Trail Work at MOC

If anyone asked me about my home away from home I would tell them about the MOC. I have been going there for Trail Work for 5 years now, 8 months a year, 1 weekend every month. Yet every time I go there it is like I am seeing it for the first time.

This weekend was not the regular Trail Work weekend. We were there to demonstrate to the AMC our skills in trail maintenance. I got there at 6:00 p.m. After unpacking I walked down to Catfish pond to sit by the water. There I met two kids (5 and 11), their dad and their two dogs. The kids were wonderful. We talked and played together. They were splashing about in the water and enjoying every minute of it. The dogs stalked each other and then wildly chased after each other on the small sandy stretch beside the lake. The dad cut up some fruit and shared it with me. 

After a while, the kids convinced me to go canoeing with them. I was scared because I didn't know how to swim. However, the kids assured me they would take care of me. The 5 year old couldn't get over the fact that I was scared. He wanted to know why. Plus he told me, "But that's what's the life jacket is for!" So we went canoeing...They kept trying to tip the boat to freak me out. :) Soon their dad used a kayak to join us. We returned to the lake beach and I left them all there to go take a shower.

I returned to the trail workers cabin hoping the rest of the crew was there. There was no one in sight. So I ate my dinner and read a book. It was probably 9 p.m. by then. Before long I fell asleep on the couch. I woke up approx 2 hrs later...Still no one in sight. Now it had grown terribly dark outside. I knew all the cabins on our side were empty. Suddenly there was thunder and lightening outside and a storm blew by.

I was getting anxious wondering if I had got the dates wrong. I needed to use the privy but was nervous about walking by myself in the dark to the rest room which was atleast 100 feet away. There were rumors about bears in the area. So I sat on the couch for a bit longer. It must have been almost midnight when I gave up the hope that anybody was coming to the cabin. I was hearing all sorts of sounds by now both outside and inside the 16 bed 2 room cabin. I decided I couldn't waste energy being scared, so I crawled into my bunk and got ready to sleep. I had almost fallen asleep when I heard a car pull up outside. Finally, someone had arrived!

The trail crew leader and another crew member had come so late because of work problems. Anyway, they had arrived and I was a happy girl. We talked till 2 p.m. and then went to sleep. Awoke at 8:30 a.m. with the arrival of more crew members. We started work late by trail work standards...but it was only a dog and pony show as P (trail crew leader) reminded me.

The task at hand was building a bog bridge. We carried 2 six by sixes (4 feet each) and 4 four by fours (8 feet each) lumber to the work spot. We laid the 6 by 6 pieces at each end and put the 4 by 4s on top 1 1/2 inches apart. Then we brought out the drill gun. Now I am known as the power tool girl of the crowd. So it was my job to drill into the lumber which I proceeded to do after another crew member marked the spots. That done someone else hammered in the spikes. We were done with the bridge in just 1/2 an hour. We had made the 4 by 4s jutt out by two feet over the 6 by 6 end pieces. Unfortunately that made it unstable. So we took another 4 feet 6 by six and cut it in two to make 2 more end pieces. I got a chance to use a Skillman (I think!) saw to cut the wood. First time user! Boy was it scary when it kicked back a bit.

Once we got done hammering the additional pieces we had to move to phase two. We needed to find HUGE rocks that would be the steps to get on the bridges we had made on that trail. Some crew members found them and moved them a certain distance with straps. We had to then drag them to the spot we wanted or use a griphoist to move them further. We did both and moved 3 large rocks in total. It was hard work but very satisfying.

After work, around 4 p.m. we got busy making dinner. Two of us went to the A & P nearby to get some additonal food. On the way back, we decided to have some fun with the crew. We were going to pretend that the guy had left me behind in the store. So I hid near the privy while Q told his tale. P was immediately worried and told Q to go get me. He was kinda mad. Not as much as when he saw me come running out of the privy yelling "Gotcha!" So he promised to return the favor.

Meanwhile we learned that two bears had been spotted at the camp. One the lodge manager had seen and the other P had seen. So we were nervous. Around 11 p.m. the privy needed our attention again, so two of us (C and I) set off holding hands to stay safe. Ofcourse the brilliant women that we were we didn't take a flashlight, so we had to make our way in the dark. We managed to get there and back. While returning we were talking aloud about various things. Suddenly we heard a loud shriek and out jumped P from near the bushes. We yelled and ran...except in opposite directions...still holding hands...so all we ended up doing was run in place. It was hilarious!

After we stopped laughing we managed to get to bed and retire for the night. We worked more the next day...moving 2 of those 3 rocks. I left the place at 12: 45.

Everytime I come back I have another story to tell. There are so many stories from the MOC. One story will explain my trail work name. It is Twiggy...not because I am that thin...

This was probably in my third year. It was cold as heck and we needed some twigs for the fire. Someone asked me to get some. Foolish me thought there might be some restrictions on where I can get the twigs. So I asked..."Where do I get them from?" Of course, just outside our cabin were twigs lying all over the place! So they said..."From the twig store!" I was never laughed at so much. To cap it...at the end of the year party...P gifted me a bundle of TWIGS! :)