Adventures of C-Knucks

Written by Evan Gover, a crew member with the Los Valles Region:

The Crew Taking a Break from Work

The past month with SCC has been a very rewarding experience. Leave No Trace guidelines, technical work skills, and leadership principles have been at the forefront. The weekends however will be some of the memories that will last the longest.

Visiting Black Canyon of the Gunnison the first weekend was epic. We had a great time at the national park and learned about its formation and discovery. Ranger talks on the geology and exploration of the canyon were very interesting. We also got to swim in the creek above the canyon and spend some time downtown checking out the local flavor.

The second weekend included high adventure, an art scavenger hunt, and conservation education. After camping out near Salida, we checked out the local art scene before heading over to Great Sand Dunes of Alamosa County. En route to camping on top of the dunes we sand-boarded and played some frisbee to top off the day. The next morning we scurried down the dunes and headed over to Villa Grove where we learned about a creek restoration project stemming from mineshaft waste. Brian was very knowledgeable and entertaining.

Hanging out at Black Canyon

The final weekend was “magical” to say the least. We stayed the first night at the KOA in Alamosa and divulged in free showers and a pool. The next morning we headed to a logger festival in South Fork where many of us partook in logging competitions such as the axe throw or two-man crosscut. We finished out the day by watching the last Harry Potter movie at the theatre in Alamosa which he had prepared for the night before by using a projector at the KOA. We woke up the next day near Big Meadow Reservoir and hit the water with inflatable rafts and canoes. Others did some hiking on a near by trail that had some great waterfalls. Not only did we work hard this past month but we played hard too.