A vacation on the horizon :)
31 Aug 2009 02:16:32 am
An apology to all of my viewers for slacking in the picture and posting department. It was a pretty standard week we transplanted some lady slippers (Minnesota state flower). They were in the path of a construction project that’s getting ready to start, so we saved some flowers 
A big pain in the butt, but it needed be done. I think we broke 5 shovels to some stubborn roots, and lost 10 gallons of blood to the skeeters. Just another day in the life of me. We finished the week doing some trail work on the Northcountry Trail. I really like doing trail work, coming home completely exhausted, dirty, and ready for bed. I don’t know what it is maybe I’m sick in the head.
This week we finish up some stuff with the lady slippers here in town (tomorrow). Then we travel north and have some transplanting to do up by upper Red Lake. We are staying in a pretty remote area, so I’m looking forward to getting out in the tent again. It’s been a couple of weeks. The weather looks to be nice, save the frost advisories that are beginning to pop up in the forecast. I will also be out of cell phone coverage from Tuesday until Friday afternoon, so you won’t be able to get a hold of me till then.
I am looking forward to heading home on Friday and spending some QT with my friends and fam. I don’t know what everyone is up to, but gimmie a buzz if you want to get together I will be back all week. I am hoping to be a lake bum for a good portion of that, but I will be around L town a good portion of the time.
Well that’s that, everyone take care and be happy!!!!!
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Agassiz Part Two
23 Aug 2009 03:45:47 pm
This week I got a chance to go back to Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge (The wolf place), with the other crew from Bemidji. We spent a couple of days applying herbicide to an invasive grass species along some drainage ditches within the refuge. Then the last day we had there was spent felling trees which felt good to do since it has been a long time since we got the chainsaws out. We got a chance to go wolf howling again and I got a picture of what that looks like to give you a better idea, but no wolves. I did get to see a moose though. And I tried my best to get a picture of her. Cool to see an animal of that size. Anyways this week we are going to be transplanting an endangered flower species, so something new to look forward to there. Hope everyone Is doing well, and I am looking forward to seeing everyone when I come home for Labor day!
Take care guys
Pictures
A view from the ditch…
Wolf Howling…
The swamp donkey…
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Daaaaa Week
09 Aug 2009 06:49:08 pm
We had another beautiful week in the north woods. We were once again protecting wetland/lowland areas on a four wheeler trail in Aitkin County. This time we got to work on what is called a punch-in. It’s kind of a bridge over a selected low area that retains water during the wet times of year.
A punch-in after day one looks something like this….
And day 2…
Day 3 and we are all done ahead of schedule….
It was about 100ft long total even though the picture makes it look pretty small. It was fun to do some carpentry work again.
Here are some pictures of me working…
….Enough work’n time to supervise…
Here’s the rest of the good pictures from the week, miss everyone, take care!!!
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Enter The Dog Days
02 Aug 2009 03:49:26 pm
Checked the calendar today, and had to look twice to make sure the date was correct....August 2nd....wow! Time goes so quick when it wants too. Let’s see, only 4 1/2 months until my service with the MCC is complete. Crazy, crazy, crazy.
This week was spent working on the North Country Trail. You may have heard of the Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Crest Trail before, both run north and south along their respective coasts. The North Country Trail will run/ runs east-west across the United States. Check out more information about the trail here if desired http://www.northcountrytrail.org. We are doing what is called digging tread. That involves clearing the trail of any organic matter and making it a dirt surface. Also we level it out if it is on a hillside, and try and manipulate the way water will flow off of the trails with devices called water bars. Water bars are essentially gutters that you dig into the trail to get the rain water off the trail and out onto the forest floor to eliminate as much erosion as possible.
Here is a pictorial explanation…
Some members of the North Country Trail Association Went through and marked out the trail with a leaf blower and some marking tape. So here is what we start with…
Next a Minnesota Conservation Crew comes along. Equipped with tools like pick mattocks, rock bars, McClouds, and the very popular Pulaski. Each weapon serves its purpose, but my favorite is the Pulaski. The end that you can see is an axe handy for chopping roots, and the end that is in the ground is very useful for digging up the soil.
Now Take a couple of guys that aren’t afraid to get dirty (sorry for the blurry picture).
And they produce this masterpiece for all of the hikers to enjoy….
Whether you are a through hiker (which I think there are two people through hiking the NCT this year) or just out for a short stroll in the woods, you will be walking on solid ground with no trip hazards.
We worked with another MCC crew from Park Rapids, MN. Also my two field assistants and my district manager came out and worked too.
I came home every day tired and dirty, but the days went really fast. Here’s one other cool picture that I snapped from this week.
So that was the week. This weekend I got to visit the county fair and see a pretty good rodeo. Only a couple of guys covered their bulls, but it was still a good time. It was nice to be around the rodeo crowd for a little bit.
This week we are heading back to the place we were just at with the four wheeler trails for a 5 day week… Hopefully we stay mostly dry. Hope everyone is doing good, and enjoying what’s left of their summer….For those of you that have to go back to school soon HA HA!!!! Sorry I had to. Take care guys and gals!
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