Week five was a big one for YCP—they spent it in the backcountry! The crew established their home-away-from-home on the east shore of Leigh Lake and spent four days working on their multi-week project.
Monday was pack-in day, and it was a busy one. There were many moving parts—getting the group to the trail shop in the morning, packing and weighing loads to be carried on the park's mules, fetching the trail crew's canoe, then getting everyone (and everything) to String Lake. YCP divided and concurred once at the lake. Some of the crew escorted the mules to camp and helped them unpack. Several more hiked to the Leigh Lake portage with more gear and portaged the canoe, at which point they picked up one of the ranger canoes at Leigh Lake and boated the remainder of their gear to camp. Then YCP set up tents, filtered water, cooked dinner, and enjoyed the lake in the evening before going to bed.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the crew worked on their reroute project (which they camped right next to). They really took advantage of their time and were able to punch in nearly the entire reroute! A few weeks prior, a NPS trail crew had come through with chainsaws to cut down the biggest trees in preparation for YCP's work. This week, the YCP crew uprooted smaller saplings and berry bushes and grubbed the topsoil to establish the new trail tread. In total, they put in nearly half a mile of new trail! It was great for them to learn how a trail is made from scratch, and they worked hard while having a fantastic time.
Thursday was pack-out day. YCP largely reversed everything they did on Monday, then when they got back to the trail shop where they organized, cleaned, and put away the group gear, and finally loaded up their personal gear in the vans. They went to Dornan's for ice cream on their way home.
Time spent in the backcountry is always a highlight for YCP. It is hard to believe the season is now half way over! We look forward to seeing what else this motivated group accomplishes in the coming weeks.
