Third Round Project Reveal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We found out this week that for our next project we are going to...HAWAII!! Only one team per years gets to go and we feel so happy and lucky to be that team. The round will be a split round and so we will be working two different project. The first project is at Camp Mokule'ia on Oahu and the second is with Habitat for Humanity on Kaui'i. I still can't even believe it. I will give more details as they come.

This Week in Green 2...

Time in short, and so this post will be too.

The past week has been a busy and exhausting week. Continuing from the dramatic weekend last weekend, through to the sad news about Brett, everyone needed a bit of a break. Lucky for us, this wednesday was a staff potluck at Agua Caliente. After working hard clearing out an extremely overgrown creek bed that runs from the natural hot spring all morning, we headed over to Kevin's (the head ranger) house for food, food, and more food. It was a great event and a wonderful afternoon.

On Friday, nine of us headed out to Tierra Miguel Organic Farm, two hours away in Pauma Valley, for an ISP (Independent Service Project). We worked all day pulling weed blocker out of strawberry fields. Throughout the day we encountered many bugs, several spiders, four black widows (yikes! I freaked out. Before friday I had never once seen a black widow and then I found two of the four that we discovered.), and one allergy attack that required an immediate trip to a local market for some Benadryl. All in all, a good day.

Yesterday, Saturday, seven of us headed out for our most intense and most rewarding hike yet. We went to what are called the Three Sisters, a series of three waterfalls. We had heard from the team that was down here before us, that we had to go on this hike and that is was rather strenuous. After the hike in, I did not entire understand why they had said it was so strenuous, but the hike back out proved to be a more intense experience. Still, all in all, the hard work was nothing compared to the reward. The waterfalls were fantastic, the scenery was beautiful and a nice change from our constant desert views, and it was nice to do a popular hike with other people around and sharing in our experience.

At the top of the third waterfall a few of my teammates jumped about 20 feet into a pool below. Those of you who really know me will not be at all surprised to hear that I did not even pretend I was going to attempt the jump myself. I was the cameraman instead, catching each jump on film.

After the hike we met up with the rest of our team in Julian, had some time in town, and then headed to the red barn for food and great live music from Sara Petite (an artist who was there a few weeks ago and whose cd I bought).

Now we are in the home stretch here at Agua Caliente. Less than two full weeks left till we head back to Sacramento for transition. Still don't know our next project, but I will definitely let you all know when I do. I am very eager to hear where we will be going next! But for now, I am content to just enjoy the rest of my time here. I cannot believe we are leaving so soon. Time has flown and this project has been wonderful.

Ode to Baby Brett

This week we lost a team member. Brett’s ankle break ended up being worse than originally thought and sadly because of the long recovery that lies ahead for him, he had to leave the program. On Monday we bid him farewell, expecting to see him during transition in Sacramento, but Tuesday, with Brett on speaker phone, he told us his news that he would be returning home to Maine. Tears filled my eyes with the news. I could not help it. Brett has been a wonderful member of our team and a fantastic friend. We will miss having him with us, but will be in touch and he will always remain a part of Green 2, despite his absence.

Be Happy and Healthy Brett

We Love You

We Miss our Wounded Warrior, our Baby Brett

He's "Hilarious"

Ghost Mountain and A Trip to the ER

(Due to the dramatic nature of this post's title, I want to start off by saying, I was not the reason that there was a trip to the ER. I am healthy and happy, and though there was a fairly serious injury sustained by a Green 2 Corps Member, everyone will be a-ok. Read further for more details.)

Thursday Night we watched a film about the "Ghost Mountain Experiment: The First Hippie Family." The Film tells the story of Marshall and Tanya South, who along with their children, lived at the top of Ghost Mountain, secluded out in the desert about a twenty minute drive from where my team in currently camping. Starting in 1932, the family lived a primitive life up there for about 15 years. The film definitely has its strengths and weaknesses. Marshall South was a writer, published in Desert Magazine and the Saturday Evening Post, and there are extremely affected parts of the film with dramatic music of Native American flutes accompanied by sweeping shots of the house ruins that remain and melodramatic voiceovers of Marshall's "diary" entries. Interviews with Julian residents are soaked in disapproval for the family's lifestyle, though readers of Marshall South's romanticized literature cheered him and anxiously awaited his next article. The personal aspects of the family's history is a sad story to hear, but the story as a whole certainly is interesting. Best of all, we could visit the place where it all took place.

(You can check out the trailer, pictures of the family, and other info on the film's website: http://www.ghostmountainmovie.com/.)

Marshall South

On Friday we headed out to hike Ghost Mountain and see the remains of the Marshall South House. The hike was a mile straight up hill and as I we climbed we thought of how it would feel to carry five gallons of water up with us, as the family had to since there was no water to be found at the top. Even more, what if we were doing this hike in the homemade sandals that the family wore.

What remains on top of Ghost Mountain

It was great to see the place we had just learned about. There were empty food cans, the ruined bed frame, crumbling walls, the water cisterns, a sundial, and above all, a wonderful view.

After hiking up Ghost Mountain, there were two other hikes to tackle before the day was done. the first, a very shot hike, would bring us to a site of an old Indian Village of a nomadic tribe of the desert area. The second, about a mile and a half out, was to old Native American pictographs.

The village site had many morteros (as pictured above) that the Native Americans used to grind seeds and grain. We had seen one before at Agua Caliente, but there were tons of them off this trail and the rocks all over the area were great climbing rocks.

Nature's playground was throughly entertaining, until the afternoon took a turn for the worse. We had found one rock that had a very smooth side, perfect to serve as a slide. We all took turns climbing up and sliding down. Marybeth had a small run in with a Cholla cactus (as Maya had two weeks before), but this accident was quite small in comparison to the next one. Brett landed horribly when he came down the slide rock and broke his ankle. Maya caught the whole thing on film (a video I do not care to watch again for quite some time, but Brett is eager to see). As he lands you hear a pop, a few screams, and Maya asking, "What happened! Is it broken?! Did it break?!" From where I was standing, a bush was blocking my initial view of this fall, but as the commotion arose, I walked around to see what had happened. I had never witnessed a bone break before, nor have I ever broken a bone myself. I shuddered at the sight of his foot in such an unnatural position and I could not help but have my first reaction be to turn away from the situation. For pretty much the whole team, it took a moment to react, but then everyone really stepped up and jumped to his aid. Luckily we were not too far down the path. Thank God we were not at the top of Ghost Mountain when this accident occurred! We carried him out and got him to the van. Then we drove two hours to the hospital in Poway. While Brett and Abby were at the emergency room, the rest of us ate and killed time at Barnes and Noble. Brett ended up having to spend the night in the hospital and sadly is still there overnight again tonight. After we left last night he went into surgery. He will not be able to do our work here at Agua Caliente, but for now we are waiting on details about what is going on with our beloved teammate. He has quite a bit of healing ahead of him and we all wish him a speedy recovery!

What was going to be a few hours out on the trail turned into a twelve hour day by the time we finally got back to Agua Caliente last night. Quite the dramatic day.

The Freeze, Amphitheater, and Midsite

This week, quite different from the heat wave of two weeks ago, we saw a freeze at Agua Caliente. Overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday is when the cold front really moved in and I woke up freezing in the tent Wednesday morning. Thursday morning when we went to work we found out at the Ranger Station that it was in fact 29 degrees out. Ice had formed in puddles and down water fountains.

We all bundled up and headed out for work on a physically demanding and soreness inducing project, rebuilding the campground's amphitheater. We started working on it on Tuesday and finished up Thursday. It was a great project and exciting to see such visible results. We lined a new path with stones, built stairs, and completely redid the terraces to allow picnic tables to be set uphill. We created new hills, leveled ground with all of the extra dirt we turned up, and lined the hills with stones to add to the space's aesthetic appeal.

Also, Wednesday night into Thursday we had visitors! Our Unit Leader, Jeanine, and Support Team Leader, Maureen, came to do a midsite checkin. It went great and we got some wonderful feedback from our sponsors. All in all, it was a wonderful work week.

Burn Baby Burn

Through the past few weeks, our team has managed to pull out mounds of mistletoe, tamarisk, and other brush. As we have been working, the park attendants and rangers have helped up collect it all into a truck and drive it over to a dump site on the far side of the camp ground. This past Monday I was lucky enough to be a part of the group that got to burn those piles! Talk about the biggest bonfire I have experienced. As Park Staff walked around pouring propane on the branches, we came by with flares and flames caught hold. It was an exciting sight to see.

Brush Piles All Ablaze

Armed With a Flare

Don't be fooled by my long sleeves, it was extremely HOT!

The Remnants