Daniel Gottschalk

July 2nd 2023, 1:03 am

After a challenging week, working hard, and taking care of friends, I have finally found time to reflect on the past six weeks that have seemingly passed me by. Jumping back in and on the nature reservation has certainly brought many difficulties with tasks and work, while also bringing in some pleasures that come with the territory. The first three weeks were intense and draining tasks and projects mainly to restore the property to as close to working order with our “A-Team”. Afterwards, things dramatically slowed down as staff rolled in to patch up details and set up their own individual areas to their liking. Following that week came the full staff for expansive trainings and smaller yet necessary projects to bring us to the properties full realization via the nature reservations director. Beautifully, it all came together and when people flocked in, just like an orchestra being queued by a conductor our collective human machine powered through the sometimes strenuous week.

On a personal note, I had great successes with young folk in my classes, enthusiasm was great, fun was shared and skills were learned. My challenges compiled mostly in scheduling and class timing. With a new schedule being constructed this year, my area has been hit hard and does not permit for any outside variables to interfere, thus, class must be perfect 100% of the time… An easy task, I know… As for my big adventure of the week, on Friday I was granted access to the chainsaws and told to clear cut Signal Mountain. Truly this mountain is a unique feature, although only around 1200 feet tall, with the entire mountain face being loose shards of shale it makes for quite the challenging ascent. Fortunately, with an ATV beneath me and gear strapped to my vehicle, getting there was only a small battle, the real war was the clearing job. With saw in hand and protective gear encapsulating me I started my four to five hour journey of cutting down hundreds of trees. By the end of my activity I was unable to stand due to extreme heat exhaustion, having two and a half days looking as bright as a tomato while slowly recovering from said illness was worth it however, seeing that view and being able to see eight peaks while the sky was filled with smoke from Canada was better than the trees that once stood blocking the great view. Finally, today while almost fully recovered I sit gleefully as I hear rumblings coming from staff about their excitement to see the new view. My goals, my wishes, are to expand access and restore land for nature and hiking as to be able to share some of our secret spots for folks interested.

-Dan