Day 7: June 27, 2009

"At one point, I tried to get everyone to call me Schroedkil -- it didn't catch on. It was during my heavy metal phase." --Andy Schroeder

We started the day back at Rotary Park working on the new trail, and we again moved along the trail as a train. At this point, we've each used all the tools, though a few of us have developed our preferences. Gus just may be the finest bow saw user in the state, and Emily, Hannah, and Jasmine all used the reciprocating saw today to fell small trees. Mike has become an accomplished lopper, and he brings down branches of all sizes. Justin prefers the Pulaski for removing stumps and the vegetative matter, while Jake uses the pick mattock for the same purpose. Ethan seems to be something of a Trail Wizard, appearing just in time -- with the appropriate tool -- to help with whatever situation presents itself.

We finished the work day by grilling hot dogs at the Rotary Park pavilion. Andy invited some ITN board members to meet the interns, and we walked the trail together after we ate; everyone was impressed with our progress. We felt a significant sense of accomplishment tonight, as we cleared several hundred feet of trail in just two days. It's gratifying to think about what we created: a sustainable trail to serve Kodiak hikers for years to come.

We depart tomorrow for Shuyak Island, so we stopped tonight at Walmart for last-minute supplies. We also purchased fishing licenses for the trip, so we'll throw a few lines in both on the way there and on the return trip. The prospect of landing a halibut is exciting, both because they're huge fish but also because just one fish would easily feed our entire group, with plenty to spare.

Shuyak is at the northern end of the Kodiak Archipelago, and it's so remote we won't have access to cell signals or the internet. So, this will be the last blog post for about a week. We'll write a post each day and post them all on our return, but this is it for now.

Finally, here are a few photos from today, including a before and after shot that might indicate how much we cleared these last two days.

http://tinyurl.com/mdp8uk