthroat trout.  They are Colorado's state fish, and the population in Bear Creek is the only known natural population left anywhere!  We will be protecting them by cleaning out sediment detention structures that are meant to keep soil out of the trout's fragile habitat. 

     I am both excited and nervous about backcountry camping.  It will be a brand new experience, and I won't have access to electricity, plumbing or running water!  I know I will learn a ton, though, and it will be an awesome challenge.

My shuffle team... Fire 6!  From left: me, Nick, C.A. (my team leader), Rishar, Katie, Dan, Daniel and Erika

The day we met the staff of Rocky Mountain Field Institute, they took us to see Garden of the Gods!  It is less than two miles from where I'm living, and RMFI does work there sometimes.  It is so beautiful!

The kissing camels at Garden of the Gods.  Can you see them? =)

The cute little house we'll be living in these next three weeks.  I love the tulips on the front porch rail!

     Now that I'm on a new team, my go-to Denver address has changed slightly.  It's basically the same, but now please put Fire 6 instead of Fire 1!  They'll forward me letters, but not packages.  (Packages will wait for me in Denver.)  It's still good to use this one though, because I move around a lot.  I'll write the whole thing out here.  

Rachel Poole - AmeriCorps NCCC, Class 19A, Fire 6

3001 S. Federal Blvd.

Walsh Hall Rm. 136

Denver, CO. 80236

     Here is a link to a map of where all the teams from my region will be Round 3.  http://batchgeo.com/map/ba017a553087bbbd1dbc8fbe918933c6   Also, here is a video that Lani made from Fire 1's time in Habitat for Humanity!  I know that was a long time ago, but it's still pretty awesome.  =) 

    
     I hope you all had a Happy Easter!  I will stay in touch.