Hitch 1: The Work

By day we wonder the desert, collecting branches and digging holes; by night we sleep out under the moon and stars. Overall, I really can't complain.

Our primary task is to restore illegal OHV (off highway vehicle) trails. The Rand Mountains are a limited use area so OHVs are allowed on marked trails/roads, they are not allowed to create new trails or ride across the open desert. Our task is to disguise the illegal trails and to promote re-vegetation.

Since most desert plants look rather dead for most of the year, our primary tactic in disguising trails is to build fake plants out of dead branches. So we wander around collecting dead branches, then dig a hole where we want the bush, and arrange the branches to look like a living bush. We also decompact the soil (the soil gets really hard from being ridden on) and spread seeds to encourage real plants to take over the area.

While out there, we saw a horny toad, two desert tortoise shells and a bunch of tarantulas. And the local ranger stopped by with fire wood and marshmallows.

Horny Toad---Baby Tortoise Shell

Bird skeleton found with a pack rat skeleton in a piece of pipe

Aircraft fly overhead frequently, and whenever they do, we stop work and stare up at the sky for a while. There are also periodic explosions from the mines.

Our group has definitely reached the storming stage of group development. People are no longer pretending to be overly patient with each other. This has caused a number of conflicts, though so far I have mostly stayed out of them.

When the clouds come, it make for great sunrises and sunsets

So that is what we do, though I am still not convinced that this is an effective method. It seems like a labor intensive project that is easily ridden over or around. The problem in the open desert is that short of a fence, people can easily drive around just about any barrier we create.