I think it’s safe to say that this past summer was one of the best experiences of my life — not only because of the beautiful places that we were able to explore, but because of the people we met along the way and the meaningful work we were able to complete.
I am so grateful to have gotten to immerse myself in the beauty of the Northeast and contribute to its longevity. It was quite a unique experience to say the least. From stone work to carpentry to white water canoeing, we truly pushed ourselves in ways that I didn’t expect — but to be fair, I didn’t know what to expect anyways.
Ethan, Alex, Lena and I were the roving crew this summer and we truly lived up to that name. We began in the beautiful Adirondacks and over the course of two and half months made our way over to the Allagash in Maine. I had never had the chance to explore these different environments before and this was a pretty intense way to do so. But you wouldn’t be an NFCT intern if you weren’t willing to dive head first into challenging situations. We pushed through wild thunderstorms and swarms of mosquitoes and had a great time doing it.
The crew worked tirelessly, but what we did couldn’t have been done without the amazing help from our volunteers. I think one story pretty much sums up the grit that our volunteers had. We were on Valcour Island, an island notorious for ticks and massive waves, in a rainstorm at the end of our work day. We were losing steam and the rain had soaked us all to the bone, we pitched the idea of calling it to our volunteers and not a single one of them wanted to stop. It was a great way to energize us and get us through the last final details of our project. Being able to facilitate people’s involvement in something they love, paddling trails, was one of the greatest joys of this internship.
I got everything I wanted and more out of my time along the NFCT. Life-long friendships, appreciation of hard work and firefly lit hammocking. At the end of the day, no time is wasted when it’s spent outdoors. The coffee in the morning tastes that much sweeter and the air you breathe is that much better.
Interested in joining our crew in 2025? Click here to learn more and apply.
