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! **