In remote pockets of Santa Fe National Forest, a team of young adults worked from early morning to late afternoon for days on end to clear fallen trees from forgotten trails where they were often more likely to see a bear than another human being. Grazing cattle were a common presence as Crew 6 members from the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps of New Mexico opened up dozens of miles of trails in the San Pedro Parks and Pecos Wilderness areas during their series of eight-day hitches where they worked and slept in the rugged backcountry. Crew supervisor Archie Garrett, 26, said at times he could sense the strenuous labor in what seemed like the middle of nowhere could make the team members question their motivation.
Whenever that happened, he said the group responded by growing closer and pushing harder. “I feel like there are times when we don’t see people for so long, and so, there are times when it can feel kind of meaningless,” Garrett said. “I feel like it’s a mixture of finding meaning in the work and then finding meaning in our relationships with each other.
So whenever you feel like it’s meaningless or you feel like you’re just doing it for the cows, you look around and you’re like, ‘No, we’re actually kind of doing it for us.’ ” Rocky Mountain Youth Corps adult crews work 10-hour days during eight-day hitches, with six days off in between. During seven hitches in Santa Fe National Forest from early June to mid September, Crew 6 cleared 2,004 trees from just over 42 miles of trails.
Lynn Bjorklund, recreation lead for the Española and Coyote ranger districts of Santa Fe National Forest, coordinated with the crew on which trails to clear. She said navigating some of the areas required trail finding in difficult, high-altitude terrain and that the group performed “beyond our wildest expectations.” “Trails in the San Pedro Parks and on the western part of the Pecos are in as good of shape and cleared better than they ever have been in the past 20 years, and it’s because of this crew,” Bjorklund said.
“This lets people experience parts of the wilderness that are a little more remote and wild with unique beauty.” The crew started by clearing 7.5 miles of the Cañones Creek National Recreation Trail in the Coyote Ranger District, then 10.
8 miles of trails in the San Pedro Parks Wilderness. Last week, they wrapped up clearing 24 miles of trails after three hitches in the western portion of the Pecos Wilderness. Santa Fe National Forest has had a couple of seasonal trail workers this year, but the majority of trail work is done by volunteer organizations and youth crews.
Bjorklund said the Forest Service has lacked money for projects this year as funds from the Great American Outdoors Act have dwindled. She noted that the work by Crew 6 in the Pecos and San Pedro Parks Wilderness areas was supported through a donation by a couple who had passed away and wanted the money to go toward youth development and trail work in Northern New Mexico. The money funded the crew’s six hitches in San Pedro Parks and the Pecos, and there’s enough to do the same things next year, Bjorklund said.
Rocky Mountain Youth Corps of New Mexico offers summer youth crew opportunities out of their Albuquerque and Taos offices that allow for younger participants to work locally and go home every night. Adult crews do more long-term work and participate in backcountry hitches throughout their season. As part of an AmeriCorps-funded program, Rocky Mountain Youth Corps crew members make a biweekly stipend of $1,220.
Conservation Program Coordinator Mickayla Hodgson said they also get an education award of $5,000 they can use for tuition, student loans or any education-related expenses. Crew 6 has been an experiment of sorts. It’s the first time the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps has had an exclusive backcountry crosscut crew, Hodgson said.
Garrett and assistant crew leader John Hund were both in the youth corps last year and brought in valuable experience. They started leadership training in February before the rest of the team was assembled. Nine members have been part of the crew, though a few have moved on to other things since project work began in mid-April.
Most are in their early to mid-20s and joined the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps looking for something more invigorating after being dissatisfied with their previous employment. “My last two jobs were in windowless rooms. I’m not going back,” crew member John Klug said.
Hodgson and other youth corps staff provided crosscut and chainsaw training, backcountry training, wilderness first aid and mental health first aid training to the crew before they began their hitches. They also outfitted the crew with gear so they were fully equipped for extended stays in the wilderness. Hodgson said pack weight for team members was probably 60-plus pounds, including tools.
Crew members were told by staff during the interview process how strenuous the work on this crosscut team would be. Then they went out into the wilderness and soon learned for themselves. “I think the mountain does a really good job of weeding out people that want to stay and people that don’t,” Hund said.
“Very quickly, you realize how difficult it is to hike out there and how difficult it is to work in cold rain and how difficult it is to keep going when times get hard. I think if you’re not up for that, then this isn’t for you. “But if you’re willing to put in the work and keep an open mind and really embrace the sort of strange, smelly world that you’re a part of, then I think the world is your oyster and you can get eight miles of trail done in a week.
” It was a rocky start for Crew 6 on the Cañones Creek Trail. The group was charged by a cow, an event that Garrett said gave them “cow trauma.” They also had to deal with the slog of working through days of rain in the San Pedro Parks Wilderness, one of the wettest places in the state.
As the hitches progressed, their chemistry grew. After clearing 81 trees during their first eight-day hitch, they became fast enough to clear that many in one day. They also developed a close bond as they not only worked together but had to care for and trust in one another while surviving in the wilderness.
“I wouldn’t consider any of these people my coworkers if someone asked me about them,” Klug said. “They’re my friends that I go camping with and also work with.” “The staff in our office, we often talk about the magic of putting groups of young people together outdoors to accomplish a mutually shared hard goal,” Hodgson added.
“There’s some magic inherent to that experience.” From seeing so many rainbows over meadows in San Pedro Parks that it was “comically beautiful,” to watching a baby bear climb to the top of tree near the Sierra Mosca Trail in the Pecos Wilderness in a National Geographic moment, Garrett said the crew has built quite a collection of lasting memories. There was also a moment at a campsite when a cow was sniffing at the tent of Lily Hernandez and let out a massive sneeze, coaxing a laugh out of the crew members and relieving them of their cow trauma.
Crew 6 has completed its work in Santa Fe National Forest for the season, but still has the opportunity to make more memories. They’re heading down to Gila National Forest on Tuesday and will do some work on the Continental Divide Trail for their final three hitches. Some crew members are already thinking about returning to the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps next year.
Others may pursue opportunities with conservation organizations or federal land management agencies. Garrett isn’t yet sure what he’ll do. He’s said he’s just looking forward to the final few hitches with his friends.
“Something I love about my crew is that I push them very hard, but that’s because they’re capable of being pushed and they want to be,” he said. “It’s just nice to have a crew that cares about each other and about the work that we do and how it can transform lives, in a way. I know it did for me.
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