Our very first hitch we were lucky enough to be able to experience many parts of this valley. The first two days we stayed at Tally Lake and taught the kids how to do trail work. The kids were really enjoying learning how to use those tools and doing something meaningful in the place they live. The next four days we moved to the Middle Fork area to work with the Flathead River Alliance doing invasive species removal along the Middle Fork River. 

The first day of this was crazy. That day, it was raining buckets on us and it was 38 degrees. Half of the kids said this was so awesome and crazy that we were rafting down this river in such a beautiful area, but the other half were not exactly enthused about the environmental circumstances. Once we finished our workday we found our campsite and decided everyone needed grilled cheese and tomato soup after being in cold wet suits all day. During dinner, we laughed and joked about how crazy it was to be in freezing rain and pulling weeds on a raft all day but how lucky we were to be working in such a beautiful place. That night at dinner it seemed that we had all bonded and lived through a somewhat challenging moment and made it out to the other side together.

The rest of the hitch went well, we had a lot of crazy and silly conversations among ourselves and with our Raft guides (whose only main point of conversation was the Flood and '64 and cut bow fish). As the days went on the kids became closer and started really working as a team and unit. The last day of our rafting/weed pulling was the Weed Rodeo. It was awesome to see so many people from this community come together to take care of their environment.

The last 3 days of our hitch we were doing fire reduction work at the Raven. This felt really nice for Maya and me as this is a place where we live and a place we care about. It felt nice to see the kids also feel the sense of responsibility to care for this place. It was also great to see the kids interested in the adult crew and wanting to do this work as they get older. We were lucky enough to have Clint come talk to the crew about opportunities and career paths in this field. It felt inspiring to hear these kids wanting to do more of this work and feeling inspired.

Leading a Youth Crew is no easy task. We work long days that consist of playing many roles like mom, dad, friend, mentor, and teacher. But as I reflect on my time with my crew and always realize I learn more from them than I think they learn from me. It feels really special to be working with these kids and to open their eyes to this world of outdoor work and to inspire them. To help them discover they can do anything they want to do in their lives and see them develop leadership skills and confidence in themselves. I think I have the best job in the world.