27th June

Imagine living on top of a mountain plateau 7,000ft above sea level and it still being 32 degrees celsius.

Imagine camping 90 miles from civilization with only the stars and ten other like-minded volunteers revelling in the isolation of it all.

Imagine learning new skills in one of the most awe-inspiring regions in the world and making friends from across the globe at the same time.

I have been here barely more than two weeks and I have experienced all this and more. After the initial apprehension that all volunteers undergo, I am now loving every minute of it. The camaraderie, the challenge, the sense of achievement when that ½ mile of fencing finally pounds through the bed rock. The late June deluge back home in the UK makes life out here all the sweeter, ha! And so, back to the beginning.

Hot stuff!

I meet Nick and Laura, the other UK conservation volunteers, at check-in at Heathrow. We chat about what it will be like, have we brought enough, what have we forgotten – questions that can only be answered half way around the world. Beyond the air conditioned walls of Phoenix airport, we are greeted by a giant dry sauna – it’s like walking into the blast of a huge hairdryer, sucking any moisture from the sun-baked ground. Flagstaff, mercifully, is cooler. It’s a retreat from the Arizona furnace, 7,000ft up two hours north. That’s twice the height of Mt Snowdon in Wales to give it some perspective. The oxygen is thin so early fears that I am unfit when walking up hills are thankfully quashed! Despite that, it is still 32 degrees today.

40,000 people live in the town of Flag (as it is known locally) and it’s dominated by the pristine university (if anyone has seen the film Road Trip, it’s just like the imaginary Ithaca University). Internet access is free for all and it’s a good place for ACE volunteers to meet up. Accommodation is split into four houses – cedar, uni and cisco houses and the Apartments. I’m in the Apartments – think of student accommodation and you’re not far wrong, except with eight different nationalities, 16 people and shared facilities.

I was assigned to Grand Canyon Parashant Fencing on my first project – an eight hour drive, the final 90 miles on a dusty, rocky track deep into the wild. It is one of only a few projects with facilities, a log cabin hidden beneath towering trees on the north side of the canyon. Beds are available but we agree anyone avoiding their tents will be forced to do a forfeit as punishment!

Hard work but great fun

The work – pounding fence posts into the ground along a one mile stretch – is hard work, dusty and hot. It’s about 32-35 degrees but we have shade, a luxury compared to some of the other projects. It sounds corny, but the smiles, laughter and teamwork are a shield from the fierce effects of the desert. 6am wake up calls, breakfast, a bumpy drive and a faultless line of fence posts later, we have to leave early on the final night due to a major leak of the 10,000 water tank. We have 10 litres of water left between 11 of us – staying there was simply not an option. But this was only a minor drama. Two girls were hospitalised – one airlifted from a national park – due to dehydration and critical salt levels on other projects.

We are told to drink six litres of water a day and eat salty snacks. They didn’t and paid the consequences. Six litres of water is a lot to drink, but this climate is unforgiving and it’s a necessity, not a recommendation. Stick to the rules and the rewards are endless here.

Flagstaff is a good base to explore – just as many of us have. Eight of us drove north to the Colorado Rockies - mountains instead of desert, kayaks through rapids – for three days, camping 12,000ft up, rising early to catch the rising sun in the east. All this experienced in two weeks. I used to imagine it – now I don’t have to.

Things I wish I had brought:

• Lip balm
• Nail brush – no matter how hard you wash, the dirt sets up camp behind your nails
• More pants, less jeans.

Check back soon for more diary entries!