Get To Know AK Team 5

Nathan Kemp

What has been your favorite location this season?

Working on the Chilkoot in Klondike Gold Rush was definitely my favorite. Sitting in Forest Service housing writing this right now just makes me miss the calmness of living 13 miles into the back country.

Which project has been the most meaningful to you?

Building our puncheon/ turnpike structure in Glacier Bay was my favorite. After just coming off weeks of brushing and swamping, it was nice working on a project that involved some construction.

How do you like to spend your time after work?

It all depends on the day. Sometimes it involves timing myself on how fast I can make it back down the trail to camp and then immediately taking a nap. Other days I like to jam out to some funky fresh music.

The biggest obstacle that you have had to overcome this season?

Realizing that I don’t get to keep my picky appetite while being on a trail crew was hard. But within the first few weeks I learned that almost anything tastes good after a long day of work!

What are your plans for after this season?

10 days after arriving back home I get to head back into the wilderness with a 211 mile trek on the John Muir Trail!

What is something new that you have learned?

I have learned that having wet feet is the worst thing ever, and clean socks are more precious than gold!

Favorite trail meal? Dinner/ sandwich go to?

Pesto pasta night is always my favorite. Favorite sandwich: Summer sausage, cheddar cheese, cream cheese, Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce, onions, bell peppers, and lettuce! I created this masterpiece one day in Glacier Bay National Park, still working on a name for it.

What is one thing that you have done this season for the first time?

Go to Canada! I found out that Poutine is one of the most delicious dishes in the world!

Sarah Pickett

What has been your favorite location this season?

My favorite location this season was our work site on the Chilkoot Trail. We had beautiful views to look at as we worked and blueberries on the hike up and down. In general though, my favorite place we have been was Glacier Bay. I liked everything about it and would go back there in a heartbeat.

Which project has been the most meaningful to you?

I most enjoyed building the stone steps on the Chilkoot Trail because we got to see the hikers that used the trail every day while we were working and afterwards at Sheep Camp. It was nice to see a talus field that was difficult to navigate get easier every day because of the steps we put in.

How do you like to spend your time after work?

I like to read after work. Or if I don’t feel like reading, I enjoy drawing and using my watercolor pencils.

The biggest obstacle that you have had to overcome this season?

The biggest obstacle I had to overcome this season was learning how to use a lot of the tools that we used such as Pulaskis, double jacks, and rock bars. I had not previously done work like this so there was definitely a learning curve for me.

What are your plans for after this season?        

I plan to go back to Texas, take the GRE, visit friends, and find a job.

What is something new that you have learned?

I have learned how to identify so many plants, which is nice because I like knowing the plants that are around me as we hike the trails.

Favorite trail meal? Dinner/ sandwich go to?

My favorite trail meal was coconut curry. My favorite sandwich didn’t happen often, but when it did it was glorious: cream cheese and preserves on a tortilla. It is more like a pastry than a sandwich.         

What is one thing that you have done this season for the first time?

I sea kayaked for the first time and I loved it. The water was so tranquil, except when the tide was changing, and seeing whales and sea lions so close was wonderful. I liked gliding across the bulb kelp and thinking about all of the life swimming through the kelp forests. I also really enjoyed how close I was to the water and feeling more like a part of the ocean than an observer of the ocean, which is how I felt on the boats we rode.

Scotty Martell

What has been your favorite location this season? A toss up between Glacier Bay and Skagway

Which project has been the most meaningful to you? Our time on the Chilkoot for sure, being so remote was refreshing

How do you like to spend your time after work? Relaxing, reading  jammin’ to some tunes

What are your plans for after this season?  

Taking a gap year to hopefully get my job back at the boarding kennel and ski.

What is something new that you have learned? 

That everyone has something to teach, due to the fact everyone has been through different experiences.

Favorite trail meal? Dinner/ sandwich go to?  

Trail burritos are top notch

What is one thing that you have done this season for the first time?   

I have been on a ferry for the first time as well as being on the open ocean.  I come from being land locked

 Lesley Seale

What has been your favorite location this season? 

Everywhere! South East Alaska has so much to offer with mountains meeting the seas and the most beautiful rain forests.

Which project has been the most meaningful to you? 

The work at Klondike was really rewarding, knowing that the stonework we did will stay in place for such a long time. 

How do you like to spend your time after work? 

Playing banjo, or trying to. I still have a lot to learn and appreciate the crew for listening to the same 5 songs over and over.

The biggest obstacle that you have had to overcome this season?  

Getting together the logistics for travel and accepting that sometimes things don’t go as planned.

What are your plans for after this season?  

Serving on a leader team at White Sands National Monument in New Mexico, then catching up with family before moving to Alaska.

What is something new that you have learned?

 I really love a good night’s sleep, I have no shame going to bed early.

   

Favorite trail meal? Dinner/ sandwich go to? 

  Falafel! And I still love peanut butter and jelly.

What is one thing that you have done this season for the first time? 

Driving a 4-wheeler at Dry Bay, along with being fun it’s the best way to get around the 65 miles of trail stretching through the area.

Sam Sea

What has been your favorite location this season?

I think my favorite place was definitely Gustavus and Glacier Bay, at least so far.  I loved the atmosphere and the people. I would love to go back and stay for a longer term sometime in the future, it was simply beautiful. I feel like I took some of my best photos there, and that’s when I realized just how much I liked capturing my surroundings through photography.

Which project has been the most meaningful to you?

I really liked working in Glacier Bay, Bartlett Cove. When we worked on the Forest Loop Trail, I felt as if there was an instant gratification. We saw hikers on the trail actually using what we had built, and it felt good knowing that people appreciated our work. I don’t mean to say that people don’t normally appreciate our work, but it was nice to see people enjoying it in the moment.

                                                                                                       

How do you like to spend your time after work?

It depends on how tired I am and where we are. Sometimes I like to explore, other times just relax and read. Lately, it’s been more of relaxing and trying to soothe tired muscles. Halfway through the season I got my hands on some yarn and was able to start crocheting. It’s especially nice to crochet while we had story time.

The biggest obstacle that you have had to overcome this season? 

I think that one of the biggest obstacles I’ve faced this far was my fitness level.  I have definitely gotten more fit as time went on, but sometimes I realize just how unfit I am. I’m proud of how far I have come, but I still have a long way to go.

What are your plans for after this season? 

Actually, I’m not sure where I am going or what I am going to be doing. I think that I am heading to Canada for a bit to visit my dad’s friend, but that isn’t really set in stone yet. I’m likely headed home at least for a little while. Honestly I would like to keep traveling, seeing new places, hopefully through an internship.  

What is something new that you have learned?

I’ve done trail work before, but not as extensively as we’ve done this summer. I learned more about working with rocks than I thought I would have at the beginning of the summer, and am astounded by the amount of thought that has to go into making things work properly.

Favorite trail meal? Dinner/ sandwich go to?      

I think that my favorite meal would be the falafel and flatbread. It was my first time ever having eaten falafel and I absolutely loved it. I can definitely see myself making it when I get to where I’m going.

What is one thing that you have done this season for the first time?

There were several things that I did for the first time but I guess my favorite thing was when we hiked into Canada on the Chilkoot Trail. It was my first time ever having been out of the country and it was the longest I had hiked at any given time.

 

Vinny Salvato

What has been your favorite location this season?

My favorite location to work this has been on the Chilkoot trail. Being surrounded by majestic views sure was a treat.

Which project has been the most meaningful to you? Creating stepping stones across a stream on the Chilkoot trail was very meaningful to me. It’s extremely rewarding knowing that you have positively impacted the trail for hikers in saving feet from being wet. Also, these stones will be there for a very long time.

How do you like to spend your time after work?

Eating the delicious meals that fellow crew members make.

  

The biggest obstacle that you have had to overcome this season?   

The biggest obstacle has been constantly trying to make mommy proud even during difficult times.

What are your plans for after this season?

After this season I will be taking my talents to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota for a leader crew. The leader crew will last four weeks doing a variety of trail work. I'm very excited to gain more trail work knowledge and improve my leadership skills.

  

What is something new that you have learned?

I have expanded my knowledge regarding the griphoist and different rigging setups. The griphoist is a very useful tool so it was helpful being able to use it for three weeks on the Chilkoot.

Favorite trail meal? Dinner/ sandwich go to?

My favorite trail meal is anything that can fill the tub multiple times. The sandwich go to is called the trail tornado which consists of peanut butter, cheeses preferable cheddar, and Sriracha.

What is one thing that you have done this season for the first time?

Running through Yukon Territory with my woes. A woe is a friend or an associate.              

These interviews were brought to by Vinny Salvato  

Our Time pon the Chilkoot

By Scotty Martell

After our six weeks in Glacier Bay were up we were all ready to see some new scenery.  Hopped on the ferry to Juneau for 2 days of relaxing and preparations for our month in Skagway(which is a Tlingit word for whitecaps).  I spent my time in Juneau exploring the downtown area, enjoying the new scenery and indulging in good coffee and exploring the new place.  After Juneau we ferried on down to Skagway. 
 We had one day before work started to explore the ever so touristy downtown of Skagway which is filled with diamond and gold shops and sheep like cruise ship goers.  The first few days of work were spent brushing around the Dyea area.  On Friday we saddled up to begin the 13 miles to sheep camp. Our larger camp gear like stoves, weather port and cooking utensils as well as tools were being flown up via helicopter to the sheep camp area. 

Our first day of work on the trail we were divided up into two teams, one team (Sam&Nate) stayed around camp to finalize things and make it a little more homey feeling by setting up tarps over tents, digging tent pads.  While the rest of us(Vinny, Sarah, Lesley and I) hiked on up to the talus field on the Long Hill section of the trail(named because it is a very long hill).  This section is right before the "golden Staircase" which leads hikers up and over the pass into Canada.  On this part of the trail it is one big scree field which makes it difficult to hike through.  Our project was to construct staircases on the tales section and stepping stones over the first stream crossing.

Ascending the stair case

After our first week of work was over it was time for us to begin our adventure up and down the Chilkoot trail.  Our humble Guide Nate Dogg had instructed us to pack enough gorp and oatmeal for 3 days.  After a early rise we began our journey back into time.  After the Long Hill section of the trail it turns to "the scales" named so because it was a stopping point for gold rushers who had to weigh their goods and have exactly 1 ton of goods for the Canadians to even let them into Canada.  If "stampeeders" did not have enough goods they would abandon all of their goods at the scales.  This is evident in all the random items scattered around this section of the trail.  From the scales it was time to start our scramble up the "golden Staircase".  I found this section to be rather aggressive as it was a very steep and rocky section with parts steep enough that you must use all four limbs to maneuver through.  Upon making it into the Canadian side we were greeted by fog and mist.

Looking down the Golden Stair Case

Our next stop after the pass was at happy camp for the night which was a good eight miles from the pass.  The next day we would hike on to Lindeman city, another campsite along the trail.  From here we would spend a night and hike on to Bennett, our final destination on the trail.  From here we would ride the White Pass Train back to Skagway(shouts to Aric Baldwin for hooking us up with the tickets).

After our time on the trail we headed back up to the Dyea area for one night to rest up after our excursion on the trail.  The following Monday we would hike back into Sheep camp for our final hitch on the Chilkoot.

Bottom of the "Golden Stairs" in "the Scales"




The first few days of work I spent working on the talus field stair cases with Lesley and Sarah while Vinny, Nate and Sam worked down below on the stream crossing.  Around the fifth day of work I was recruited to join the stream team along with Ezra(NPS trails) and Cocoa the trail dog to dig a reroute from the new stream crossing to the trail.  

 Cocoa(Coca Locz) The Trail dog, with leg tuffs blowing in the wind


Our time on the Chilkoot was relaxing although we were at work it was a nice change to be so far away from roads and cars and large numbers of people.  During our time on the trail we encountered, one Mama Black Bear and Cubs in a tree as well as many Ptarmigan and Marmots.  This past Monday(the 17th) we hiked back down from sheep camp to begin our preparation for our final endeavors in Sitka.  We were treated to Pizza at the Red Onion by the NPS trail crew folks.  Much thanks to these guys for all the things they did for us on the Chilkoot, from arranging our train tickets to delivering mail to us on the trail and flying our gear in/out, they made our time unforgettable without a doubt. 

Talus Field