Still Catching Up

Smooth Sinuousity



Stopping to smell the rhododendron on the AT




I'm still catching up on this thing, and not doing well. I may catch up one day though. We just got back from our first week at Matts Creek and it was quite a week. A lot of young hard workers amongst the blooming rhododendron. James River Face Wilderness is a beautiful place full of wildlife and color,. We got to watch a lightning show, a rainbow, sunrise and sunsets, and shooting stars passing across the celestial canopy as we laid out across the ground in amazement at the constellations, coordination, and stories of ancient times lay spaced across our optical opus.



The lunchspot and watering hole was gorgeous, blooms all over running up and down the slowly trickling stream. We installed a stream crossing to minimize erosion and sediment stir up from hikers. Lots of salamanders, crawfish, dragonflies, water striders, and many other creatures inhabit the ponds that skip down Matts Creek, starting as a spring higher up before emptying into the James River.



The view from basecamp with the clouds atop the river in the morning was awesome, something I've been wanting to see for quite some time. It was worth the wait, the thoughtless beauty that is the morning of a new day was extraordinary, making my soul smile.



It was a liberating experience for many of the volunteers as they momentarily escaped the concrete jungle and came into the woods to volunteer their time and energy. They loved it, felt free, felt more alive, worked hard, and slept well at the end of the day. For some they reconnected to nature, rekindling that lost bond, and it was very moving for those who felt it. We got a little closer to the source. It was nice to see that under the circumstances that it was one pretty tough hike in there and a tough hike in the worksite of switchbacks up and down the mountain with our water source presiding at the bottom and camp up top. But all went well, and it was a great start to 3 weeks of work at Matt's Creek.