Four Eyed Forest Service Worker

I worked for a brief stint in the Forest Service after High School. I think the program was called the YCC (Youth Civilian Corp) or something like that. It must have been for maybe 6 months or so. I had always loved the forests of Arizona, so it seemed like the natural job. One of my postings was with a Tonto National Forest Survey Team, we would work on doing surveys of Forest Service Land. My team had an older married dude, maybe in his 40's, conservative and set in his ways; a really cute single girl, kinda rugged and rural in demeanor. She was probably in her later 20's. I think her name was Robin. It figures I would remember her name and no one else's. :) Anyway, there were two of us YCC workers to carry the stakes and do all the grunt work, while the regular Forest Service people handled the Survey equipment and did the official work.

One week we were to do a survey on Four Peaks, north of Fountain Hills Arizona. I had been told the week before to plan on a week up on the side of the mountain. That weekend, I was at the park playing basketball and I broke my glasses badly, they could not be worn. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am blind as a bat without my glasses. There was no way I was going to be able to make the Four Peaks trip without glasses.

For some odd reason, some months before, my Mom had had me buy a pair of prescription goggles. I was prone to breaking my glasses with all the activities I was always involved with. Mom had suggested I buy the goggles for those activities, but they looked really geeky and there was no way I could wear them in public. They were made out of a clear plastic material and wrapped completely around my head with a elastic band on the back. They made me look like a short awkward version of Kareem Abduhl Jabbar.  :)

Needless to say, there was no way I was going to miss the Four Peaks Trip. And there was no way I was going to be able to make it blind. So when I showed up at the rallying point Monday morning wearing those goggles, it looked like the Team Leader was going to have a stroke. And Robin could not stop laughing at me. I got strange looks the entire trip. And no, I never managed to sweep Robin off her feet.  :)

The Four Peaks trip was awesome. The survey involved laying stakes around the Forest Service Boundaries of an old historic Amethyst mine up there. The views of the surrounding area were breathtaking, and we camped in a saddle area on the side of the mountain just below the Amethyst mine. The trip ended a few days short when a storm swept over the mountain, and we were helecoptered out...the pilot giving me strange looks from time to time.

Was embarrassing myself worth it?.....no doubt....

As in an earlier post, I love Arizona. From my earliest youth I remember savoring every moment to explore my beloved home state. The Four Peaks Area is just a few minutes North-East Of Phoenix, but beautiful and rugged and solid.

Cheers....nca

For A Interesting Tidbit of the Historic Amethyst Mine....Click Here