Chainsawin' It Up
Friday was weed whacking training. These things are beasts. I had to
put a harness on with a plastic side paddle that hooks me up to a
huge long metal pole with a blade on the end. I feel like a giant
alien bug ready to destroy all innocent plant life. Fortunately, we
spent the afternoon at the woodcutter, chopping firewood for the
campers using this awesome automated machine. I pull this lever and
an ax slowly creeps forward and slices the logs in half like they
were toothpicks. It's great! Saves us from some back-breaking work.
That night we went into a nearby town called Pringle, stopping into
a local bar and restaurant. It was a stereotypical cowboy hangout,
but I was definitely creeped out by the 20 mounted elk heads that
seemed to follow me around the room. The locals were playing pool,
dancing to country music from an old jukebox in the corner and
drinking their merry lives away. It was something out of a movie.
The doors were actually those swing doors that you see in old
western movies, which led out into a narrow porch lit by a randomly
blinking neon sign ad small light that zapped by-passing moths and
flies.
Saturday night, a group of us went into Hot Springs. They have a
local theater that plays one movie, two or three nights a week at
only one time. So we arrived at 7:00pm to sit in an ancient one-room
theater to enjoy the third Pirates of the Caribbean. I was a little
disappointed with it as it definitely was not as good as the first
two, but it was entertaining.
I was bit by a spider. I don't know how and I don't know when. I
just know that I woke up with a huge raised red area the size of a
marble with two marks in the center. I've been watching it closely
and it seems to be fine. So obviously it wasn't poisonous.
Monday morning I jumped out of bed, excited for our first day of
Wildland Fire Chainsaw training. We sat in the classroom for most of
that day and Tuesday, taking 4 written exams! I felt like I was back
at school. Tuesday we were able to go down to the Fire Cache and
learn how to take apart a saw and put it back together. When we
finally got out into the field, I strapped on my chaps, laced up my
leather boots (which were 3 sizes too big), slipped on my gloves,
tightened my hard hat and grabbed my ear plugs before heading out to
buck and limb some downed trees. Yeah, that's right. I've got the
terminology down. I have a little trouble starting one that hasn't
run for awhile, but I'll just have to spend some time lifting in the
gym. Tom, Matt H., and Ed were in my group, which was awesome. It
was definitely intimidating though to be one of the only girls in
the entire class, but I can handle those so-called "tough" guys.
They are all actually really sweet. Don’t tell them I told you that.
Haha.
Oh, and I discovered that when you are at a high elevation, there is
a different way of cooking things. I was ready to pop a pizza into
the oven when I saw a High Altitude cooking option for elevations
over 3,500 feet. I was like - Oh! That's me! I never had to think
about it before but everything cooks a lot faster up here, so I have
to be careful with cooking times. I've already burned a few pizzas
so far. Oops.
Wednesday I was certified as an Apprentice of Basic Chainsaw Safety,
Maintenance and Operation. I even got an official certificate, which
is definitely going on my refrigerator. Haha. It was 96 degrees
today, though. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but
I was definitely feeling it by the middle of the afternoon with my
long sleeves, long pants, chaps and thick leather black boots. Well,
you can tell by the picture. My group was great. Tom, Matt and Ed
were led along with me by Andy, our supervisor and teacher.
I felled two trees! I was kind of uncertain with the saw. It weighed
a ton! You try lifting a full throttled, spinning, chopping machine
that weighs 20 pounds and then try to accurately saw a sloping angle
with everyone staring at you. My first tree, I couldn't stop my legs
from shaking just because I had no idea what I was doing and I knew
one wrong move could cost me a leg or two, if not my life. But I am
here, all 10 fingers and toes and that much better off through this
challenging experience.
It's an intense process. First you size up the tree, checking for
soundness, rot and lean. Then for overhead or ground hazards. There
was a radio call that one group encountered a rattler. Yikes! My
group's area was clear. Whew. Then you have towalk the "lay" and
remove brush, limbs, etc. Plan an escape route and explain your
plan/process to the instructor. Then it's ear plugs in and just you,
the saw and the tree.
All around great experience and I learned a lot. Definitely
recommend it to anyone interested in a good challenge. The next week
is supposed to be extremely hot. Fire alerts are everywhere. We'll
see what happens. And I just finished reading Crazy Horse. It was an
awesome book! I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about
Native American history. I have a new found respect for their people
and a new understanding of the significance of the Crazy Horse
monument. Well, that's all for this week. Over and Out.
