Bittersweet Goodbye

Final Day 

     The dreaded day. While we are all sad to leave, none of us let this stop our final hours from being just as amazing as the rest of our trip. We had a huge breakfast of pancakes, hash-browns, and eggs, a much better alternative to the yogurt and oatmeal we were quickly grabbing the rest of the week. We then loaded up and headed out for the final time. 

     We arrived at Kent’s farm and were greeted by his wife. None of us thought we were going to get to see a wolf today, but we were wrong. Kent keeps the two oldest wolves at his home. So we were able to go in and visit with one of them while we waited for the other school to show. Then Kent’s wife took over and lead us into the horse pastures.

Luna, one of the elderly wolves with Shilo and Liam, two staff members

     Kent mainly deals with the wolves while his wife mainly deals with the horses. She began by introducing us all to the horses they have - a few Egyptian Arabians, a stallion, and one other that I’m currently forgetting. Much like wolves, horses respond well to mimicry. Kent’s wife explained her training methods and then began to demonstrate on the stallion, Merlin. Working with horses before, I was very interested to see her techniques. They were something I had never seen before but were very impressive. I’m excited to try it out myself once I have time at  home. 

Kent's wife demonstrating some training techniques

Merlin

     After the demonstration was over, we all were able to go interact with the horses for a while. We basically just pet them while she continued to talk with us about the horses, wolves, and her life being around all this. Then they put us to work, yet again, mucking up the pasture. We helped for quite a while but we eventually had to head back in order to finish packing and drive the 3-4 hours to the Denver airport (did you know it’s the largest airport in the world?) Before we left, we quickly helped load a little firewood into the truck and talked with Kent for one final time. We donated all our extra food along with $500 to Mission:Wolf, which they were very grateful for. Then it was in the van and on our way to Hermit Basin for the final time as well. 

Merlin and me

Lexi enjoying her job 

Kent speaking with us right before we leave

     We quickly packed our things and headed out around 12:30. Before completely leaving Westcliffe, we stopped at a local coffee shop. Apparently it wasn’t very good coffee, but I had gotten an Italian soda so I was fine. Then goes the several hours to Denver. I helped Blake arm knit his scarf, stared out the windows for a while, we tried to find a place to recycle our recyclable trash (it wasn’t until the airport we found a place), and played some logos on my phone with two of our van rows. We then dropped off our rental and went through security, Janet forgot she had a knife in her bag so got her bag checked, but everything went fine and now here I am writing all this on the plane. 

     I’m excited to be going home for the holiday but I feel as though I have made a second family at Mission:Wolf. This experience will forever be with me. I do plan on returning, hopefully as a full staff member one of these days. Hopefully I can even squeeze in shorter trips before graduation. Janet is already planning a trip this summer with her husband. 

     I have to say, that this experience has been even better than my trip to Spain, and that was really something. It's crazy to think of everything that got shoved into this one week. It was a much needed time to relax from the stressful school life, make a difference, and create a new and happy perspective on life.

Putting Life in Perspective

Day 4 at Mission:Wolf

Introduce who Jeff is? PICTURES

     Six AM wake-up, quick breakfast of oatmeal, and in the van, rolling out by seven. Once arriving we split into the same groups as yesterday and switched roles. My group now was in charge of morning feed while the other group went to continue putting up the posts we started the previous night. 

     Morning feed is far different than the big feed. Each wolf is fed a specific ratio of vitamins and meds mixed in with kibble and some cooked meat. In classic Linfield style, we created an assembly line that had grown very efficient by this time in our trip. I was in charge of scooping kibble while others were crushing pills and cutting and measuring the meat. Once that was all done and placed in the individual bowls we headed out to the enclosures and each took a turn feeding the wolves in groups of two. Alexis and I got to feed Orion and Soliel. All we had to do was dump the rations into buckets and toss them into the enclosure at the same time to minimize fighting. It wasn’t nearly as graphic as the big feed. 

     We then joined the rest of the Linfield crew and finished putting up all the posts. Once that was finished our day eased up. Since we didn’t get to a lot of topics our first day during the Q and A, Jeff (an outdoor educator volunteering) took time to sit aside with just our group to talk specifically about sustainability. This talk lasts well until lunch and even then everyone’s minds are still spinning and the talk turns into a lunch conversation as well. Kent arrived and added even more valuable insight to the topic and we ended by Jeff reading a poem by Windlebury. 

Friendly log rolling competition while we waited for the tools

     We went so in depth and had so many theories and opinions flying around the room that it’s hard to type up everything that was discussed. So here’s some brief points we ended up discussing:

• Mission:Wolf never intended to be sustainable. When Kent decided to go through with his plans, he decided to do it right. 
• Everyone in the valley has to use solar panels if they want power. 
• They planned to utilize wind power but the noise upset the wolves and guests
• Sustainability = being responsible for actions and understanding the consequences
• just switching out lightbulbs and other small things help but aren't truly sustainable
• people want fast and easy solution
• Land management - government has control and has throughout history
• First few steps to sustainability:
• Commitment as a culture to change
• Become an example for others/other nations
• sometimes we need radicals to allow people to feel normal by participating in the movements.

     Once Kent finished up his points on our conversation, he took our group on a private wolf visit without the other school. We visited Farah again. This time, Farah decided to be mischievous and stole a water bottle. Once she had her prize to play with, she paid no attention to us so we moved on. We then got to visit two new wolves, Orion and Soliel. These two wolves were on a completely new spectrum from the wolves we’d been visiting. For one, they were much more timid. They were also very sleepy since they had just had their big feed the day before. So we got a brief hello then they went to sleep right in front of us. 

Farah just before she found her prize

Orion

Soliel

Orion - He was being so photogenic

     That was the end of our visits for the day. We then got to utilize the cement we unloaded the previous days. Mission:Wolf is currently in the process of adding more solar panels to their facility. So we helped place the pole for these solar panels. What’s so amazing about this is that when we go back (something I most certainly intend to do) we will always be able to see the work we’ve done. Up until then, most of our work was something that wouldn’t always be seen for a long time. The wood would be used, feedings are everyday occurrences, and while the horse pasture will remain, it was more out of the way and not in the main part of the facility. 

     Once the new solar panel pole was placed, with perfect measurements I might add, we congregated to the patio and played another round of hackey sack while some last day paperwork was filled out. As it happens, our group put in a collective 360 hours at Mission:Wolf! The staff also said we were one of the best groups to have, and that just meant so much to us all. They were impressed on how prepared we were not only weather wise but also in the months of preparation and research we had been doing beforehand. They also said we so efficient they were scrambling to find jobs for us to do. Knowing that we were able to make such a huge impact in such a short time is an incredible feeling. It was a bittersweet ending to our last day at Mission:Wolf. We were going to Kent’s farm the next day to work with the horses but it was the last day we were on the actual site with the wolves and staff. 

     

Game of Hackie Sack

Our finished rain barrels from a few days earlier

     However, the night was far from over. We invited some staff members to come over for dinner - homemade pizzas, snacks, cake, and music! It was a fantastic, fun filled night and we partied it up since it was not only our last night but Lexi’s birthday as well. Jeff and Collin are both amazing musicians so we found some guitars and a piano and they played for us all night. 

     Once our bellies were full, we sat down and did our reflection from the evening graciously lead by Jeff. It was a very emotional time as we all realized just how big of an impact this place has had on us. At the beginning of the trip Kent had said that Mission:Wolf benefitted people far more than the wolves. At this point, we all understood what he meant. Robin, who came to volunteer all the way from the UK, said that Mission:Wolf puts life in perspective and it certainly does.

     Needless to say, none of us were thrilled with having to go back to a school where this experience and values are not going to be fully shared. We were all touched in similar and in very different ways. I know I’ve continually repeated myself, but I don’t know how to explain this change, this experience in the correct words. 

     By the time the evening began to settle down, it was nearly midnight. We ended the night on a high note as Jeff sang us a few of his own songs. It was hard to fall asleep after such a roller coaster of a day. Luckily, we were able to sleep in a little since we didn’t need to be at Kent’s farm until nine and it was closer to Hermit Basin by a good half hour. 

Lexi, Kaleigh (my RA's) and I before we left

Big Feed

Day 3 at Mission:Wolf

     What another fantastic day! Work began right away as usual. As soon as we unloaded the van we were set to work unloading cement bags. Those things are HEAVY! But yet again, with all of us working together, the work went quickly. 

     We then split up into two groups - a group that helped with daily feeds and a group that mucked out the horses stalls and filled their water. I was in the latter. Because the pipe had frozen, we had to cart down the water from the top of the hill. A few of our group was in charge of that while the rest of us cleaned. Luckily, our job finished so fast that while the rest were getting more water, we got to relax with the horses, Lady Bird and Grinder. They are both rescues. Their owners wanted to donate them as wolf food but because they were perfectly healthy, Mission:Wolf wouldn’t do it and took them in. 

     

Sophie hugging Lady Bird and Grinder

     Now the interesting part of every Wednesday at Mission:Wolf began. Wednesday is big feed day! The wolves were definitely ready for their big meal of the week. To mimic the wild, the wolves are only given one big meal a week accompanied by small daily feeds. The day before, we had helped move the meat out of the freezers to allow it to thaw by morning. However, that morning, the facility was called by someone in need of putting down a sick steer. So they went and received the steer and we got the lovely job of butchering it. 

     Some people were absolutely thrilled, I, being a vegetarian, was not. The butchering was optional. However, I forced myself to stay and watch for the experience. But watch is all I did, unlike the majority of my group who actually helped with the cutting. It really was something though. The steer they butchered was so sick and it was evident when they began cutting and water began pouring out. Even the staff was amazed at what was going on. This in a way made me feel much better about the situation. The steer ended its suffering and didn't go to waste. Mission:Wolf is one of the best recycling programs around for farmers in the Westcliffe area. 

     About two thirds of the way through, I had to leave. So along with a few others, I went and helped do more firewood. The wood we moved from the previous days now needed cut and stacked. We got into such a groove that we didn’t even realize that the rest of the group had finished the steer and went to lunch. We joined them and had another great lunch with the staff. This time, instead of a nap, the staff taught us how to play hackey sack. This has apparently become a very popular staff tradition. They said that most games they can’t play around the wolves because the competitive energy hypes up the wolves. Hackey sack has no losers and the wolves love the energy when a big group plays. Pretty soon the small group of us that started playing turned into both schools and the entire staff playing, even Kent got in on the action. We were supposed to get a full hack (every person hitting the hackey sack) before we went back to work. Well, with around thirty people playing we had to call it quits and eventually get back to work. 

     Before feeding, we all went in for a wolf visit with the three ambassador wolves before they got distracted by their food. Once the cutting, weighing, and visits were finished, it was time to bring the food to the wolves. You could tell they were excited and anxious for their food. We were put into small groups with various staff members. Then it was a free for all, chucking the meat over the fence. Again, I watched and became photographer because I wasn't going to touch the meat. Thank goodness that it was a steer instead of a horse, that would have been way to tough to watch. Despite my queasy stomach and gory scenes, it really was a great opportunity to see something out of the ordinary and witness the importance of such a valuable circle of life.      

Maggie

Sophie and Connor with Maggie and Zeab

Illiana eating her big meal

     So goes the most eventful part of the day. Then it was back to the normal work. We now had to clear the branches that we piled up from the fire mitigation work done the day before. Unfortunately, trucks couldn’t reach the pile so arm load by arm load we walked the pile down the trail and made a new pile away from harm. As soon as we finished we found Kent and helped load old telephone poles into the truck to make a new horse enclosure. We then proceeded to begin building said fence. However, the day slipped away before we had hardly begun and we had to leave after putting only about one post in the ground. 

     We hiked back up the hill and before heading out, we all bought wolf tees with the money we fundraised. They’re a great souvenir to have plus most of the proceeds goes directly to the facility. In fact, we’re all wearing them on our plane ride home. After we all had our shirts, we drove back to Hermit Basin, ate some delicious tacos, and went to sleep for another early morning. 

My Apologies

     Today has been a crazy day, a roller coaster of emotions as it's our last night. We're only just getting back to our room after a nice party with some of the staff and it's already midnight! So yet again, I will have to postpone blogging for the night. But no worries, I have a long time in the airport tomorrow and will hopefully be able to update everything from the whole trip. I will say this though:

I do NOT want to go back to school. 

Mission:Wolf has made such an impact on my life and I would be very content to stay here for a lot longer, my life and values have forever been changed. 

Now the Real Work Begins

Day 2 at Mission:Wolf

     Where do I begin!? It's been another extremely long, work filled, awe-inspiring day. As soon as we arrived we were put straight to work, starting by moving flagstone. This wouldn't be the worst job in the world except for the fact that the ground was still entirely frozen so we had to pry the stones up with shovels and crowbars. Once we loaded all the stone to the truck we then had to unload them down the hill. Great team work made the job quick and painless. Once this was settled, we split up to work on a few different projects.

     While some went to pick up firewood, I lucked out and got to help paint rain barrels. A nice, simple job. During painting however, we got to talk with one of the staff members. The staff are some of the most interesting people and all have a story to tell. This particular staff member (I feel really guilty for currently not remembering her name) is only a few years older than I am. In fact, she should be a sophomore in college but decided to take a semester off to do something meaningful. Her specialty at the sanctuary are the gardens. She has the main responsibility to tend to the many veggies they grow on their small plot and greenhouses among her other duties around the facility. Unfortunately, painting went by super fast so we joined up with the rest of the group on wood duty.

     With the amount of hands helping, we were able to collect, move, sort, and stack all the firewood. Again, team work played a major role. We all have gotten so close and can work together like a well oiled machine, it's crazy. Even the staff were impressed at how well and efficient we all worked together. That was even with the mini breaks we took as we listened to Liam, an insane British volunteer, tell stories upon stories. Before we knew it, it was lunch time. It wasn't until we sat down that we all realized just how hungry we all were. And to top it off, we ate with the most amazing view in site:

Once we finished eating, we had some time to kill while the staff finished their lunch and setting up the next projects. So, we all decided to take a quick siesta and soak up the sun!

     Eventually, we did get back to work. So, yet again, we broke off into two groups: the road fixers and the cage cleaners. I happened to be in the cage cleaning group and its just how it sounds, not glamorous at all. We were cleaning up after the wolves - poop, hair, and bones. It sounds just awful, but it really wasn't. In fact, none of these jobs have been bad at all. Sure, they're tiring but they're fun and so worth it once you look at the big picture. Again, my group finished first so we joined the other school in their fire mitigation work. By this time we were all feeling the days work begin to wear us down but we kept at it. We walked up and down a slope removing dead branches and stumps to help prevent a wild fire (the main concern facing the sanctuary due to the heat and drought).  It was tough, but much needed. Once all the branches were at the bottom of the hill and in a huge stack, we went back up to the main part of the facility and got to the best part of the day - wolf visits.

     Like the day before, we went into the pen with the three ambassador wolves - Abe, Maggie, and Zeab. However, once finished with them, we then got to go and visit two more wolves - Farah and Sengret. These wolves have such diverse personalities. It's incredible to see the differences. These visits are by far, one of the best things of the day. To say that I touched and interacted with a wolf is an amazing feeling. 

Zeab standing above Collin - they have become quite good friends

Maggie enjoying a nice belly rub from Kent

Sengret - one of the most playful, funny, and photogenic wolves we've met

Sengret giving Kent a high five

Sengret with a majority of my group - Terran, Kaleigh, Collin, Alexis, and Janet

Sengret trying to play around with Kent

     I know I keep repeating myself in this, but this experience is truly hard to process. There is so much going on, so much amazingness to comprehend. I wouldn't trade one minute of any of this experience, sunburns and all. 

Pictures Say 1,000 Words

Day 1 at Mission:Wolf

We're working on a way to compile everyone's pictures so we'll have all the pictures and tales of the trip!

The beautiful view driving up to Mission:Wolf

Mission:Wolf - teepees and solar panels make the sanctuary sustainable

 Some of the wolves we saw on the tour. 

 Wolf enclosure and two of the wolves.

 Abraham - ambassador wolf-dog mix

 Maggie and Zeab - two ambassador wolves

 Abe and Maggie

 Another view of Mission:Wolf

 Looking out from the main cabin at Mission:Wolf at the Sangre de Cristo Mountain range

Another view of the teepees - the volunteer's living quarters

     Oh, and by the way, all the alternative spring breaks have a blog that compiles everyones thoughts. If you want to see the other projects or what my teammates are thinking check it out at:

http://linfieldasb.wordpress.com/asb-2013-wildlife-conservation-westcliffe-co/

A Lesson in Hypocrisy

Here is the before promised post! But warning, I may be a day behind from now on. 

Day 1 at Mission:Wolf

     I am still trying so hard to process everything that has been going on. Yesterday was one of the most incredible days and everything I learned has only confirmed my beliefs in this organization. I feel so small compared to this grand and massive place. Only one word really comes to mind when I think over everything that has been going on - WOW! Yet, this word doesn't even begin to cover everything that I am feeling and experiencing.

     The day started out super early but it was far worth it. Despite the zero degree weather, we drove the hour and half to the sanctuary from our hotel where we were greeted by an enthusiastic and passionate staff. These people are heroes, all of them volunteer (some for a year or more) with no pay, living in teepees (because they have practically no environmental impact), and working for something they believe in. As soon as we unloaded from the van we went into their small loft for a question and answer session. There is not enough time in the world to listen to all the wonderful things these people have to say. I have pages upon pages of interesting notes from this one or two hours of talking. About half way through the Q and A Kent, the founder and director, walked in and joined in on the conversation. As soon as he walked in everyone just knew who he was. He is an amazing and powerful individual filled with an infectious passion for what he believes in. 

     So we come to the title of this blog - A Lesson in Hypocrisy. This is the whole point behind Mission:Wolf. They are not breeding wolves, they will not release these wolves back into the wild since, we learned, this is nearly impossible to do. Mission:Wolf is about "education vs. extinction." All the wolves and wolf-dog mixes are rescues. They were saved from horrible situations and brought to the sanctuary for a second chance. They have to put wolves in cages to teach people wolves should not be in cages. Americans want a dog that looks like a wolf but when the dog ends up acting like a wolf, they can no longer handle them. Currently there are over a quarter million wolves in cages and most die within two years. Mission:Wolf gives these wolves a second chance and even have wolves living at their facility that are over 14/15 years old, over double their natural life in the wild. 

     This wasn't even half of what we learned. As I said, I have pages of notes just from a little while of talking. Here are just a few things we learned that made me love Mission:Wolf even more:

• Mission:Wolves long term goal is to put themselves out of business. They want to educate the world enough to where facilities such as this one no longer need to exist.
• The facility is nearly 100% sustainable! They use solar panels for about 96% of their energy, have an underground well and rain barrels for all their water, and even grow a bunch of their own food. 
• Most sanctuaries run on millions of dollars where Mission:Wolf is able to run on about a quarter of a million a year. 
• The sanctuary has very good relations with the near by ranchers/farmers. Some were initially concerned, however, they have assured the farmers that if the wolves were to get out (which has never happened) they would compensate for the losses. Plus, they also aid the farmers in disposing of sick/dead animals which they use for the big feed they give the wolves once a week. 
• Mission:Wolf does not breed their wolves. They want to end the cycle of wolves being in cages and since once the wolves are born in captivity, they cannot survive in the wild.

I could keep going on and on but I'll get on with the rest of the day, all this was just the first couple hours.

     After the Q and A came to an end (though it could have kept going), we went and toured the facility. The sanctuary has over 30 wolves/wolf-dog mixes and we were only allowed to see a handful. If the wolves do not want to be seen, they don't have to be. This sanctuary is by no means a zoo. The enclosures are natural and the wolves can do as they please. However, there are a few wolves that love human interaction so they were happy to come out to see us. What's even more incredible is the story that each wolf has. Some are so very heartbreaking. Once a wolf bonds with a human (It's "pack") it will bond with no one else. So when they're given up for the sanctuary they become anxious and depressed. 

     By the time all this happened, it was time for lunch. We sat down to eat our PB&J's with the most amazing view to look at. Then we got down to the real work. Half of us went and fixed fences around the horses enclosure and the other half of us tore down a fence that was no longer needed. This is where the only downfall of our entire day came into play - altitude sickness. What would normally be the simplest of hikes left us all out of breath and dying. But the serenity in working in such a great place made the work go fast and none of us minded the labor at all, despite the heavy posts and hills. Since we finished before the other school, doing an alternative spring break as well, did we went and joined them on their project - picking up carcasses. It was gross but I forced myself to do it, thank goodness for good gloves. Here the circle of life became very evident. 

     Now for the highlight of the day - wolf interactions! Mission:Wolf has three ambassador wolves which they bring around the country to educate people. We were able to go into the enclosure with them and pet and interact with them. It was the most surreal experience I have ever known. These wolves can literally see into your soul, you can't hide anything from them. What makes this experience even more amazing is the staff teach you how to be the trainer while interacting with these amazing creatures. For instance, they don't bite out of aggression. They will lightly nibble out of fear or affection and it by no means hurts. When first entering the enclosure you have to ignore them, act like the boss, and stand straight and tall. Once your seated then you can look at them. They  way wolves greet you is by looking into your eyes then sniffing your teeth. So you can't shy away from them. They will greet you and move on. That's just the way they are. Occasionally they'll circle back for a scritch but once they greeted you, they know who you are and move on. They are not like dogs what so ever, they are not people pleasing animals like we've trained dogs to be. 

    Wow, I could write an entire book! I feel as if I have barely touched the surface of what happened yesterday. I have currently misplaced my camera cord, so I will upload pictures later which will hopefully tie all of this together. It's an even earlier morning tomorrow since we have to arrive in time to help with the morning feed! So I will put up today's happenings later. Goodnight!