What a way to end ACE.
As of the Wednesday we left for this project, I had 899 out of 900 hours completed for AmeriCorps, all with the stipulation that it was within the bounds of Arizona. I offered to do another project, but only if I could leave the state, and if it was a cool project. Zion Revegetation fit the bill: one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been, great supervisor and revegetation is pretty laid-back work. It turned out to be even better than expected: the NPS staff we worked with were so fun and friendly, and took great care of us. Combine that with a fun crew and the stunning backdrop of the rust-streaked canyon walls and well, you’ve got one for the books.
Our work involved collecting seeds out in the wild and in the increase field (basically a garden of natural grasses), scattering seeds in the campgrounds and in prescribed burn sites, transplanting prickly pear cacti pads (with BBQ tongs, natch), planting grasses at Cedar Breaks National Monument, and other miscellaneous tasks. I spent my last day of work directing traffic for the Park Service invasive species crew so that they could spray for cheat grass along the road in Zion Canyon. Far cry from my first day of work: hauling t-posts for a fence across the Mojave desert. Or not. Things always come full circle.
I really enjoyed the work on this project. Like my other revegetation project, it’s the only time I really feel like a conservation worker. It was really inspiring when one of the NPS workers showed me a field ACE had seeded just two years ago at Cedar Breaks and it was so verdant and lush. The barren fields we seeded will be like that soon, and I will be back to check in on them.
I know I’ve written about Zion before, but I just can’t get over it. It really is the beauty of the west – those rugged rocks – with my favorite things about the east – the lush green. The river forges its course through sheer walls of red-streaked rock, and each night the wind cycles through the warm air on the canyon floor to the cold air above. The mule deer wander about, foraging to try to nourish their emaciated frames. Turkeys trot about, and stop traffic every time. A silver fox dots across the road, and pay attention! there’s a shuttle bus coming, and you need to avoid a crash by the invasive species crew’s spray truck. Radio a message to Brian to confirm its clear, wave it through, and its back to admiring the flora and fauna.
With one last check to see we’ve got all the cooking utensils and food we’ll need to make our dinner, we load into the van and head over to the NPS residential area. At the last house on the left, we park and tumble out, excited to share our dinner with two of the rangers with whom we’ve worked. Inside, we marvel at the couches inside this dormitory built by the CCC in the ’30s, and enjoy nachos while we cook our grilled cheese and tomato soup. After eating our fill, we wander out to their back patio to roast marshmallows and jam on harmonicas and laugh. At 10p, we reluctantly head back to our campsite, but 7a comes around far too quickly to stay out any later.
Another highlight was having Sunday afternoon off. After anxiously checking our watches too many times to count, 12:30 rolled around and we were free for the afternoon! One of the most famous hikes at Zion is the Narrows: wading through the Virgin River north of the main canyon road through a slot canyon. As the hike is in a river, you have to pack really light, and I wore my Vibram fivefinger shoes. I stuffed a waterbottle into our team’s medical kit and we headed out in the van, using our awesome upcanyon parking pass to drive straight there. After a mile stroll down a paved path along the river, we began the real hike. Wading upstream for two hours is tiring work, but insanely fun. At one point we had to traverse a section chest-deep of water! I hiked sweep with the slower group, and we had a grand time exploring. It was by far one of the most fun hikes I’ve ever gone on, and I hope to come back someday to do a backcountry hike of the entire Narrows (you get to camp on sand bars!).
An enormous thank you goes out to all who made this my favorite project at ACE.
Love & rockets,
The Furmanator
