Kevin - Guadalupe - Blog 4

Now fully acclimated, everyone in the group had a resurgence of energy to start the day. Lead by Bridget, we hiked back on McKittrick trail to where we finished the first day. Armed with our familiar McLeods, loppers, handsaws, and Pulaskis, we continued the trail the first day’s trail work of removing overhanging limbs and branches, expelling large rocks from the trail, and tightening the path so it was more even. We had now developed a bond among the group that ranged from inside jokes to playful insults. Even though this kind of trail work had become routine, our efficiency did not suffer. Everyone was in tune with their work and was determined to do it to the best of their abilities. Bridget noticed this and commented on our hard work and decided to have a friendly competition: whoever rids the trail of the most unnecessary large rocks wins a bag of tangerines. Busy clearing the brush with loppers, I could not participate in this competition, but I did notice comradery that followed the announcement of the winner. After lunch, we went back to the previous day’s work with different groups shoveling gravel into ATVs and spreading it along the trail. Having already shoveled, I chose to spread the gravel along the trail. Working in a small group allowed for more bonding between members of each small group. At the end of the day, I felt that this day was the most significant as far as group dynamics were concerned. Everyone got out of their shell and was able to connect with one another whether it was through humor, literature, movies, or life stories. After the work day, we attended an appetizer party hosted by the park rangers. Enjoying the food and the company of everyone there, our transformation became complete: we were no longer a group, we were a family.