Field Program

The fall Wildland Restoration Team headed out on our first hitch with ideas of lake lounging, campfire meals, and wildlife spotting while restoring campgrounds in the Shoshone National Forest of Wyoming. After a long drive of cloudy rainy views, we arrived in DuBois, WY to meet our project partners in the US Forest Service. We talked bears, we talked deer, we talked moose, we talked about the lake we dreamed of swimming in being full of toxic algae, and then we all headed to the most beautiful campground we had ever seen and would have the pleasure of staying at for nine days.

Taking in the mountains and flowers at the campsite as the rain started to pour, we quickly realized this would not be a breezy summer hitch. In fact, at over nine thousand feet of elevation, our swimsuits and short shorts would be of no service during the freezing stormy nights and windy mornings.

Thankfully the weather gods were looking out for us during the daytime, and we got to enjoy clear skies while digging holes and breaking rocks out of their ground prisons. We had a warm day and a half to embrace the blue-collar dirty work of mixing concrete and giving retro picnic tables a good makeover. The forest service even provided some extra helping hands to haul gravel and give us the best town recommendations. Without them, we never would have found the fancy bowling alley with the greasiest pizza and largest soda cups this side of the Mississippi.

Despite the chilly wet weather, the stubborn boulders in the ground, the many public questions, and even the wildfire that started nearby and made us evacuate camp on the last night, we worked together and got the job done a day early.

Many thanks to our team, and to Justin, Mike, Jeremy, Nick, and Trevor from the US Forest Service of Dubois for making a memorable start to the season. And special thanks to Chappell Roan for making such good bops to sing in the car together.