The Arches 2018 Alternative Spring break group has made it back to Oshkosh safe and sound! We left Denver, CO around 5am yesterday and rolled into Oshkosh around 9pm last night. After a week with limited cell service and Wi-Fi connection we all had time to relax and refresh before we head into the end of the semester. Throughout our week we had many great adventures and helped Arches National Park with two different service projects. Our first project consisting of installing connectivity modifiers will help with grassland growth and stability. We helped install just over 1,500 modifiers which was the goal of Arches NP for this year! We mainly worked in the northern part of the park in Salt Valley. On our last day of volunteering we helped with the removal of invasive Tamarisk which will help to restore the natural water flow of the Salt Wash. This is a two year long project and we where able to give a little bit of our time in order to reach the end goal. For this project we worked in the area right next to the Delicate Arch parking area. In our free time and on our last day we had time to explore the park as well as the area around Moab. Everyone in the group had a great time climbing right outside of the park, as well as hiking to many of the different arches in the park, and trying out mountain biking in this naturally beautiful area. The week flew by as we helped the park grow stronger as well as get to experience this wonderful area we are all sad that are time together had to end but all look forward to exploring this area again one day. Until next time Arches.

Hello from Utah!  We hope all our #uwo Titans are having as much fun on their spring break as we are volunteering our time at Arches National Park Moab in Utah. We have been busy exploring and helping clean the park up.  Most importantly, we are working to ensure the native plants can regrow in the area to sustain the wildlife and maintain an eco-system. The photo below is called a ‘connectivity modifier’ or con mod for short, and its part of the Grassroots Restoration Project.  It’s purpose is to keep the wind from blowing seeds away so native plants can regrow in the area. We have been working hard to assemble and install these important tools!  Talk to you all soon 🙂

Wow!  Arches and Canyonlands National Park(s) are AMAZING. National Parks rely each year on trail crews, clean up crews and general work crews to keep these federal lands pristine and accessible and our UW Oshkosh team is helping to maintain. This has been a great way for our group to connect, volunteer and explore! Camping and exploring really allows us to enjoy the natural wonders our world provides–time is going fast, but we are truly loving this experience.

The Arches group has made it halfway. We are in Denver for the night and will be packing up tomorrow morning to finish our journey to Moab, Utah staying in Arches National Park. We left Oshkosh at 4am this morning. As we traveled we hit a small snow storm through Iowa and into Nebraska but then had clear sailing from there. We are now walking to Chick-Fil-a for a late-night dinner stop. We are excited to pass through the Rockies tomorrow and start volunteering on Monday morning.

Update: Bikes are stored safely in the rooms with us for the night!