![[Image Description: Two MCC members taking a brief break; one is sitting on a rock, the other is standing nearby. They are both in their uniforms, looking out at the expansive, mountain view surrounding them.]](https://cdn.firespring.com/images/c3f85e97-43a9-4810-8081-e8e6338173d0.jpeg)
A hot, dry desert lay ahead of us as we began our journey to South Dakota. Fortunately, the Green and Gold crews got to collaborate on this project. Upon our arrival, we were introduced to the Belle Fourche BLM staff that would be working alongside us. Despite this being their first time working on BDAs, they were up to the task at hand. On our first full day, we began working on an unfamiliar type of dam, called a log jam. This was not the only unfamiliarity we dealt with, as the land was dry and hard and had no water on the streambeds we were working on. For the log jams, we had to dig a ditch that was level, if not lower, than the streambed. Given the dry state of the soil, this task was very difficult to navigate. One broken shovel later, we finally got the hang of it and began to chip away at the jams.
Since our work began to speed up as we got accustomed to what techniques worked best, we received a day off as we were ahead on our tasks. This gave us the opportunity to get to know the history of the Black Hills. We fit as much as we could into this day, taking advantage of this opportunity. We visited Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and the towns of Deadwood and Lead. We made the best of our time here as well as doing the work, regardless of the blistering, dry heat.
By the end of our time in South Dakota, we had completed 52 BDAs and log jams, gained an understanding of the history of the Black Hills, shared lots of memories along the way, and were stronger as a team.
