The reggatronic, winelious, stingy, and sneaky adventures of 2 humble streammates

This weekend Shannangans and I thought it would be fun to go to California for her birthday (she just turned 21!)  Janelle was planning on going but she ended up getting mono so stayed home for the weekend. Starting out, we had a few setbacks. I did not have a sleeping bag because I stashed it away on the stream so next time we camped I did not have to pack it in again. Shannon also didn't have a sleeping bag because she left it in the company truck which was taken by the boys who were climbing mount hood that weekend. So, to solve this problem we took a mattress from the bunk house and made a little bed in the back of Shannon's truck. (which actually turned out to be way more comfortable than sleeping on the ground) 

So we left on Friday morning and drove 7 hours down to Crescent City, which is in the northernmost part of California, and found a random RV park to stay at for the night. To wind down from a long day of driving, we got Jack-in-the-Box (a first for both of us), and spent the night sitting on the beach, talking, watching the waves, and slowly acquiring severe indigestion. 

We woke up early that morning, and after leaving the bathroom in the morning, I see a towing truck heading our way. So I run as fast as I can back to the truck and I'm like "Shannon we gotta go, tow truck coming!!" 

We booked it out of the RV park because we weren't about to pay $18 to sleep in what was essentially a parking lot and headed south toward Arcata. On the way we ran into these ginormous Paul Bunyan and Babe the Ox statues and pulling over becomes non-negociable. Paul B. was much like Smokey the Bear in the way the he could talk and move his head back and forth on a lifelike 90 degree axis. 

Ever since we've been here Shannon had been talking about going to a California winery, so on the way I found a little winery in Orleans, CA, which ended up being in the middle of nowhere. Awesome!

So after driving along the coast in 55 degree weather all day, we were shocked by the 30 degree increase and the hot, dry, climate. It took us 3 hours to drive up into the mountains where the winery was located, but we finally made it! We were greeted by Robin, the lady who conducted our tour. She had a big beautiful log cabin on top of the mountain, surrounded by acres of vineyard, it was so beautiful. She was so cool, and we ended up just sitting, talking, and trying different wines in her house for like 3 hours. We got to see their winery area which was filled with too many barrels to count, the vineyards, and her garden. It was so cool! At the end of the tour, Robin told us about this famous Reggae festival about 2 hours down the coast that we should check out. This sounded like a pretty cool opportunity, so we headed south to Garberville.

After arriving in Garberville, we parked in town and went looking for this reggae fest. We find out that we need to take a bus 10 minutes out of town to get there. We find the bus stop, and line up with all the crazy rastafarians/hippies and get on the bus (which was a school bus). It was so crowded that we ended up sharing a seat with a full grown man and his son, with me on the edge and Shannon sitting on my lap. It was great. 

The festival was enormous, attracting 50,000 people each year, and is composed of some of the craziest people I've ever seen. So we find out we need tickets and wristbands to get in, which apparently cost $100. So we are just standing around, trying to figure out to get in, and the man sitting in the seat next to us on the bus finds us and tells us he has two fake wristbands (photocopied from a printer and cut out) that we can try. So we Mcguiver some adhesive from whatever we have in our purses (I used the seal from a pack of cards), and delicately put on our paper wristbands. We pass through the first gate and get checked. Pass. Yes! 

Then we are walking through this gated pathway towards the festival, and the music is getting louder. I see there is a 2nd gate of people who are more thoroughly examining the wristbands. Crap. I walk up and I am ushered into the line with a bitter-looking-middle-aged-woman- checker. Double crap. I walk up to her, smile, say hello, and she immediately looks at my wrist and pulls of my fragilely attached fake wristband. Major bummer :(  Same thing happens to Shannon, and in a fit of despair, we go buy some pizza to ease our sorrows. But, in the area we had been quarantined in, there were lots of food, jewelry, clothing, and art vendors so we stuck around for a bit and browsed the goods, made some friends, and hung out for a bit and listened to the rasta jams we almost got to see. I am just happy we made it past the first gate, and we left the festival with peace. 

We had some problems finding somewhere to sleep that night. We drive back to Arcata, around 11 pm, and we are famished. We find a Denny's on Shannon's gps, and race (going the speed limit of course) to fill our bellies. After another filling, yet indigestion/heartburn inducing meal, we drive around for a bit and end up parking next to the bay at the aquatics center and pass out. 

We wake up the next morning to people arriving to work, and conclude that its probably a good idea to leave. We start the long drive back along the coast, and stopped at the beach for a little breather. The beach had to be like 50 degrees that day, yet people were surfing which I found confusing. 

Anyways, we made it back safely, and concluded that it was a successful roadtrip despite some slight disappointments. 

This week we are finishing up surveying Hamiliton Creek, and everything had been going very smoothly. Until Thursday. We survey until we are about 2 miles away from our access road, and decide that would be a good idea to try to find a trail in the woods instead of boulder jumping for 2 miles. So after poking around in the woods for 15 minutes, no trail is to be found, and we head back down for the creek. All of the sudden, my hand hurts... bad... and I look down to see a yellow jacket in the middle of my palm.  OUCH! Then I feel another sharp pain... and another, and another!! RUN!!!!!!!! BEES!!!!! BUZZING EVERYWHERE!!!! FREAKING OUT RUNNING AS FAST AS I CAN, TRIPPING, SCREAMING!!! Not a great situation here, so I get ahold of myself, examine my battle wounds, and try to get out of the woods as fast as possible. Then I start having a reaction. Can't breathe, lips tingling, etc. I guess I'm allergic?? Last time I got stung I was like 10 at a Easter party and stepped in a yellow jacket nest, ending up with like 30 stings or something, so I thank Jesus that this time was not that bad. But it was a difficult 2 mile walk back, taking about 2 hours instead of one. You have no idea how good it was to reach our truck, and sleep against the window drooling all over my pillow on the car ride home. 

Every day is a learning experience, a challenge, an opportunity, a chance, and an accomplishment. Throughout these last few weeks I feel myself growing stronger in mind and spirit, and thank God everyday for the lush opportunities that have been set before me. 

More to come...

Cheers!

!!!! ROAD TRIP !!!!

Big weekend! 

So this weekend the girls (Shannon, Janelle, and myself) decided to take a road trip to do some sight seeing. Since we are "living on the cheap" as my father would say we planned to camp everywhere we travelled and brought most of our food with us. 

We left after work on Thursday and drove to Mt. Saint Helens, but got there really late so we pretty much just set up our tent 

(I built a small fire with the aid of my headlamp though) at a vacant spot in a camp ground and went to bed, hoping to wake up early enough to leave without having to pay the 18$ fee. 

It was a success :) 

We left early the next morning and drove to the Mount Saint Helens observatory and got to see some fantastic views of Mt. Saint Helens and watched a video on the whole story behind the mountain.

This old guy with a binocular/telescope thing who I assumed was one of those people that are pretty much unofficial volunteers who just love talking to people about whatever there passion is and answering every question imaginable, well, he had a telescope set up to see herds of elk that lived around the base of the volcano. There were like eight herds or something like that, and we could also see a group of climbers that had just reached the apex which was so crazy!

So after leaving Mt. Saint Helens, we drove 2 hours to a little island called Bainbridge Island which is right across from Seattle and set up our campsite near the beach. But, on the way we found this town called Toledo and stopped to eat some pizza before heading to Seattle. 

After buying $8 worth of expired food from a mini mart, we found this really old c

ity jail built in the 1890's that was now a landmark in the city. So, obviously, we had to climb on it and do goofy poses. 

So after unpacking at Bainbridge Island we took the ferry ride over to Seattle which only took about a half hour or so. It was so pretty! 

The water was filled with giant yellow jellyfish and apparently the world's biggest species of octopus lives in Puget Sound. 

After getting into Seattle our first stop was t

he Space Needle. 

We took the looonnggg 10mph elevator ride up the middle of the building and got to see an amazing view of Seattle at night which was just beautiful. We then headed back to our campsite and hit the hay to rest up for another big day in Seattle the following day. 

In the morning I made chocolate chip pancakes for everyone, and we decided to check out the beach of Puget Sound before taking the ferry over to the city. The water was COLD, like, really cold, but Shannon and I decided to jump in anyways even though it was only for like 10 seconds because we really needed 

to bathe in something.

 So after an ice cold bath, we took her car on the ferry over to the city and parked it so we could walk around for a while.

 We first checked out the Saturday market at Pike's Place which is famous for throwing fish around and yelling a lot. There were lots of cool vendors selling clothing, jewelry, art, trinkets, etc. I got to eat lots of samples in the food section which was really nice too. 

So after leaving Seattle we drove to Forks, Washington, which is the town Twilight the movie and  books are based out of. Not only was this a Twilight town, it was a Twilight WORLD. And Shannon was dazzled. Last but not least, we went to the beach! (the Twilight beach in La Push) It was SO awesome! 

 water was freezing but I had to dip my toes in. I also found a pier next to the water with some old fishing boats I got a couple of pictures of as well. 

And this was the lovely end to our weekend road trip extravaganza! Going to California in 2 weeks for Shannon's 21st birthday hooray!!

CHEERS!!! 

Peace, Love, and The Forest Service. And Rockslides.

Day three completed on stream number 2! 

Hamilton Creek is our 2nd assigned creek to survey, and is roughly 7 miles long and is located in the Gorge National Scenic area in Washington. It takes us about 2 hours to drive there (including stopping for food and gas), and we actually got a different truck today our supervisor has nicknamed "Bertha". She only has a single cab so all three of us sit in the front on the bench seat which makes us feel eerily like a landscaping crew. 

This stream is really different from Dinger, and I feel very much like a mountain goat trying to rock hop my way up the stream. Instead of pebbles and sand, this stream is dominated by GIANT boulders and sheer rock walls. I have fallen into the stream like 3 times already, filling up my waders and drowning my clipboard. My balance will be improving rapidly. 

Something very scary happened today while surveying! Our group of 3 had stopped to do a snorkeling survey at a pool adjacent to one of the rock walls that was about 80 feet high. So after staying there for 30 minutes or so, we cleared the area and 5 seconds after I walked out, a huge rock slide happened which showered boulders and rocks right on to the place we were standing. I actually got kind of shaken up because it was SO close, but thankfully everyone was okay! The first thing I thought was "wow, God is really watching out for us"; this thought has shown to be a theme on many adventures and I have realized I have a lot to be thankful for. 

I spent this last weekend hanging with Janelle and her family in Washington doing some crazy things! On Friday she took me to Molten Falls which I had to jump off of (it was probably 30 feet?) into freezing cold water. It was so fun! Then on Saturday we went zip lining in the Gorge. 

This zip line is actually the longest zip line in the US and is going to be used in the 3rd Twilight movie (I have never seen any of them or read the books, but I think some people will find that interesting) I got to flip upside down in my harness while cruising over a 350 foot canyon with a waterfall... it was incredible. Incredible. 

This coming weekend we are planning to go to Seattle and the Coast to camp for a few days. We are definitely going to go to the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, the Space Needle, and much more! Weeee. I can't wait! Shannon only has a few more weekends here so we have our next month of weekend activities planned out including going to California and seeing the Red Wood forests, climbing Mt. St. Helens (or at least camping there if they require permits), going skiing on Mt. Hood, Crater Lake, and ?????who knows????

I miss you all very much and I am looking forward to seeing all my family and friends soon! 

Cheers! 

Elyse

work, work, WATERFALL, work

July 3-7, 2009

This week is has been our first week of work on our own! Things have been really interesting as we try to figure out how do our job without the help of our supervisors. The first day went very smoothly as we surveyed about a half mile of Dinger Creek. This creek started out to be very easy, but then quickly turned into dense thickets of vine maple (a tree from hell) that has been the blame for many instances of me falling face first in the creek and acquire several healthy looking bruises. 

The second day couldn't have been more ill-planned. Leaving the house at 7:00 AM, I realized our gas tank barely was above empty, and the nearest gas station was 26 miles away. So, I decided to chance it and see if we could make it the 20 minute drive to our stream and back again. We made it there, but, on the w

ay back, things went down hill. I was driving and coasted in neutral for about half the drive until (dun dun DUN!) we ran out of gas and pulled to the side. After flagging down a passing vehicle of friendly Portlanders, we hitchhiked back to our cabin where no one was home to give us a ride to the gas station. So we waited, and walked around, and waited until the other team got back to take us to the gas station (still 26 miles away). By the time I made it to our stranded car and team member (2 hours later) I find my boss standing there with our truck and stranded team member (Nooo!) After filling up the tank with 2 gallons of gas, we realize that we left the

hazard lights on and the battery is dead. (double nooo!) So I, being the girl, was chosen to flag down yet another passing car with jumper c

ables (it took me 3 tries) and so we eventually got our truck jumped, and we headed home from our long day of learning experiences. 

There is a bright side... 

While we were camping last week we were tipped off by a couple Oregonians of a waterfall way back in the woods. 

So, Shannon, Miles, and I decided to investigate. We followed a two mile trail into the mountains and low and behold we found a giant (180 ft?) waterfall! It was beautiful! And I had to climb it! I got about half way up where the water initially hit the rocks and the wind from the falls just about blew me away. I was soaking wet by the time I made it back down! Anyways, that was the highlight of my week. 

 

Shannon and I also went to Portland this weekend! It was so fun... 

we went to the Zoo and the world's biggest bookstore. I was instantly emotionally attached to the cutest giraffe ever and had some trouble leaving. 

Today, we finally finished our first assigned stream. It was about 3 miles long and took us 5 days to finish. It was cool because we ended up at a lake on top of a mountain (about 4000 feet) and the area was so pristine and filled with wildlife. We saw a ton of rough skinned newts and a few different varieties of frogs. BUT the best part of today was while driving to the site, we saw a black bear in the road! Awesome! I think it was a juvenile because it wasn't very big, but this is one of those things I can cross off my list - "Never have seen a bear in the wild"  :-)! 

Also, for the 4th of July I got to go into Portland and hang out with Josh and his family for the weekend. I think I forgot what anything but PB&J and tuna tasted like, so all the food we ate was soooo tasty! We went to the Blues festival for 4th of July and got to see the Harmonica Blow Off at which I totally got my dance on. The fireworks over the river were really cool too. I really did miss the annual Grandview Heights party with my family though--nothing will ever compare! 

We will be starting a new creek tomorrow, which is supposed to be really difficult, so wish me luck. I miss everyone so much! I really like reading everyone's emails so keep them coming. Love you all! f31i2n@gmail.com

Cheers!

Ripplebrook is off the HOOK!

So0o this past week has been yet another week of training, but far more boring... We had an introduction to the US forest service and safety protocols, on Tuesday we did a CPR/first aid certification (my 3rd time through), and Wednesday we had a defensive driving class. Not too much to talk about during these sessions except that the only way my group got through was lots of snacks, about 10 cups of coffee each, 2 eggs of silly putty, and a collection of markers I found in my backpack. 

Aside from classroom work, my free time has been occupied by exploring the Clackamas river area (the river which Ripplebrook is based off of). We found this really cool camping spot next to the river on this exposed bedrock which we plan to camp on this weekend. 

But I do have a few pictures of us checking out the area. (Mom - please skip next part ) There was a giant log spanning the length of river, something which I could not resist climbing across.

 

Everything in the area was covered in moss, but luckily I was wearing my trusty toe shoes which are basically spiderman feet.

 Awesome! I also found the perfect place for a little meditation. :) 

Aside from daily exploring, my crew and I spend many of our evenings grilling out, listening to music, watching movies, stargazing on our roof, and just plain talking. So this is a picture of my group, from left to right - Eric, Miles, Hunter, Janelle, and Shannon. They're great! 

 

Our first night of stargazing yielded some amazing results. You would not believe how brilliant and crisp the night sky is out here. 

Shannon and I started flipping out when we walked outside late on a clear night on which we could see dozens of constellations and satellites. We even saw some shooting stars which was just so cool! 

SO -- today was the last class today - field trip - and was so much fun! We took a trip headed up by the station's main fisheries biologist to the various restoration projects in the area. Almost everything in the woods was covered in thick layers of moss, and everything was HUGE! It felt like a scene from a Jurassic Park movie. 

We found a huge hollowed out tree, obviously, we had to do a cheezy picture inside of it. 

We did a lot of walking in the woods, wading in rivers, tripping on rocks, and picking of flowers. It was by far my favorite day so far!  

!!!0_o!!!

This weekend we will be going camping, possibly be driving to the coast to see the sunset and checkout the record low tide levels! I'll update again after this craziness goes down :) 

Cheers!

***Photos provided by Shannon S. THANKS! ***

Coffee Shop Randoms

Just hanging out in the coffee shop being strange. I got some weird looks posing for my computer. 

who actually uses this one? I feel like that creepy Teletubbies sun. 

Last few days of training..woohoo!

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

Today was our final day of doing field training! For our final test, our group divided into two groups of three and we each had to survey about 2 miles of stream which included recording a variety of things. These included stream wetted width, bankfull (the highest level the stream reaches every 1.5 years), length, pebble count, temperature, discharge, debris, log jams, waterfalls, restoration projects, etc. 

     After we got back I spent a long time laying in the grass and just enjoying the sunset. Pendelton has very much of a desert environment. Everything is very dry, there is sparse vegetation, but the mountains are still huge! I could see for miles and the sunset was absolutely beautiful. I spent a long time outside reading my book, "Into the Wild", which I felt was very appropriate. 

That night, everyone was so exhausted, which meant we would spend all night in the hot tub and playing cards. It was a good way to end the week. :) 

Friday, June 19th, 2009

Today was the last day of classroom instruction, which only lasted until about noon, which was nice! After saying out good-byes, team Hood peaced out and started on a long (but scenic) drive home. 

The drive went by so fast because the scenery was basically like a movie playing outside the window. We again passed all of the wind generators, hydro power plants, and we actually got to stop at Multnomah Falls which was a tributary to the Columbia River. It was SO high!

 Only me and one other kid wanted to stop and walk up to it (everyone else pretty much saw it all the time), but I got some cool pictures of it! (thanks to Mile's camera!) 

The rest of the ride went very smoothly thanks to saved Youtube videos, an N64 rom of Rush II, and my trusty dusty little yellow ipod. I also got my first glimpse at Mt. Hood before the clouds took over! 

 As we speak, I am sitting in Estacada amidst the rainy cascade mountains sipping on a chai tea in a little coffee house called The Grind. 

Tomorrow's agenda will probably include going to the grocery store, Target, and doing some exploration! I brought up the idea of starting a vegetable garden to everyone, so we all might get started on that tomorrow as well. Hopefully it won't be raining so we can go on some hikes or go fishing tomorrow. Next week's agenda included a week long training session starting at 7AM every day. This will include radio training, GPS training, a defensive driving course, and some other things. I am so excited! After this last week of training we will all be on our own in the wilderness, but I feel very confident already! This week was very trying, but I am glad that we will have 3 day weekends to catch up on sleep. Shannon and I made up a list of all the stuff we want to do while we are here. This includes: 

• Fishing
  
• White water rafting/Canoeing 
  
• Skiing on Mt. Hood
  
• Going to the coast and wake boarding with a parachute thing
• Horseback riding
• Rock climbing
  
• 3 Day camping trip
  
• More to be added to this list later!
  
• Go to Washington 
  
• Music festivals!
  

I'll try to come into town later this week and update my progress. 

Cheers! 

**  Thanks to Miles for the photos he let me borrow because my camera died! ** 

Imma serve this stream!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Today was the first of many intense stream inventory training sessions. Every day of stream training starts at 8 AM so I try to get to bed by at least 10PM. Sometimes this does not always happen (note time of post) . I have not been able to update my blog as often as possible because I lack a USB cord for my camera (which my mom should be sending in the mail). But, thankfully, my fellow intern has supplied me hers, so we are back on track. 

Anyways, we arrived at our first stream survey sight at the confluence of the North and South Forks of the Umatilla River in Pendelton, Oregon. 

 In comparison to streams in Ohio, this

stream was extraordinarily healthy and had so many aspects of a thriving mountain brook. The water was crystal clear and I kept wanting to drink it but I kept being informed that stream bacteria can cause a whole assortment of uncomfortable bodily functions of which I hope to avoid.

After gearing up in about 20 lb. dry suit, snow suit, gloves, booties, wading s

hoes, diving hood,  and snorkel gear, we hit the water. The water was ICE cold because it was flowing from a far away ice melt, but I kept pretty warm throughout the whole excapade. We saw lots of juvenile rainbow trout, a giant slug,  and two HUGE bull trout, one that had to be at least 2 feet long. It was cool! 

Following our first snorkel adventure, we did a bunch of safety exercises that included throw bag rescues and deep water spinal injury rescues which were informative and interesting. My instructors are especially enthusiastic and have made the entire learning experience quite engaging. 

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

This day again, started at 8 AM, a timeframe I am still 

adjusting to, when we travelled to the same stream segment and practiced an assortment of field exercises. 

Right when we got there I realized that there were butterflies everywhere! 

All over the ground, in the air, it was crazy! 

They were gathering on the ground in clustered, and could be disturbed with little reaction. It was strange. From reasons ranging from extracting moisture in the ground or extracting minerals from clustered deposits, I do not know. But I did get some cool pictures. These are square spotted blue butterflies; they are indigenous to the west pacific and often vary in physiology from region to region. Also saw there were northern checkerspot butterflies. 

 This included pebble count, analysis of bankfull measures, and a practice stream reach. There were

 a few man made restoration projects we encountered along the stream, most of which were constructed in the late 70's and consisted of large fallen logs pinned down with boulders. I even got to sit on a waterfall! Wee! 

After successfuly completing my second day o

f training, we returned to the hotel for a fun filled night. I taught everyone how to play euchre (which is apparently a strictly east coast game I learned) and ended the night with the Hood group in the hot tub. Yes! 

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

Today was strictly a classroom day in which we learned all about the technicalities of the stream, how to fill out stream data forms, and so on for about 8 hours.

 Although it was tenuous, my crazy instructors made it fun by performing a variation of "Pretty Woman", conducting a game of jeopardy and memory with stream terms and descriptions. For being and 8 hour class, it was not too bad actually.

 The only thing that got me through it was the candy that was constantly being handed out and my little egg of silly putty I played with constantly. :) 

This evening we had our first social! It was great. We played a long game of impromptu BYOB frisbee golf, with the next target being determined by whatever was in sight. This often included fountains, parking spaces, poles, trees, etc. I tried to play off my terrible frisbee throwing skills by explaining to everyone that this was an "East coast style" of throwing... it sort of worked ;)

For the remaining two days in Pendelton I believe we are going to be doing more field work, so I will write more about this later. So tired from a long days work!