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Hi y'all!
I am back from the Pacific Crest Trail in California. It was located between Tehachapi and Mojave on a wind farm run by a company called Terra-Gen. They are constructing and installing 100 new wind turbines and we are responsible for re-routing the trail at least 300 feet away from the new turbines. My responsibilities varied from swamping trees that had been cut down by a chainsaw (similar work to that at Lake Mojave), shovelling dirt to create the trail and also pick-axing at harder rock.
I really enjoyed this project because it was fun having a variety of tasks to complete and getting to use different tools. I felt as if I had more responsibility creating a section of the trail. After the trail had been dug out we had to create a back slope which I was never very good at! I would stick at beating the hell out of rocks and dirt rather than smoothing everything over and adding the finishing touches lol. What can I say... I am more aggressive lol.
On arrival, the weather was freezing cold, it was snowing heavily and it was just YUCK. We had to set up camp in these conditions so my tent and bags were soaked through by the time I had finished setting it all up. We had to cook and wash up in the freezing cold and my hands were so cold that it hurt. For the rest of the night we huddled in the van for warmth and listened to music before it was time to depart to our very cold tents.
The next day we had a little more snow. We had to have a safety and environmental meeting which was very boring for the most part as it was more directed to the employees of the windfarm than ACE volunteers, but we grinned and bared it. Then after this really long talk, we found out the road was closed which we needed to access our worksite. We thought we might have had a chance of a day off (the previous crew did!), but instead we had to hike 4 and a half miles uphill in freezing temperatures to our work site. That was exhausting for everyone, but hiking uphill has never been a strength of mine and the conditions just made it worse. But I made it. Just.
We worked on different parts of the trail all week which made it more interesting as we were not stuck in the same location. The weather got warmer during the week, up to 26 degrees celcius which was just about bearable to work in. I had more of a challenge that week as my hiking boots went missing the morning of my project so I had to wear some out of the common cupboard that were too big for me and had holes in them.. so you can imagine it wasn't easy. It turns out my actual boots had been put into common and one of my room mates took them for the week on her project lol. All is restored now!
The camp ground was very narrow and my tent was pitched on small stumps sticking up here and there which made it uncomfortable. I slept really well though because of all the hard work :P On one of the nights however, I felt something moving underneath my tent. At 4 in the morning I couldn't scream so just had to smile and think.. well its not a snake or a spider because of the way it moved so my guess is it was some type of rodent. I was so brave lol. Especially as I felt it brush up against my leg and move around at the bottom of my feet lol. The other bad thing about camp was the portaloo was like a 5 minute walk away up a hill... so toward the end it became more convienient to pee behind a bush lol. I have transformed into some type of wilderness queen lol.
I only have one more project with ACE left before I embark on my independant travels. I am going to miss the people I have met as they have become like an extended family. I am also sad as quite a few of my friends have left or are leaving tomorrow, which sucks so much :( That is the hardest thing.. saying goodbye.
On a brighter note, I am heading to San Francisco tonight for a few days with a group of friends :) I am really excited about going as we will get to see Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. I just hope the weather holds out for us and we can get some decent pictures!
I am not sure what project I am on yet, but hopefully it will be a good one to finish it off! I don't think I have much more to tell but should be back either Monday or Tuesday. Then my project.. then a couple of days to sort things out before I get to go to Los Angeles! Woop! I hope everyone is doing alright and will write probably after my San Fran trip :)
Take care everyone and speak soon x x x x x :)
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