Before our arrival at Douglas Creek, we knew we were going to be doing trail work. We had no idea what was in store for us. We thought some digging, moving around a few rocks... no problem. That was the wrong assumption altogether. At camp we chose our tools and set off ready for our first day of work.

Things went smoothly enough at first, but that did not last long. As the temperature rose above 100, we grew very fatigued. We quickly realized that we had our work cut out for us, and there was no way we could continue at the same pace, not today, and certainly not for the rest of the week. We knew that our plans had to change. Originally we were to wake up at 7:30 am, work throughout the day, and come back at 4:30-5 o'clock. Instead, we chose to wake up around 5 am and work until early afternoon. By doing so, we were trying to avoid the heat as much as possible. This plan worked for the morning, however, we were still working in the afternoon sun, which seemed to grow hotter faster. Despite our efforts, we found ourselves completely exhausted.

One big problem that was a constant concern, was making sure to stay hydrated. The heat would warm up our drinking water, causing it to be hotter than our body temperature, making it much less appealing to want to drink it. Another concern was we were losing water through perspiration faster than we were taking it in. When we were on the trail, we were losing water faster than we were able to take it in. We could carry about 64 oz of water with us on the trail, and easily consume 3 times that amount during the time we were out there. The type of labor that we were doing was causing us to lose more energy because of the heat. Some rocks along the path took 3-4 people to move. It was very hard work (that we were not used to), and we were doing it in 100+ degree weather. There was very little shade along the trail, causing us to sweat even more. Because we were constantly moving, when we did find shade, we could not stay in it for a long period of time. Many times when we were doing trail work, it was during the hottest times of the day. By the end of the day, you barely had enough energy to want to eat. The only motivation you had for eating, was knowing you would be more fatigued than you already were if you did not eat.

Over all, if our trip would have been during a cooler time period, we would not have had nearly the amount of hardships that we did.