Being a Part of SCC

Today wrapped up the second hitch of the summer season for the CLPD crew. We’ve been camping at Hermosa (about 30 minutes away) until now and haven’t ventured far from Durango, but already I have learned a lot about the work SCC does and about it’s awesome reputation in the area. 

I flew in from Georgia exactly two weeks ago and spent my first days getting acquainted with the city. Every time I wandered into a store or restaurant and mentioned being here for SCC, I’d hear about how “someone’s roomate had been with the program so long and loved it” or how “they’d recently been at Chaco Canyon and met a crew doing some great work there.” Despite being in a place so far from home, with only a backpack of my possessions and where I knew absolutely noone, I couldn’t help but immedietly feel connected to something amazing.

 As I write this, my crew members/leaders are unloading and derigging, and I can’t help but appreciate each of the talents and skill sets they bring to the group. We come from all over the country, literally. Among us are ski instructors, snowboarders, veteran crew members, avid cyclists, climbers and hikers and former fire crew members… I readily acknowledge I am the most physically inexperienced of them. It’s a humbling feeling, but that also means I have a lot of room for growth…and I can’t wait to learn with/from each of them. 

We’ve spent the last couple weeks around Durango doing fire mitigation work in Dalla Mountain and working on trails on Engineer Mtn. Though they haven’t been long hitches, we’ve focused on learning trail crew skills we will (soon) be passing on to our own crew members. We wake up early to get to our work site by 8 a.m. and try to squeeze as much as we can into an 8-9 hour work day. Knowing that I’ll soon be leading my own crew, adds further incentive to learn as much as I can as quickly as I can – especially since this is the first trail crew experience I’ve had.

 In the evenings, we come “home,” take turns making dinner for each other and generally spend our free time getting to know each other through games and activites. There are lots of campfires and lots of s’mores. It’s hard to be in a bad mood at a ‘home’ like that…even without showers.