Trying to Imagine Carolan's Life in the Colorado Mountains

I think a lot of failures in life are failures of imagination. That goes for my own life too!

Each day I try to imagine what my daughter Carolan's life is like--partially because it is so different from the mainstream and partly because she is so far away. Some time every day I try to look up the weather in a location near her. It's impossible to find a weather station at 11 or 12,000 feet off a trail in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains or the San Juan Mountains--so I look for the nearest town. Today, minutes ago, I checked the weather in Creede, Colorado, maybe 10 to 20 miles from her crew's tents (which I believe are near Trout Creek and the Continental Divide Trail in the Weminuche Wilderness and Rio Grande National Forest of Colorado). In Creede, at a measly 8820 feet above sea level, it was 40 degrees and clear, heading to 74 degrees Fahrenheit. Where Carolan lives, it might be much colder. I'm guessing it fell well below freezing last night at 10, 11 or 12,000 feet.

I also spend parts of my day looking at contour maps of Colorado, trying to imagine what the trails look like that she is working on. It doesn't look dramatically steep from the maps as I read them (though the elevation is impressive). I think she is currently below tree line, probably cutting, with her crosscut hand saw, downed aspen and ponderosa pine from long-neglected trails. She's also probably dealing with (moving or pulverizing with her "double jack") huge rocks on the trails as well as fixing trail drainage problems.

I know that Carolan and her crew wake up early, do stretching exercises, eat breakfast, and are soon at work. They probably spend some of their time every day locating and then filtering drinking water. Whatever they are doing, it's a long, hard day of work--maybe 10 hours of heavy physical labor, about 2 miles above sea level. With this intense level of work, do they have time to admire the beautiful mountain lakes and creeks? The stunning serrated peaks? Do they ever stop to marvel at the herds of elk and the other exotic wild animals at the top of the Rocky Mountains?

Every day these thoughts challenge my imagination.

Carolan's Southwest Conservation Corps Crew in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains

Carolan writes, "It's from our most recent hitch on the Black Canyon Trail in the Sangres. Left to right, Sierra, Eric, me, Danielle, Baryl, Marcos, Evan.  Brandon must be taking the picture."

Carolan's next hitch is in the San Juan Mountains, not far from Creede, Colorado, up Trout Creek Trail in the Weminuche Wilderness (Rio Grande National Forest).

Carolan Working in the Black Canyon, Sangre de Cristo Mountains

Today, after a well-deserved 4 day rest, my daughter Carolan leads her crew back into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, this time on the Black Canyon trail. This trail is not too far from the town of Villa Grove, and in sight of  Cottonwood Peak (13, 588 feet) http://www.summitpost.org/cottonwood-peak/151598

Amazingly there are videos on http://www.youtube.com/ of this area. Here's one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpU99pxF_DE

There's another one of someone climbing Crestone Needle. Carolan worked on a trail leading to that peak some weeks back. Here's a link to that video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbGMU2lZFCI&feature=related This is one incredible mountain!

Southwest Conservation Corps Members--Tough Hombres!

There are not many young Americans (outside military members and others serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and similar places) who work harder than the members of groups like the Southwest Conservation Corps, the Montana Conservation Corps, and similar groups working on the wildernesses, national forests, and national parks throughout our country.

My daughter Carolan is one of those people, a crew leader for a Southwest Conservation Corps working in the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness in Colorado. Carolan, her co-leader, and her crew work 9 straight  days in the wilderness, a tenth day back in Salida town, and then get 4 days off to rest and recuperate from their tough hitch. They live in tents in the wilderness, carry all their food and tools on their backs, secure their water from mountain streams, and do hard, physical work for 10 hours per day maintaining and repairing the mountain wilderness trails. Often this means swinging a double-jack (double heavy sledge hammer) all day long, pounding large rocks into smaller rocks. Because of wilderness regulations, they do not use power tools--this is pure human power and ingenuity at work. I don't think that one of 100 American youth could (or would be willing to) do this work.

On Carolan's last hitch, one member had a personal crisis, a bear got into their "bear hang" and stole some of their food, and they were belted by a vicious mountain hail storm. Despite all these difficulties, this SCC crew managed to get their trail work done. It's no wonder they were exhausted walking out of the wilderness this past Tuesday. I bet they are looking forward to a steak, a cold beer, and a comfortable bed!

These are amazing amazing young people--among the best our country has to offer. And I salute all of them!

Below are a couple of the hand tools used in the wilderness, the "double jack" and the "pulaski." The double jack breaks up large rocks, which can really hurt horses on the wilderness trails. Pulaskis serve many purposes, but are really good at cutting roots and digging through dirt.

There's a Wikipedia entry on the pulaski tool: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulaski_(tool).
There are images on the Southwest Conservation Corps' website that show crews maintaining trails with these and similar tools: http://sccorps.org/

I located a cartoon illustrating a "bear hang" here: http://www.trailspace.com/articles/2009/10/07/book-review-bear-essentials.html. Apparently a smart bear can outsmart even these bear hangs!

Happy Birthday, Carolan!

Today is my daughter Carolan's birthday. I remember so clearly that day in the mid 1980's when we drove from Berea, Kentucky, to Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington--and in the middle of the night (at least that's how I remember it!)-- there she was born, naturally, no anaesthetic. And to me, it seemed, the birth was so easy (I guess you might say, "That's easy for you to say!"). Linda was so happy, so energetic that she wanted to call all her family and friends and announce the good news. I said, "Sweetie, the rest of the world is still asleep! Let's wait a few hours." But it wasn't long before the good news was spread. I received a letter or phone call congratulating us on the birth of "Carmen." That was the working name until she made her appearance. She didn't look like a Carmen! She looked like a Carolan, named after the great Irish harpist, whose music is still celebrated and played throughout the world. A unique name for a unique girl.

These days (and today!) Carolan is working on Cotton Creek in the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness, building, maintaining, and repairing trails, along with her co-leader and her crew from the Southwest Conservation Corps. These folks are the hardest working people in America, living in tents in the wilderness, carrying in their handtools, getting their water in the creeks (they filter it, of course), and doing hard, physical labor 10 hours per day for 9 straight days. These are among America's best young people, and I'm so proud that Carolan is their leader.

My message to Carolan is this: Happy Birthday, Sweetheart! I love you, we love you. We are very proud of you.

Lá Breithe Shona Dhuit, a Carolan! Maith Thú!

Carolan's Blog from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains

The following can be found at the website of the Southwest Conservation Corps. The original has 2 beautiful photos with it:
http://sccorps.org/2011/05/teetering-on-the-precipice-of-a-promising-season-2/

"Teetering on the Precipice of a Promising Season"


Posted by SCC on Sunday, May 29th, 2011.

Written by Carolan Coughlin, a crew leader with the Los Valles Region:


The Beginning of the Blizzard

Here I am, reporting on the glory felt by all on the first of many 9-day hitches. Reflecting back on the blur of the busy days brings on a bout of dizziness. My mind swirls, trying to fit names to each of the delicious multi-colored mush-like dinners, trying to recall when the winter blizzards abated and when the hot mountain sun surged upon us, trying to timeline the lessons and to puzzle together the nights of hilarity with the quiet nights when we all thankfully and immediately sought out warm sleeping bags and private tent-caves.

But of course, this hitch was also made of some memorable moments. Nate, another crew leader, and I spent an afternoon trying to perfectly set our crocodile- shaped rock for a French Drain. The numbness of the icy water crept up my arms as I pivoted the rock, pulled up delicate handfuls of sandy soil, and constantly glanced at the sky, silently urging the sun to come out and bring feeling back to my fingers. The crocodile was stubborn, as rocks tend to be, and the icy water stayed icy and the sun did not heal my numbness — but the satisfaction of setting the rock helped a bit of feeling rush back through my body.

Nate, Amy, and Brandon checking out the view from the N. Crestone trail

Another day of hitch, we rejoiced in hiking to the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness sign, which, becauce of breakage, read “Angre de Cristo.” “Uh oh!” we joked, “Looks like we are actually in the Anger of Christ Mountains!” (Which is, of course, a pretend translation.) Bad joke. The next day, the mountains and the snow showed us their anger, with 6+” of snow, a blowing howl of wind, and, at times, near white out. It’s hard to work on a trail when you can’t even find it! But even hard weather couldn’t hide the beauty of this area. I sat at lunch, shivering and stunned, overwhlemed by both the cold and an appreciation of silent, frozen winter mountain minutes.

Incredibly bad expedition hairstyles (evidently an “expedition behavior” faux pas) and booming Italian operas carried us through the rest of the days, and we emerged, dirty, smelly, satisfied. And ready for a burger, a shower, and a nap.

Trail Clearing in the Sangre de Cristo

Carolan took this photo (on a little disposable camera) of her crew working on a trail in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The  Southwest Conservation Corps crew members clear fallen timber (normally with 2-person crosscut saws--hand saws!). They remove rocks on trails, improve drainage, rebuild washed-out sections, etc. It's hard work!

Carolan in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado

Carolan's crew from the Southwest Conservation Corps (Los Valles office in Salida, Colorado), doing trail work in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains--probably the Crestone Trail.

Carolan in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains

Carolan (right) working with her colleagues in the Southwest Conservation Corps--Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado

Carolan Training with Crosscut Saws

I found this photo of my daughter Carolan training on crosscut saws with her colleagues in the Southwest Conservation Corps (out of Salida, Colorado). We think she'll be working in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains Wilderness this summer (this is in the Rio Grande National Forest). When in designated wilderness areas, conservation workers cannot use chain saws.