Lest you believe that working for the Forest Service is a piece of cake, let me illustrate a few of the backbreaking and painstaking projects we completed in NM. Yes it’s true we didn’t have a  fire to fight while there, but we didn’t know that at the time. Even after long project days we knew we had to be prepared for multi-day, grueling firefighting that might last for weeks. To start off, I don’t think I’ve ever sweated so much in a single day as I did while working in NM. The sweat wasn’t marked by how much it dripped but rather the lack of dripping: by the salty, crusty feeling of sweat on sweat, dried and caking your whole body. I had minor shoulder and back rashes from where my pack would rub on the salty residue of sweat. Also it was June, and it wasn’t even the heat of the summer in NM, I can’t even imagine the hotter months! It was a packed month though, with about five projects that I can remember. We had fuel samples to collect from a specific part of the Cibola NF to keep the fire hazard data current, two control burn projects to prep, a fence to tear down and construct with freshly hewn aspens, roads to clear and consistent patrolling between and during each project. Let’s also not forget that almost all of this is being done with a 35-55lb pack on.

    One burn project involved cutting specific types and sizes of trees within a hundred yards of a road and then over a hill off-road. We used the road as a existing fire line for a few miles but once we went off road we had to dig our own line. I remember the hand dug line to be between 3-6 miles. Digging line can be relatively easy (like when all you need is a Mcleod to rake up super shallow rooted plants) or it can be like trying to knock down a brick wall with a spoon (like when you have miles of attacking beastly beargrass roots that run deep and bounce sharp axes away like they are nothing). We spent a good twelve days on just that one project, making sure that all the prescriptions of the burn plan were perfectly executed and ready for the local crew to burn in after monsoon season when it was safe.