Fall 2018

Following three months in Great Basin National Park, I moved to Reno, Nevada as an Assistant Crew Lead on a chainsaw crew. I had a blast teaching new sawyers how to run chainsaws, safely fell hazardous trees and explore the western part of the state. After just a month in that role, I got offered a Crew Lead position in Las Vegas running an arid lands restoration planting crew. We restored desert tortoise habitat in Red Rock Canyon, Blue Butterfly habitat in the Spring Mountains and worked on repairing the impact from the new Interstate 11 in Lake Mead.

I didn’t care much for the town of Las Vegas (why build a town where there’s no water!?), but it turns out that everything around Vegas is absolutely gorgeous. I lived in a place called “the wasteland” in the Red Rock Conservation area, which was really just a stretch of land where people would go to blow stuff up. Working with the NCC was a phenomenal experience: I got to give back to the public lands I’ve spent so much of my life on all while camping and seeing the sun rise every morning. What more than that could you ever want?

Fall 2018 Tunes

Back in Reno for the start of the fall season. This place is called “The Wasteland” and is where I lived during my time in Reno. | Reno, NV 8/20/18

Catherine fells a Juniper. | Susanville, CA 8/30/18

Camp for the night on the Tahoe Rim Trail. | Lake Tahoe, CA 9/7/18

Terrible light pollution from Vegas. The beam of light is from the Luxor and is the brightest light in the world. For the past several years it has only run at half power due to it costing $20/hour to run. | Las Vegas, NV 10/7/18

My view from camp in Yosemite Valley. | Yosemite National Park, CA 10/19/18

A bundled up selfie on the summit of Mt. Charleston, the most prominent mountain in the state of Nevada. | Mt. Charelston, NV 11/9/18

Althea stands majestically over Kyle Canyon. | Mt. Charelston, NV 11/9/18

Sam and Alex listen as another in the group projects some drunken philosophy. | Red Rock Canyon, NV 11/3/18

One of the faintest slivers of moon I have ever seen just moments away from dipping below the horizon. | Mt. Charelston, NV 11/8/18

My crew worked in the Spring Mountains during my last week with the NCC that started with nighttime temperatures around 20. Thankfully, fire restrictions had been lifted so we were able to heat up some rocks to keep in our sleeping bags. | Spring Mountains, NV 11/12/18

Working on getting the proper chain tension just after sunrise. Due to fire restrictions our daily start time was 5:00. | Susanville, CA 8/28/18

Hiking on the Tahoe Rim Trail. | Lake Tahoe, CA 9/7/18

Views of Lake Tahoe from the Tahoe Rim Trail. | Lake Tahoe, CA 9/8/18

Camp at sunset. | Joshua Tree National Park, CA 10/6/18

Camp for the night and man, was it cold. | Yosemite National Park, CA 10/20/18

On a hike with my friend Althea we stumbled upon a trail intersection with a sign warning of explosives which have been placed to manage avalanches. | Mt. Charelston, NV 11/9/18

It was one of my crew members birthday (Susanna), so we had a small party in the area affectionately known to NCC members as The Wasteland. This is where I camped nearly every night I spent in Vegas. | Red Rock Canyon, NV 11/3/18

The Mojave desert produces some really weird light, and yes, this really is what it looked like. Poking up over the ridge in the distance, the peaks forming Red Rock Canyon are visible. | Red Rock Canyon, NV 11/3/18

Jackson gives a look that fits the vibe of the ‘stache. | Spring Mountains, NV 11/12/18

Jackson munches on his six and a half pound bag of trail mix. When pictured, it weighed around 5 pounds. By the end of the eight day hitch it was just an empty bag. | Spring Mountains, NV 11/12/18