On another forum, I was encouraged to volunteer to do trailwork. I did one day in August and other than getting the blood sucked out of me from the mosquitoes and flies, it was OK. So, I went south a bit, for 3 days of work.
This was with another organization. I showed up with my trusty Mac T with the Alpha Explosives sticker on it. I went up to the rondevous point where I was told that I could not wear my Mac T, but would have to wear a green hat, as I was a rookie. The green plastic hat did not fit well, and I pointed out that my Mac T had stayed on through many a somersault in the woods and the Game Of Logging instructor had pointed it out as the best hardhat to wear if one is not around high voltage, but I was given the green hat with a silver duck tape patch on it, and was told to write my name on the tape.:msp_sad: After a safety talk on how to carry tools and walk in a line, we headed to the project. My green hat sucked.
Oh, an explanation. Green hats with ducktaped on names are for the beginners. Green hats with nicely labeled names are for more experienced. Orange hats are next up in the caste, and the blue hats reign supreme. Our blue hat guy was a master rock mover.
We went in to build a ford for hikers and horses to cross a creek (pronounced crick). We were not allowed to use power tools, only one person who was not a volunteer was allowed to use a 290. It was put to use, after being allowed to warm up, to cut an alder out of the way.
Anyway, we used a grip hoist, block, line, and choker to move some hefty rocks around. Thanks to watching and listening to hooktenders, I knew a little bit on how to rig up what they needed and did a lot of it for them. They did not like my suggestion of notching the tree to help hold the strap in place. My green hat fell off a lot and sucked.
A photo of the yarder.
Rigging with no lift.
Working a rock.
They were good folks to work with, just from a different world and they used different terminology. I did get a guy laughing when I mentioned being a tool biatch. But each day, I told them that the green hat was sucky. I put on my MacT this morning to keep the deluge off my head while I hooked up The Wing for the trip home. View attachment 205054View attachment 205055View attachment 205056View attachment 205057View attachment 205058
This was with another organization. I showed up with my trusty Mac T with the Alpha Explosives sticker on it. I went up to the rondevous point where I was told that I could not wear my Mac T, but would have to wear a green hat, as I was a rookie. The green plastic hat did not fit well, and I pointed out that my Mac T had stayed on through many a somersault in the woods and the Game Of Logging instructor had pointed it out as the best hardhat to wear if one is not around high voltage, but I was given the green hat with a silver duck tape patch on it, and was told to write my name on the tape.:msp_sad: After a safety talk on how to carry tools and walk in a line, we headed to the project. My green hat sucked.
Oh, an explanation. Green hats with ducktaped on names are for the beginners. Green hats with nicely labeled names are for more experienced. Orange hats are next up in the caste, and the blue hats reign supreme. Our blue hat guy was a master rock mover.
We went in to build a ford for hikers and horses to cross a creek (pronounced crick). We were not allowed to use power tools, only one person who was not a volunteer was allowed to use a 290. It was put to use, after being allowed to warm up, to cut an alder out of the way.
Anyway, we used a grip hoist, block, line, and choker to move some hefty rocks around. Thanks to watching and listening to hooktenders, I knew a little bit on how to rig up what they needed and did a lot of it for them. They did not like my suggestion of notching the tree to help hold the strap in place. My green hat fell off a lot and sucked.
A photo of the yarder.
Rigging with no lift.
Working a rock.
They were good folks to work with, just from a different world and they used different terminology. I did get a guy laughing when I mentioned being a tool biatch. But each day, I told them that the green hat was sucky. I put on my MacT this morning to keep the deluge off my head while I hooked up The Wing for the trip home. View attachment 205054View attachment 205055View attachment 205056View attachment 205057View attachment 205058
Last edited:
I think a lot of these programs are setup for lowest-common demoninator which is pretty low -- mostly for college kids and office workers who'd like to volunteer doing manual stuff.
