Berkshire Teen Trail Crew 2009 Week Two!

A beautiful Sunday afternoon kicked off our second Berkshire Teen Trail Crew of the summer. All nine teens arrived at the KCC, quiet, and maybe unsure of what to expect. It didn’t take long for everyone to warm up, and by the end of the week, these kids had become carpentry and digging experts.

Our week’s project was to revamp the Wilbur’s Clearing Campsite on Mt. Greylock, which included two tent platforms, three tentsites, and of course – lots of brushing. Much axing and sawing provided massive trees to drag over for brushing, and kept everyone busy. The first tent platform was constructed in just a couple of days, and was tested by Jonah, Zev, Grayson, and Julian for the remainder of the week. Needless to say, it passed inspection. After honing their skills, these platform artists put up our second frame, this time obtaining some spectacular hole-digging skills; the second platform required perhaps even more dirt than the first to set the posts in the ground. In addition to digging for the platforms, we had to dig to make the three tentsites. We had three large tentsites, one of which will now forever be known as “Addie’s tentsite,” thanks to all of Addie’s hard work on it. I think everyone on the crew had the chance to spend at least one entire day digging dirt, and by Friday, I’m sure that not a soul wanted to set eyes upon a shovel ever again.

Each night ended with a delicious dessert, especially brownies. After trying Phil’s delicious brownies in the beginning of the week, I decided to try my hand at baking, which led to a disastrous evening snack. I had created chewy brownies that turned brittle once in your mouth, and were near impossible to remove from the cooking pan. A few people said they enjoyed these brownies, though most suffered through and eventually couldn’t take anymore of the burnt treat.

This week wasn’t all work and dirt. One day included a hike to the scenic Wilbur’s Clearing, and another day featured a crazy hike to the summit, complete with ice cream, fresh water, and…milk! A trip to the top of the lighthouse was also in order, and Grayson determined that there were 90 steps in the entire thing. Evening thunderstorms kept everyone in their tents (and miraculously dry), though even then card games prevailed. Tent scares, age-guessing games, and s’mores kept everyone entertained, and hopefully concluded the week with some good memories and experiences.

-Valerie

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