Volunteering In The San Gorgonio Wilderness

 I am trying to challenge myself to do things I have always want to, and this new round of anxiety has kept me from doing. Of course it is scary and I often try and talk myself out of doing new things. Marking things off of lists make me feel like, when I am done what will be next? Now I have come to realize, whatever I want can be next.
I have always loved the wilderness and nature in general. Maybe it's growing up and my stepdad taking us camping and fishing, maybe it's the draw of my favorite saint (St. Francis of Assisi.) Being outdoors has always been something I enjoy, however the heat now bothers me, which is crazy since I grew up in the desert. In the summers we would play outside in the heat, as I got older I would go on walks in the middle of the day and not even think twice about it, even rode horses. As a teenager I still rode horses, and even walked around and in a leather jacket. The cool desert evenings were nice to walk in and gaze up at the stars.
When I left at 18 I got to experience a different kind of climate. I went to bootcamp in South Carolina, there were swamps and trees. It was a different kind of wilderness than the mountains, lakes, and desert sands of my youth. I grew to appreciate and respect it in my short time there. When I was in North Carolina, it was a similar kind of wild outdoors that was in South Carolina. In my time not doing military things I was able to explore the town and nearby towns. It was amazing, when I moved there later my husband and I would walk in the woods surrounding the trailer park we lived in. When he was at work, I often explored in my own. I loved the peace of being alone in the wild. What I didn't love about being in the wild, whether it was California, Kansas, Texas or the Carolina's was the trash and messes people would leave.  There was not much respect, mostly the messes were made by young kids, teens, and drunk college kids. People unaware or never taught why we must respect the wild and why.
I was taught my example by my stepdad, being in the Marines, and just by studying about St. Francis of Assisi and his love of nature. A love that was respectful.
I found out about the San Gorgonio Wilderness Association in the past few years. Honestly, I did not know they had a volunteer component until I read up more on them. Volunteering is something I learned to love in high school. My first high school was Banning High School, and us Broncos had many volunteer opportunities. In the Environmental Club we even got to plant some trees once, of course this was in 1991 or so. Things like that have always had an impact on me.
The San Gorgonio Wilderness is my area to volunteer, and hopefully I can help kids learn about respecting nature and maybe one day volunteering with the group. Now I just need to get my First Aid/CPR so I can start.