![]() ![]() The crew uses hand tools like 19th century crosscut saws to cut through massive old-growth logs. “You’re beat and tired at the end of the day, but you’re beat and tired together,” Aryes said.Ĭrew members of the Wilderness Conservation Corps in the Siskiyou Wilderness on the job in a federally designated wilderness area. Some crew members quit after the first hitch, leaving those who remained feeling even tighter in their bonds. The Siskiyou Mountain Club provided transportation for resupply trips and other shared activities. On the four days off in between each work hitch, the crew stayed at developed campsites near towns. Getting back to town, she appreciated a warm shower like she never had before. And to be aware of others around when cutting such big logs.”īy the last day of her first eight-day work “hitch” in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness, Aryes missed fresh salads and smoothies. “I had to learn to be responsible and assertive in my decisions. ![]() “When you’re cutting logs that could harm you in so many ways, you have to be confident in your decisions,” said Aryes. Aryes soon found herself wielding heavy tools and learning the nearly lost art of working the crosscut saw, nicknamed a “misery whip” by the old time lumberjacks. The interns did not need experience to join the crew, Howe told them he promised they’d get training in the field. ![]() “When they get into the wilderness together on a trail crew, their interpersonal skills grow.” “This generation has been locked down in COVID,” said Howe. Wilderness Conservation Corps crews spend eight days at a time in the backcountry doing gritty work to restore trails.Īryes said she had felt shy and introverted at the start, and had hoped joining the crew would help her come out of her shell. Tiffani Ayres smiles while working deep in the Siskiyou Wilderness of Southwestern Oregon. In snapshots, her face is coated in trail dust, her smile wide and beaming. After a week of gritty labor and no showers, she could identify her crew mates by their scent. Her world became only the small crew and the daily routine of the work. “You shape the wilderness,” Howe said, “and in turn, it shapes you.”Īfter a few days, she no longer thought about her phone. In 2014, they created the Wilderness Conservation Corps program to create opportunities for youth to get hands-on skills, build their professional resumes and, most importantly to Howe, experience the transformation of trails. With family and friends, they formed the Siskiyou Mountain Club in 2010. Finding the trail system wiped out, and the Forest Service without a budget to restore hundreds of miles of trails, the Howes took the mission on themselves. In 2006, he and his wife, Jill, were hiking in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness in Curry County after the massive Biscuit Fire. “He gave us no illusion that it would be easy,” Aryes said, “but Gabe made it inspiring, like trail work was important.” Aryes realized she was in for far more intense work than she had ever imagined - the labor of clearing brush, digging trail beds and sawing giant logs with antique crosscut saws promised a summer of sore muscles and blisters.īut Aryes found encouragement in the words of Siskiyou Mountain Club co-founder and executive director, Gabe Howe. The internship started with eight days of training. Before heading into the backcountry, the crew stopped at a Goodwill and enjoyed picking out work shirts and heavy pants. Siskiyou Mountain Club helped with some loaner gear and a scholarship. She felt anxious because she didn’t own any backpacking gear and couldn’t afford to buy new equipment. She was the youngest at age 18, and the only one from Oregon. Tiffani Aryes learns the skill of cutting logs with a two-handle crosscut saw during her summer internship with the Siskiyou Mountain Club.Ī week after graduating from Ashland High School, Aryes found herself on a small crew of new recruits. Aryes had no idea exactly how hard the work would actually end up being, or how profound the personal reward would be. The Siskiyou Mountain Club’s Wilderness Conservation Corps internship promised a monthly stipend, performance bonuses and the reward of hard work. The internship, offered by the non-profit Siskiyou Mountain Club, was paid, and Aryes needed to earn money to start college in the fall. ![]()
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