Puppies, and kittens, and kids, Oh My!

          Our first week in Fort Davis has been quite exciting! Grand Companions Humane Society is absolutely fabulous for us and the animals. This forward-thinking shelter is all about loving every single animal and getting them ready for home life. The animals are not kept in cages, but in the offices of the staff, with the ability to run free throughout the facility; how cool! The Grand Companions staff is also super welcoming of our team and really eager to teach us as much as they can about animal training, psychology, and interactions. This past Saturday me and two other team members went to the park for our weekly adoption outings. Here are some pictures of the puppies, kittens, and cute kids who came by to adopt them!

Goodbye Already?

           Our five weeks in Big Bend National Park have been some of the most beautiful and peaceful weeks of my life. I didn’t know I could, but I have fallen in love with the desert. I have found myself curiously awestruck by the thriving life in a place that appears so dead and empty. Every bug and plant seems to have a story of epic survival. Whether it a beetle who has built an armor of cactus thorns for protection or a flower blooming beautifully in a hole in a rock the size of my pinky, a day in the desert never went without a fascinating moment.

          I am incredibly sad to be leaving this place but now understand how important it is to make the effort to see those places in the world that are less traveled. That still untouched by human hands has greater beauty that anything mankind can ever create.

          My final thoughts on this project are the things I have learned to appreciate here in Big Bend:

1.       Water

2.       The night sky

3.       The will of survival

4.       Cell phone service (I have none in the state of Texas apparently)

5.       The therapeutic effects of family game nights

The whole team on our first day in the park

Working at a new border crossing, thats Mexico right behind us!

On the new Lone Mountain trail.

Where to next? We are on our way to Fort Davis, TX to work with the Grand Companions Humane Society.

Hard Workers

                So what exactly are we doing in Big Bend every day? Well, our biggest and most important project is beginning the construction of the new Lone Mountain Trail. Not only is this trail the first accessible trail straight out of the park’s main visitor center, it is also the first mountain biking trail in a national park, an issue that has been highly debated for several years. Being the first people to ever work on the trail, we get to experience the rawness and beauty of the untouched desert. Throughout our work we have observed a multitude of wildlife including thumb-sized beetles, scorpions, black tail rattle snakes, banded racer snakes, rabbits, javelinas, deer, and many more.

                A regular work day begins at 7:30am with a team ‘stretch circle’ which includes 15 minutes of exercises and 15 minutes of stretches. Leaving at 8am, the team takes the 20 minute drive to the trail head. There each of use grab a pick-mattox, McLeod, handsaw, and loppers, strap on our day packs and hike out to our ending point of the day before. As with my project first round, the farther you work on the trail, the farther you have to hike to begin work, meaning we were hiking out an hour by the end. At noon we get a half hour lunch break, then back to work until 4pm. Upon returning home, dinner is made immediately and as the sun sets (around 9pm) most retire to our tents for the night.

The whole crew!

cactus flowering on the Lone Mountain Trail

The Very Tippy Top

          One of the most amazing parts of living in Big Bend is that the only thing to do on the weekend is explore. This past weekend my friends and I decided to take the 12 mile (round trip) hike to the top of Emory Peak, the highest point in the park. Here is a video from the very tippy top of the mountain.

Welcome to Big Bend

my first venture into video blogging...

letter mailing address:
Lindsey Loeper - Trails
Big Bend National Park, Texas 79834


package mailing address:
Lindsey Loeper - Trails
1 Maintenance Yard
Big Bend National Park, Texas 79834

An In-tents New Experience!

          As I sit here in a hotel room in Fort Stockton, Texas, I smile at the thought of where I will be living for the next month. Where am I going, you ask? I am on my way to Big Bend National Park, one of the most beautiful and remote places in the United States. My AmeriCorps NCCC project this round is different than my last two in several ways. First of all, round three is a ‘shuffle round’; all new teams, team leaders, and places. We are each given a chance to rank our round three projects with our personal preference and then are accordingly put on teams with those who ranked similarly to you. My top ranked project was Big Bend.

          The other major difference about this round is that we will be doing a split project. Our first month will be in Big Bend National Park, while our second month will be in Fort Davis at the Grand Companions Humane Society. So what will we be doing? Well since we have not begun work, all I know is what is in our project description, so here is an exact copy of the project description we received:

SUN UNIT ROUND 3 PROJECT DESCRIPTION

SPLIT PROJECT:  Big Bend National Park (APD: Stephanie San German)
Location: Big Bend

Dates: March 12 – April 12 (Dates subject to change)

Sponsor: Erik Walker

Housing:  Camping

Team: SUN 6

Team Leader: Joel

     This project is perfect for the outdoor oriented team who is open to working and living in primitive camping conditions while engaged in rigorous outdoor work. The Trail Program and AmeriCorps NCCC members will work together to comprehensively maintain priority trails park-wide which would include general repairs, proper pruning of vegetation and cleaning of drainage systems along trail corridors.  The project outcome will provide well maintained, sustainable trails for visitors to safely hike, learn about Big Bend’s natural and cultural resources and also preserve the environmental integrity for future generations.  The team will use pack mules to conduct backcountry spikes for three to four weeks of the project. The team may be helping with vegetation management and the preparation and execution of the park’s international border opening event.  Contingent on funding approval, the team may also be helping out with the construction of a new trail.  This will be an epic, fun and rewarding experience for all involved as well as provide improved access to the 350,000 visitors to Big Bend National Park annually.

     The team will be camping at a base-camp and may participate in a multi-day wilderness camping trips.  The team should be prepared to execute physically strenuous work, and camp and hike in remote backcountry areas under uncomfortable climactic conditions (heat and rain).

     Inclement Weather Plan:  Team will refurbish and sharpen tools, attend an Interpretive Ranger Program, assist with the park recycling program or change work location to be in a safer environment.

SPLIT PROJECT: Grand Companion Humane Society (APD: Stephanie San German)
Location: Fort Davis, TX

Dates: April 13 – May 4 (Dates subject to change)

Sponsor: Laura Langham

Housing:  House

Team:  SUN 6

Team Leader: Joel

     Great for a team that is interested in learning about animal care and training. Patience and willingness to learn will be key.  Every day at Grand Companions is a numbers game, with every number being the life of a pet saved.  The AmeriCorps team would provide invaluable resources that could significantly increase those numbers. Our services keep unwanted pets off the streets and increases the quality of our residents' communities and lives. The team's adoption outreach within the tri-county area, marketing efforts through flyers, handouts and radio ads and showing pets at our thrift store will dramatically increase visibility, socialization and adoptions for our programs.  In addition a group of team members will be working at the Adoption Center to prepare newer pets for adoption through cutting edge socialization, bathing, grooming and positive reinforcement behavior training that significantly reduce the adoption return rate.  There may also be the opportunity for team members may to participate in story time with a pet at the local library or at a women's shelter. 

     A rotation group of team members will also be completing critical projects our organization would be unable to complete or would take our valuable program staffing hours without the help of AmeriCorps team.  These projects include site clean up, thrift store improvements, recycling projects, fence building, landscape improvements and more.  Every project will benefit the community by supporting recycling, providing comunity beautification, and assisting us in increasing the number of pets we place, which will allow us to keep animals off the street and save pet lives.

          I wish I could easily express my excitement about this project right now, but unfortunately it is almost 1am here and my enthusiasm toward writing is not high. I hope to be able to write weekly in Big Bend; the visitor center down the road from our campsite should have wifi. Wow, sorry, this post really should sound a lot happier, I promise I am ecstatic about the next two months, but right now I am just ecstatic about going to sleep. Good night.

Gone, but Never Forgotten

          Today I write to you from my dorm room in Denver, Colorado. It’s wonderful to be back with all my friends, but I can’t deny that I am still greatly missing Arkansas Children’s Hospital. We had a wonderful last week there and the people we worked with made it known how much they truly appreciated our presence. On Monday, the culmination of all my hard work with Kelley, the hospital photographer, manifested into the greatest opportunity I have had in AmeriCorps so far, and invite to photograph on the Arkansas state senate floor! Awards were to be presented by the governor to several hospital staff and, of course, a photographer would be needed to photograph this event. So I put on my AmeriCorps best and entered the capitol building. After the award ceremony I got the opportunity to tour the capitol building; this completely white marble structure built in 1915 definitely impressed. As we entered the governor’s office, the governor walked up right behind us and began to chat like any other person would! Cool! All-in-all it was a fabulous day and I will forever be thankful for the privilege I received that day.



The man in the red tie, yup, thats the governor!



A photo I took inside, facing the House


          On our last day, Thursday, the team was presented with a gorgeous southern style ‘thank you’ lunch. All of our supervisors were invited to eat with us and asked to talk about how we made a difference at the hospital and in their lives. We then said our thank yous and goodbyes and returned to our apartments to pack. We left Little Rock at 8am Friday morning and as I watched the hospital fade into the distance I shed a tear and thought of all the wonderful things it has taught and showed me. Here is some of the knowledge I have gathered from my time there:

1. It is better to see an ambulance then a hearse.
2. It is better to hear crying then hear nothing at all.
3. A loving embrace can cure more than it is given credit for.
4. Death, sadly, is a part of life. It does not need to be understood, only accepted.
5. Give thanks for your health everyday because tomorrow it could be gone.

I love my family and friends very much and wish all of you happiness, healthiness, and peace of mind.