Camp life in the alpine forests

The crew eating dinner together at the end of a work day in the Mount Rose Wilderness Area.

NCC crewmember tents in our designated camping area. While not normally so close to one another, the frightening prospect of bears coming by at night convinces us to set up our tents near each other.

Crewmembers hike items up to the campsite, located over four miles from where our trucks are parked with a gain in elevation the entire way. Here we take a short break on trails the NCC built just recently before hiking the remaining distance.

The crew watches as our crew leader, Phil, attempts to throw a rope around a branch in order to secure our bear hang. Due to the hiking distance from our trucks to our campsite, the idea of carrying a bear box up is out of the question. Instead, we hang our food from a tree. Setting up bear hangs can be very, very frustrating.

Phil secures the bear hang. The bags go up at night and up during the work day. Down for breakfast and down for dinner.

Crewmembers try to catch popcorn from a Jiffy Pop aluminum pan gone awry after dinner.


Phil walks under one of the bear hangs.