!! In the quiet hours of the bootcamp grind, I found myself: Esteban's Bootcamp Experience

B.E.L. Post # 244

Today at the Abbey, we split into two teams. Dan, Jesse, and I worked on the junk pole fencing, building on the progress from earlier in the week when we cleared another 50 feet of fencing and harvested poles for the support pieces. Today, the plan was to start digging the post holes and getting the posts set, while Jesse continued filling in the frame sections from another part of the fence.

The first half of the day came with a few challenges. The retaining pin on the auger sheared off and disappeared, so we had to head back to the shop to get another one. Once we got back to work, we also ran into a lot of large rocks that kept stalling the auger and slowing down the digging.

After lunch, Dan and I headed back to the Abbey and were finally able to get all three post holes dug. The holes were spaced 9 feet apart and dug down to 3 feet deep. We put about 3 inches of gravel in the bottom of two of the holes, set the posts in place, and backfilled around them with gravel to create a gravel sock.

Meanwhile, Stevie and Leo were working on irrigation, chop and drop, and other tasks around the site.

Afterward, we headed back to Base Camp for some delicious huckleberry pie. A big shout-out to Paul for being so kind and treating us to such a delicious treat!

After having my slice, I broke off to harvest some potatoes and do some trail maintenance before wrapping up the work week.

A productive way to finish out the week!