Sandy Hook

Today shore was a great day! In fact, I'd go as far as to say if was off the hook. It started off at Hoffman like usual loading up into vans. From what I could gather, half of the vans were exhausted from Harry Potter midnight viewing and slept the car ride away, while the other half (myself included) sang our hearts out and engaged in stimulating and worthwhile conversation. Eventually we all arrived at Sandy hook. We were greeted by the wonderful John Crowe, Mason Fox Floyd, Bobby, and Susan. Some quite fantastic individuals. We played an intense game of ninja as well as another one involving an energy ball that was summoned from the depth of Taylor's insides. We were also pleasantly surprised to see that the lovely Newark crews would be joining us for the day.

At this point we bug sprayed up and headed out on a hike. The Native Plant Conservation Corp (named above) broke us into groups and led us on an interesting guided hike. We learned all about maritime plant life including tree of heaven, prickly pear cactus, bay berry, red cedar, holly, and POISON IVY! It was interesting to learn that Sandy Hook hosts the largest maritime forest on the east coast. Additionally, the first light house in America was built on Sandy Hook. Neato! Next we played some fantastic Big Booty with Newark. We were then quizzed and ninja off-ed. Eventually we had one ultimate winner who was awarded a t-shirt...me.

At this point we broke for lunch. Two very cool things happened. First, we coined the term homigo. The perfect blend of homie and amigo. Secondly, and probably more important, we heard from various SCA folk about what they do on the peninsula. There were four interns that briefly spoke about their internship working with mostly shore birds but also other wildlife. Then the Native Plant men informed us about what sort of work they do, as well as other Corp opportunities withing SCA. I think it's very easy to get caught up in the 908 and forget how we are really a part of a massive conservation movement. It's exciting to see the diversity of positions available within SCA.

Finally we went to the beach. Always a good time. The sand was very hot, but I suppose that's what you get for going to the beach. We swam, and tossed a Frisbee, and frolicked in the surf and got our tan on. Good times were had by all. Then we saddled up and headed back to Hoffman. It's a shame this week had to come to an end. But we've got some very exciting stuff in store for next week and I'm eager to progress in our project. I hope everyone has a safe and fun weekend!

Doug

Yaaa trailwork

Soooo! today we had another day of awesome weather, crush, and tread work up on the ridge at Cushetunk. We played Alaskan Baseball at Hoffman Park in the am, had a serious discussion about anti-zombie weaponry during stretch circle, and played another competitive game of Camouflage after lunch. Roots were chopped, tread was cut, rocks were crushed, weeds were wacked, and we generally destroyed all that lay before us (including potentially dangerous insect life) in an effort to preserve it (ahhh the paradox that is conservation!). One brave rock attempted to strike back against us, but was foiled by a sturdy pair of safety glasses and an exceptionally resilient nose. Music in Casey's van was intellectually and sonically stimulating as always, and once again provided by music-master and crew leader apprentice, Douglas Klein. Our beloved pulaski had to retire earlier than we would have liked, but a new member of the pulaski family will join us shortly. Berry-eating reached a new high (although berm removing may have been hindered by the consumption of said delectable fruit). Once again, an excellent day, and tomorrow we head to the beach! Yaaa for trail work!

day of july 12th

Sorry for writting so late. I had trouble getting to this site. Thats ok cuz every one seems a little behind on schedule. Well since im writting 2 days late my memory is a little fuzzy. What i remember is that our crew began digging in our first 3 check steps. The bad news was that there were no logs near by to where we were working. Some one thought it would be cool if we could drag the four logs we cut on the opposite side of the trail to where we were working -_-/(about a 20minute walk carrying logs). At the same time, the day wasnt that bad because we started a game called assassin. Who won again, idk but i was angry that i didnt get to kill anyone. yea and thats pretty much all i remember that had any importance.

Tuesday 7-12

Tuesday was pretty average for our workers on the trail at Cushetunk. If I remember correctly, I think Doug introduced the van to some British hip-hop, Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip, along with some classic Sweatshop Union (Canadian). I'd say to surely check out both. Our hike in changes perception everyday, as we continue building the trail. We have a nice rest-point at the top of the mountain...and then we'll hike up to the tool cache on the TREAD WE'VE BUILT OURSELVES:) we've gotten a lot of work done and the trail looks real good. Specifically, on Tuesday, our focus was on sledging rock for crush and continuing tread work. There are lot of spots that need rock crush to help make the trail even & easier to hike. It's impressive the production of crush we make throughout the day. All the rock work looks nice. Our tread itself is slightly rocky, but there are also a lot of awesome spots that are nice and flat, right on the ridge of the mountain. Most times, there's a breeze the entire day..so working conditions aren't too brutal..:)We can see the reservoir through the trees,(barely) so I'm interested in hiking back there in the fall sometime to check out the views and reminisce our trail.

see everyone tomorrowwwwww -karah

July 13!

Today started out like every other, meet at Hoffman Park, drive to Cushetunk, hike straight up the mountain for about 25 minutes. Then we had stretch circle, which is always where the day gets a lot more interesting. We fantasized about what our perfect days would be like. We discovered that a lot of us want similar perfect days, in which we hang out with friends/family, enjoy a delicious feast, and do some sort of exciting activity like skiing, rock climbing, going to the beach, or travelling abroad. We tried out a new routine today and had snack at 9:30 when we finally got to our tool cache. After snack we broke into two groups- team tread and team crush. Both groups got a ton of work done... YAY! I oversaw the tread team and we were able to get a lot done with six people. After lunch we got back to tread and by then we were cutting tread in the middle of the raspberry (or wineberry? there was also a debate about the proper terminology of the delicious berries) field. Bryan, Rex, Marcus, Scott, and Anthony decided that it would be a good idea to have BT (BerryTime) instead of doing work, but I had to put on my boss lady hat and tell them to save BT for later. We also had a debate over whether or not a root should be pulled out and I said no, because I didn't want the beautiful tree to die, and they called me a dictator and tried to over throw me, but alas, I am not a dictator, but a crew leader, so their efforts were futile. The root stayed put. At the end of the day, we moved our tool cache further into the trail, furthering our hike in every morning, but it means time carrying tools, so it's for the better. Trail wise, we are getting close to the end, I am thinking we'll finish cutting tread tomorrow, then spend the rest of next week working on crush and drainage!

On another note, I'm psyched for Harry Potter 7 pt 2 tomorrow night and Sandy Hook on Friday!!

Thursday July, 13th

Hi everyone!
It has been a few days since blog has been on time... but luckily i remembered!:)
Today we continued working on the upper part of our trail with our main focus on check steps. We started out the day though with stretching at the park with the question of "What is the most interesting place you have ever traveled to?" We had some pretty cool places such as Amsterdam, Germany, France and Bermuda! After stretching we arrived at site and began a long day of work. Four check steps were put in along with the hunting of new logs for more! We all seemed a little bit tired, but we did a good job. The lack of heat seemed to help, though some of us were a bit lazy this morning. To keep up with the day, and to fit the premier of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two, wizardly actions seemed to occur all day... Magic wands were carved and attempts to levitate rocks may have occurred. Harry Potter mafia during lunch also occurred with death eaters as Mafia, Dumbledore as the medic and Harry as detective! We ended the day with log lifting one more log up to site which Trey ended up "power cutting" and with a good round of roses and thorns.

See all of you tommorowss!(In Harry Potter attire, wands and all!) Hope everyone is finding Hawaiian shirts.. or embarrassing ones for Sandy Hook on Friday! Also.. here is the weather for tomorrow as it was asked to be posted by a few people, courtesy of weather.com
High of 83 degrees, no chance of rain and 46% humidity! And for those who want to know some history.. the record high for July 14th was 91 degrees!

Peace out,
Jane(Or Tarzan)

OVERVIEW: TEAM SWAMPDOG

Besides the fact that we are AWESOME, I figured I'd give all you avid blog readers an overview of Team Swampdog since last I blogged.

1. VISITORS!!!!: past SCA members (and good friends) like Rich L., Allen M., and Greg B. have come back to our wonderful program to help out on the trails and bring us news of their lives since having to leave SCA :( They all brought a ton of laughs and trail experience to bust out some stepping stones.

2. Work: So far we have completed 2 projects at the park. We put approximately 40 stepping stones in the swamp area. Plus we also did a ton of corridor work and re-vegging in that area. The second project we finished are the switchbacks! Far far away from the swamp area the trail goes pretty much straight up the mountain, so being the great trail-builders we are, we put not one but two switchbacks in from nothing. We made our own, more hiker-friendly and safe trail, covered up the old unsafe one and we did it all in three days! We worked our buts off hiking in, so we worked even harder to bench the trail, remove rocks (and boulders), lopp, put in drainage features, and a rock staircase. Now we're working on general trail maintenance at priority areas.

Thats pretty much everything we've done to date, everything tangible that is, so for now Taylormander is over and out.