Dear Back2Basics Families,
Throughout the week of April 8th-12th, the boys went out to Utah to help The Grand Canyon Trust remove steel, and plastic piping from the landscape to help preserve the native plants and animals. This pipe was previously used to move water from the river up to the plateau where cows would graze, as well as destroy the crust of the earth that holds many nutrients that the native plants couldn’t survive without.
After convening as a group and figuring out what the plan for the day was we started the hike to our work space. This hike wasn’t very long, however we couldn’t find the trail so a couple of the boys scrambled up to the top while others worked on finding the trail. Once at the top we started using the sawzall to cut the two inch in diameter metal piping into lengths of 3 feet and stack them nicely at the top. Stopping for lunch, the boys all found their spots to enjoy the food they had previously packed. To conserve energy for the remaining days the Trust had us hike back down to the campsite while also carrying two pipes per person that totaled out to a good thirty, 3 foot sections of pipe. Once back at camp two of the boys helped cook Jambalaya. It was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Cleaning up went smoothly and we all retired to our tents to rest up for the day ahead.
Friday the 12th, was our last morning on this trip and all we had to do before we left was to help the Trust pack their two trucks including all the pipe we had carried down from the worksite and then pack our own camping gear and load our two vans in order to leave. We had breakfast, made sure everything was left the way that it was when we got there. As we drove back the staff members were so kind as to stop at a BBQ fast food. After that lunch the drive was so long many of us decided to sleep for most of it but a few of us actually read various books or did our journaling/therapy assignments on vans. All and all, it was a great week!
With Love,
B2B Boys
