Blazing trails and Planting beans

Written by Chloe Bovoletis, a crew leader with the Los Valles Region:

Working hard!

Blistered hands, sore arms, fatigue has set in, and the last 9 days of blazing new trail weighs heavy on our crew.  It’s the last day of our hitch and we are so close to finishing our project.  For the past couple of weeks, we have been working on rerouting a  steep section of the Prospector Trail in the Salida Mountain Trails system. The project consists of digging about a mile of new tread which includes multiple rock walls and sneaky, tight, turns.  All 6 of us have been pouring our heart, soul, energy, and focus into getting this project done.  Mountain bikers and hikers continually pass by giving us encouragement and thanks and this excitement rubs off on the crew.  Pride sets in after seeing how many people actually use the trail every day and to know our hard work won’t be wasted.  All of these details feed into our crew’s motivation for finishing the trail. There’s only a couple hours left on the clock and there is still new trail to be dug. We’re close but most of the crew doubts the completion of the last section.

These are the moments and situations that test you as an individual and as a crew.  Aggravation comes in chronic waves and patience is highly in demand.  Exhaustion is looming over you, but there’s no other choice but to push through.  By pushing yourself and reaching beyond the limits of what

Salida Sunset

you think you’re able to do, you grow.  Hopefully you keep growing, like a bean stalk.  Then the new grown- up you feels like a giant in comparison to the previous you.  Every crew leader can list off different reasons for being here and doing the work we do.  The ability to grow beyond yourself is one reason why I’m here.

With only 30 minutes left of the work day, the crew is wrapping up the last section of trail and revegetating  the old trail.  We worked right down to the wire and finished the project just in time.  We didn’t have time to put in the fine polishing detail that we would have liked to, but we feel proud and successful.  We pack up our tools and hike back to camp feeling drained but holding our heads high.