Getting Down to Work
I am the Poison Ivy Goddess. I have rolled around, fell in, and
brushed by more poison ivy than is probably healthy for a normal
person. And yet, here I am, completely rash free. I am knocking on
wood as I am typing this, but so far, even with the vast amount of
poison ivy out on the hiking trails, I have not gotten a single
case. My crewmate, Tyler, can’t even think about poison ivy without
getting it. It’s funny how different people react to it.
By the end of last week, we finally finished hiking all the trails,
plus a few off-trail excursions to track a new route through a
gorgeous canyon. Elk seem to be everywhere in the backcountry, but
you usually see them running because they’ve already sensed your
presence before you know they are there. Strangely, we only found
left antlers along the hike. We joked that there must be a bunch of
right-heavy sided elk roaming around.
Saturday we woke up and jumped into the car to travel up toward
Rapid City where a Chuckwagon showhouse served all-you-can-eat
pancakes for 99 cents from 6 to 11. We rushed through the open doors
at 10:55, just in time for the best 99 cent pancakes I’d ever eaten
in my whole life. The place was actually part of a tourist
attraction where Dances with Wolves was filmed. If you want to see
what the region of South Dakota looks like, just watch the film and
you’ll get a sense of where I am this summer.
I laughed to myself as we passed a sign marking a “river” called Dry
Creek. That simple name sums up the water situation out here – there
isn’t any. When we are hiking along and come across a “creek”
surrounded by lush vegetation and trees, it’s like stepping into an
oasis. I have to blink a few times, slap myself and take a sip of
water to make sure the desert-like prairie heat isn’t playing tricks
with my mind. It feels out of place, but it’s definitely nice to
come across on a hot day like it was on Monday – a whopping 97
degrees!!
Before I get too far, Sunday afternoon I found myself strapping a
helmet to my head and clipping some rubber knee pads on before
heading 200 feet below the ground, crawling around on my hands and
knees and squeezing through tight spaces about 11 inches in
diameter. It was amazing! We went on a 4 hour caving tour. My
favorite part was when we came upon a gypsum needle formation, which
is a delicate array of fiber-optic-looking strings that spring out
of the limestone rock. We were able to see some awesome crystals,
boxwork, popcorn, springtails (tiny microorganisms that live in what
little water is in the cave), bunny tails (looks literally like the
name indicates), and frostwork (which is the same as popcorn except
formed differently because of varying wind patterns through the
cave).
All this week, we have been going back over the trails and
re-posting signs. We’ve had to lug all the equipment out, including
a 30 pound post driver that kills your shoulders. The broken signs
are made of carsonite, which have glass splinters that inject into
your skin. I have rashes up both my arms from hauling those signs 8
miles every day this week. Although it has definitely been laborious
and I am completely exhausted by the end of the day, it is rewarding
to know I made it through without complaint and that we are making
progressively larger changes for the park.
