SMC Youth Crew Embarks On Siskiyou Highlands

And Finds Their Way Back Down

Last weekend was the last of three training sessions for our hired crew. So I took them out to Rough & Ready Creek, handed them a map and had them lead the way.
“We need to get to here,” I said, pointing to a plateau on the map, and they started making their way straight up a steep slope, finally reaching a ridge defined by peridotite outcrops. Eventually we reached our camp, about seven-miles and three-thousand vertical feet from where we started. They filtered water and rested for a few minutes.
Then we set out along a faint trail to find some remote treasures, including an intact cabin notched out of Port Orford Cedar, and a cold spring running nearby.
“We won’t have to go back down anything that steep will we?” asked Kayla Webre of Brookings, OR.
“What goes up, must come down,” I said. “Just be careful on the way out. It’s easy to get turned around on these plateaus.”

Saturday night the group took turns reading from Edward Abbey’s Beyond The Wall under the light of headlamps.
The next morning I watched them from afar as they made decisions about how to get back down. After a few wrong turns, a lot of deliberation, and some tense moments we found ourselves back in the valley adjacent an unnamed creek.
“That was kind of stressful,” said Micah Nash.
They found a nice pool and swam before stumbling back to the cars safely.
“Nice work,” I said.

In two weeks the crew sets out for a hitch working in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area and starts receiving wages for their work. They’ll be employed for at least 30 days over the summer.

Want to help our youth crew succeed? Join us June 18-20 for a resupply trip in the Kalmiopsis. We need volunteers to help bring them food and supplies then.

Or join the Club with a tax-deductible donation of $25 or more.