Crosscut, Co Leaders, and More!
Posted by SCC on Wednesday, April 27th, 2011.Written by Jared Fehr, a crew leader with the Los Valles Region:
Crew leaders familiarize themselves with crosscuts
Crew leaders had yet another busy week of Los Valles Crew Leader training on week 2 of 6. Monday and Tuesday saw topics on Effective Communication, Leadership Styles, Crosscut, and more. Tuesday afternoon Crew members were paired up with their co-leaders and given more information about which projects they would be working on in the coming months. Members also used their crosscuts on this day and practiced various bucking techniques. Several folks brought their instruments and Tuesday night as well as some other nights saw some musical performances that rivaled Bon Jovi, Jackson 5, and countless other acts from the previous century.
Wednesday saw the introduction of Bill Stalker, longtime employee at Great Sand Dunes National Park and SCC partner. Bill was kind enough to offer his perspective on different trail topics over the course of the day and was gifted a retired pick mattock along with several other items at a retirement party that evening. Members were enticed at the end of dinner by some of the most amazing rice krispy treats ever, made possible by absurd quantities of butter.
A view of the Sange de Cristos from JKB Ranch
Thursday gave crew leaders (and staff) the opportunity to get their hands dirty with some trail work – members worked all day in the Rio Grande National Forest on an equestrian trail. The majority of time was spent on corridor clearance, drainage, and a small amount of restoration.
On Friday crew leaders said goodbye to J. Kyle Braid Ranch and headed back to Salida where they de-rigged and went through their gear for the coming year with their co-leaders. The coming weeks will provide opportunities for all crew leaders to work in front and back country settings on a variety of trail projects before trail season officially begins at the end of may. Though this weekend has been marked by snow, many plants and trees have revealed that spring is in fact well on its way.
