It's the last day of hitch and we've started the journey home. Standing in line at a coffee shop and deli, we're all giddy at the civilization represented by a latte and made-to-order sandwich.

We're a conspicuous group in our uniform green and brown pants and eventually a member of the public asks us where we're coming from and whom we represent.

A crew member explains we've just spent the last week working on Eaton's Ranch, a dude ranch a few miles back, restoring the Wolf Creek and Roosevelt trails that got burned out in the Elk Creek fire last year. The man in line tells us tells that he grew up riding on Eaton's ranch and hiked Roosevelt and Wolf Creek for years.

This sort of gratitude from the public is becoming a hallmark of our work. When people notice the MCC logo we often hear "thank yous" or are even offered drinks or treats. Little do people realize we're just as grateful to be doing the work.

There are few jobs that require so much of a person, both physically and mentally, as the Conservation Corps. There are even fewer jobs that inspire this kind of gratitude in both the public and those executing the work.

Even on hitches like this one, where we start each day with what one member's Apple Watch calculated to be a 70-story climb into the mountains, we're grateful. Even when working in a burn scar is no joke. More safety measures are required (no taking off hard hats, even on break), creating pathways is more difficult, and even the disturbed ash can be hazardous to inhale. Each day ends with everyone teasing each other over the charred mustaches they've smeared across their faces or the dirt that's settled in every pore.

And yet, at the beginning of each OSHA and lunch break, the usual sighs that accompany laying down tools are mingled with the quiet "wows" as people take in the surrounding views. Up here, the very world seems spread out before us.

On the Roosevelt trail, where the fire burned the most land, it's hard not to wonder at the beauty of the flame's destructive aftermath. Tentative green shoots are already beginning to peak through the ashes, a promise of renewal. As we pushed soot off the trail each day, sometimes painstakingly revealing the earth underneath, it feels like an honor to be aiding in that renewal. It is an honor to serve here.

So for every "thank you" we receive, just know we're just as grateful to be out here doing this work at all.