Ecology of a Mountain Vixen

Winter Solstice, come and gone - My first Alaskan winter

2012-01-09T17:38:00.000-08:00


Typical "daylight" in Girdwood in December... makes for dramatic sunsets, but rarely get to actually see the sun!

The shortest day of the year - Winter Solstice - was only three weeks ago. On that day, we had about 5 hours, 28 minutes of daylight. Being nestled in this valley though, means that the duration in which the sun actually breaches the mountaintops and actually hits the ground is much much less. So while it may be daylight outside, actually glimpsing that bright orange globe in the sky has been a fleeting treat, mostly dependent on whether I leave the valley - usually on my drive to or from Anchorage once a week. Today, on a perfectly clear and bitterly cold day with 6 hours, 1 minute of daylight, the mountains surrounding Girdwood were glowing with light; days like this are few, especially given the barrage of snowstorms and blizzards we have been getting all winter! I followed the light, just for the sake of seeing the sun... and sat in the parking lot of the gas station for about 10 minutes, simply so I could feel it hit my face! Oh it felt so good!

Portage Lake...on a rare, cloudless winter day

It's not that I tried to be a lazy ass and just sit in the parking lot though. I did try to walk Logan. But, there are two problems. One, is that the poor boy is limping again. I have to take him to the vet, his front leg has been bothering him and it hasn't improved at all in a week. But his mood perks up when we go for walks, so I don't want to keep him cooped up in the apartment all day. However, it was so cold, his paws couldn't handle it! His cold threshold on his paws was about 14 degrees earlier this winter, but today was -4 degrees, and he's just not adapted to that temperature yet. It's interesting that this prolonged cold has made the hair on his paws grow thicker than it's ever been, and it's the first time in his life that he hasn't shed continuously all winter. For the most part, his hair is staying on his body! Which mean my apartment is marginally cleaner than normal. ;)

We add 3-5 minutes of daylight per day. At this rate, on March 17, I will have as much daylight as my family back in Detroit - 12 hours of daylight. From then, Alaska will continue to have longer days than Michigan until we get near 24 hrs of daylight in the summer! I can't wait to go into a manic state of sunlight overexposure ha ha. :)

Normally it isn't this cold... we have had a few cold snaps with temps in the negatives, but for the most part winter is fairly "normal" compared to our Michigan winters when I was kid. Granted, it seems like Michigan doesn't really stay in freezing temps anymore, but 20-30s is what we get here and what I remember as a kid. But the sheer amount of snow we have received is definitely far beyond anything I have ever experienced! We got snow on 29 of 31 days in December, and according to the Alyeska Resort website, 393" of snow since October 1, 2011! That's incredible!

We have another blizzard warning tonight, by the way.

Beautiful sunset on the drive down to Seward last week. Yes, I actually saw the sun!

I'm trying not to make every journal entry the length of a novel chapter! Not everybody likes to read as much as I do....but EVERYBODY loves pretty pictures ha ha!

Hibernation - Resist the Urge!

2011-12-05T16:56:00.001-08:00


Sun? What sun?

At last! An update, thanks to the purchase of a new laptop and ample amounts of caffeine here at the coffee shop. I tend to get easily distracted when I try to write from home, and my two other broken laptops were no longer considered mobile or reliable. I'm not sure if it's the ADD or what, but I always did my best college work and got more stuff done at the coffee shop; the habit still lingers even 9 years after graduating undergrad, go figure.

I have been in Alaska for about 14 weeks now. I've worked, I've played, I've seen the leaves change color and the snow fly. And I've been in my yearly winter "retirement" for about a month already! It has gone quickly and I'm amazed at how busy I have kept considering I don't have a job. I had hoped to get at least some intermittent work with the Forest for a few extra weeks, but with the federal budget the way it is, that thought went out the window. I fact, I may not be back to work until May (was hoping for at least April); I am a permanent seasonal and only working for 6 months is "normal", but I could always use a little extra cash of course. ;)

My fall was spent working and completing an EMT-Basic course with the local fire department. I am proud to say I passed! And that class alone has opened some new opportunities that I hadn't even considered. I was unable to get a job as a groomer or equipment operator at the resort, so I put in an application to join the Volunteer Fire Department...and that EMT class sure helped get to know folks. There might be a wait list, but I now attend weekly trainings in an effort to maybe get in sooner than later. If I do get in, eventually this means I'll get paid for those weekly trainings, and get paid if I go out on a call (but unpaid if I'm on call, and nothing happens). But the folks seem great and it will be good to be a part of something here in the community.

Eagles can't be that much different than caring for chickens

For better or worse, November also saw the final dissolution of my 5 1/2 year relationship. As much as I'd like to crawl into a cave and hibernate until the spring, I'm trying hard to get involved with anything fun, that gives me good experience and helps me make friends and keep my mind off the break up. I'm going to start volunteering at a bird rehabilitation clinic and hopefully get to save eagles and owls! I don't want to lose the skills I learned at the wildlife rehab clinic in Colorado, so I'm very excited for this. I also really miss my chickens, but I lost them in the move/break up so I guess the girls are no longer mine. :( But, I'm sure Tim is treating them well and last I heard, they were all providing him with plenty of eggs so they must be happy. :)

I also applied to the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group, since I had such a great time doing SAR on the Yosemite helicopter. The National Park Service was great because most field employees were able to participate on Search and Rescue, but the Forest Service doesn't do that.... so I figure AMRG would be a way to still play hero in the great outdoors. I went to my first meeting last week, and was pleased to hear that the board voted on my application and I am officially a probationary member! I was pretty intimidated because well, this is Alaska, and everything here is more hardcore...I didn't know if I was bad-ass enough to join their ranks. But they were "impressed" with my experience with the Park Service and Forest Service. I will be a probationary member for at least a year before I am considered fully qualified; it involves 2 meetings and 1 training a month, on top of responding to calls when I can. This week is avalanche rescue training.

So we have the Volunteer Fire Dept (but I'm not in yet); the Rescue Group; and the bird rehab clinic. But I have diverse interests. I also don't have a ski pass, and it is rough watching all the happy people sliding down the ski mountain behind me. So, I'm trying to volunteer with the adaptive ski center. After so many hours, I get $10 ski passes (instead of $60). I haven't done anything with them yet, but maybe later this week. Am I busy enough yet?? No??

I'm also starting to consider some other ways to get involved with wildland fire down south during these long cold dark winters in Alaska...but nothing has panned out yet.

Crow Pass Cabin

Speaking of long cold dark winters... Fact and fiction check. It is NOT pitch black outside all day, every day. The sun comes up. Right now, we get like 6 hours of daylight. The shortest day (Dec 21), we will get about 5.5 hours of daylight, and then the days get longer again so it's all uphill from there, right? :) But with all this snow, it seems brighter out for a little longer than that. And snow, yes we have gotten plenty of it thus far! I've been told it's not normally this epic - that freezing rain and ice is more the norm this time of year. I got to experience a little bit of that the past 2 days, but we should get more snow again here soon. We had a cold snap of 0-10 degree days and clear cold nights, but that too is apparently NOT the norm. So when it hit 39 degrees the other day, it felt downright warm! But I'd say 20-30s is normalish.

I did get my normal winter insomnia/weird sleep schedule that always happens around November. I sleep better here than I did in Michigan, however, where those overcast grey drizzle/ice days really made me get cabin fever. Here, my body adjusts itself to fall asleep around 2 am...and wake up around 10 am. Yeah yeah, I'm a slacker. Whatever. It's barely getting light outside at 10 am and I have no reason to get up before then! It suits me just fine! And then I do some p90x or go for a run. See, no hibernating or packing on the winter weight! I'm doing good so far!

Now, only 5 more months of retirement, volunteering, playing in the snow, and eventually doing a little traveling! Maybe even get a couple more journal entries in too, while I'm at it. ;)

I went to Denali too, but slacked off and never wrote about that either. But here's a pretty picture to make up for it. ;)

Making excuses, attempt 1

2011-08-31T23:39:00.000-07:00

One would think that I would have tons and tons to talk about, seeing as how my dream of moving to Alaska has finally come true. Did I mention I have wanted to move to Alaska since high school? I've turned down a couple jobs over the years in this wondrous state...but they were all seasonal (which means no expenses-paid relocation) and the jobs weren't exactly what I was hoping for; and usually involved bad timing as well.

Although my new job isn't my "dream job", it's actually more along the lines of what I've expected and told many folks through the years: Jack of all trades, master of none. That's right, I do a whole lotta stuff. I liked to pretend (ok, there's reality to it too... it just sounded like wishful thinking for years) that my very random resume of jobs all was helping to gear me up for a job with the federal gov't in Alaska. "Because", my semi-rational mind was reasoning, "Alaska has less people per sq. mile of federal land to be managed. As such, employees would be called upon to do many random jobs, irregardless of position description."

In the 3 weeks I have been here, I'm not sure if it was a self-fulfilling prophecy or not, but that random resume of mine has come in awfully handy!

My official job title: Forestry technician. Ok, that's cool. I was hazard tree lead; that was a forestry tech. I was a wildland firefighter; that was a forestry tech. Now I'm a forestry tech, Recreation (aka "Rec Tech"). That must be cool and exciting right? Let's do the math:

RECREATION=FRONT COUNTRY=MANY PEOPLE WITH CARS/RVS/SEMIS=EATING AND DRINKING=OUTHOUSES!!!

I tried not to oversimplify, but that equation just came forth like a bought of genius in Good Will Hunting!

So, front country is like the less glamorous but more abused side of public land. It means it is easily accessible. It means that, taking into account that most Americans do not really stray far from their cars when on vacaction, these areas get absolutely HAMMERED with visitors. And since we have the only public outhouses on the Seward Highway in our stretch of road, I get to see the worst of the worst of America's bathroom habits. I won't get detailed, because I'd rather not subject people I LIKE to the things that I must witness. I will say, however, that A: cleaning restrooms near kid's (and adult beer league) summer sports fields was thus far way more disgusting; B: Those poor people with IBS, please PLEASE see a doctor...C: If you, or your children can't poop into a giant hole on a toilet...clean it up, or don't ever EVER poop in a public bathroom, because nobody should have to deal with that.

Sorry, getting distracted. This is the part where I add the disclaimer that "These are my opinions and do not reflect the opinions of any person or organization associated with me or mentioned herein". Anyway...

So yeah, jack of all trades, my main duties involve outhouses, trail heads, parking lots. I pick up garbage. I actually don't mind it. I enjoy the feeling of leaving a place looking better, and being environmentally "better" than when I left it. Give a hoot, don't pollute! Or as my sister said (she won a state contest with this) "Don't be mean, keep it clean!" But thankfully as crew lead, I am armed with a small crew of seasonal employees during the summer (my minions? maybe not), and they can share the duties while I take on the rest of my responsibilities, such as:

General maintenance, such as painting, building, fixing, creating things... everything from fixing thing on an existing outhouse, to helping design or create better trail heads, campgrounds, or parking areas. It might not sound sexy, but everybody who has ever traveled long distances know "bad" when they see it... though the "good" public areas may go consciously unnoticed, subconsciously they know it's well designed and user friendly! I'm most excited to be one of the only couple equipment operators for the district, and I think only two of us have CDLs...which means I get to help take the big boats out of the water for the winter. Our equipment fleet isn't huge but it's effective with a small loader, a mini-excavator (with bulldozer blade) and a 1 ton mini dump truck. I was HOPING for at least a 10 yard dump truck and a bobcat on top of all that other stuff, but that's ok. ;)

I've been getting trained (and helping get my muscle memory back, operating buckets and blades does take some finesse and sensitivity!) on a few things with the mini-ex and the loader. Just completed a drainage project off a major trail. I must say, it is quite different doing things with the FS vs the NPS... with the NPS, if there was a drainage problem with a trail, it would almost definitely result in a trail improvement (bridge; causeway; boardwalk; etc) or an altogether reroute. With the FS, though, they have less "rules" about what can and can't be done. So, instead of fixing the trail...we dug a big drainage ditch through a talus field/avalanche zone, and built a berm around the outside to help. I'll admit...it pains me inside. To my "preservation" eye, it is not the right solution. It's not harmonious with the land; it uses blunt force to demand nature do a certain thing. But, on the other hand, at least I tried to do a good job with the ground moving I did. It's definitely the easier, cheaper, quicker fix. It was also a great chance to get back some of my skills on the equipment! I'm a little rusty on a few things, but it does seem that I have impressed folks so far with what I do know. It seems that too often, a woman comes a long to do these kinds of jobs (manual labor; equipment; firefighting... anything in a male dominated industry) and they SAY they can do it... but they don't know jack! And then they make the rest of us look bad! I don't mean to sound sexist...wait, I am a woman... but seriously, the stereotype is there, and it's for a reason. :( It's good to buck the norm and actually be able to show them a woman CAN do the job!

Getting sidetracked again, damn ADHD! As I was saying, I have random duties. I am also the ONLY qualified helicopter crewmember on the district, so I get to help with heli ops. I have a few fire quals, so I was offered to go out with the handcrew to Montana (they ended up in Oregon) to fight fire and work on my squad boss. They are paying for me to get my EMT (think ambulance) certification starting in 2 weeks. I may get to help out with trail work, ecology, biology, fisheries, etc. In the future, I will be taking the train to sites that are ONLY accessible by this train (google Whistlestop and Alaska Railroad); flying out in helicopter; and taking the boats to help with remote cabins, building trail, constructing salmon and wildlife habitat, or helping with exotic plant surveys or eradication. Those are just a few projects suggested that may happen within the next few months! Everybody does help out everybody up here! It's like my little dream come true! Except I'm certain that there weren't ANY outhouses in my dream. But that's ok. I'm making the best money of my life, had a paid relocation, and live in an incredible place! It's great to know that my experience at: fisheries; ecology; botany; wildlife; manual labor; construction; CLD and heavy equipment operation; master's degree in conservation; wildland firefighting; helicopter crewmember; maintenance; habitat surveys; recreation opportunity spectrum; "green" living (I am going to revamp the front country program to buy more eco-friendly products...that's right, environmentalists are invading the forest service LOL)... will all come in handy at this job!

Which comes to the title of this journal: Making Excuses. I was going to list all the reasons why I hadn't updated my blog. But look, I updated my blog!! No photos included, but tough shit. Click on my link to the right for my picasa albums, I think that might work. But yeah, I ended up typing a lot of SUBSTANCE instead of a lot of EXCUSES so now what do I do?! If I don't fall asleep first, I'll try to come up with my excuses in the next journal update. ;)

AlCan AllDone!

2011-08-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

Writing random notes from phone so I dont forget while on the road. This in not a complete journal entry but I'm busy and lazy at the same time.

- Trying to get a motel in Jasper on a summer Saturday night without reservations is literally impossible. Thank goodness for Hinton, a town 45 min away.

- From Grand Prairie to the west, it literally looks just like the Midwest - first like Nebraska, then even more like Michigan. All the hardwood trees but without the corn.

- Canada in general is ridiculously expensive. Cheapest gas: Grand Prairie. Most expensive : Muncho Lake? I'm pretty sure it was the equivalent of almost $6 a gallon. $4 for a 1 liter pop. $5 for smal red bull...

- Gas stations don't carry fountain pop, much to my dad's dismay. Trust me, he looked!

- You can see threatened wood bison somewhere between Fort Nelson and Watson Lake. They are neat. I don't recommend driving that section at night though - there were quite a few dead ones on the side of the road, and they will mess your car up bad if you hit one!

- The most beautiful part of the drive was in Kootenay, Banff and Jasper National Parks in Canada. Going over the continental divide again past Watson Lake is also beautiful but lacks the glaciers.

- We did not see grizzly, caribou, wolf, elk, etc. We did see black bear, wood bison, bald eagle, and some random deer. I want my money back!

- I realized I have a pet peeve of somebody hoarding everything from travel guides and maps (that we don't need and don't even look at) to general area propaganda given out at visitor centers, and letting them pile up in the car! It's just more crap to throw away later!

It's finally happening! A-L-A-S-K-A or BUST!

2011-07-03T16:05:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in a great coffee shop in Groveland, sweating in the heat during this holiday weekend. Actually, I wish I could have worked overtime, but these days it seems I need more personal time than money to plan my next big adventure...

I'm moving to ALASKA!!!

Wow, it's still hard to believe that I will be starting my long DRIVE to Alaska in exactly 4 weeks. After years of applying for jobs, getting a few interviews, and even turning down a couple jobs over the years, everything has lined up and I'm getting my entire relocation PAID FOR to boot! Being a permanent federal employee is finally paying off, and I'm also getting a promotion... in Alaska... !!! Anybody that knows me, knows this has been a goal of mine since I was in college. Soon, I will call Girdwood Alaska my home. Did I mention there's Alyeska ski resort there, and I will have winters off to ski and snowboard? Yeah, pretty sweet.

Me+Tim=5 years (!!); Beard+Tim=4 years

I can't wait!! Though I love working for Yosemite. I'm sad I don't have much time to actually explore the park, but with the hours we have been working (and other stuff) it just seems like I don't have enough hours in a day. Hence, I have missed out on 2 days of OT this weekend, as well as more OT last weekend as I took off to celebrate my 5 year anniversary with Tim in San Francisco, as well as take him to the airport for his trip to Alaska.

The new job is still considered a forestry technician, but as I am wildland firefighter right now, I will be considered a "recreation tech" at my new job. From what it sounds like, I am responsible for all front country recreation areas in the Glacier District of the Chugatch National Forest - picnic sites, campgrounds, trailheads, and interpretive signs. Ok, so there will be some garbage and fortunately only a couple outhouses to deal with, but it sounds like it will be a combination of maintenance, as well as improving sites. I will get to drive heavy equipment and dump trucks again, have a small crew of folks, and it will nice to have a job where I get to roam about the forest (instead of being stuck in one place, like I was stuck at the engine station, or even at the helibase). And another perk - I still get to do wildland fire! Of course, it depends on workload and how active the fire season is, but the district ranger is very supportive in allowing me to maintain my fire experience, as well as participate in training and career development.

I've been impressed with everybody I have talked to from the district, everybody is personable and easy to talk to. I've already been warned that there are many folks from the midwest that work at the office, and they were excited to have a Detroit Lions fan... so they can have somebody to pick on during football season! I'll be surrounded by Bears, Vikings, and Green Bay fans! That's ok, I'm hoping the Lions are as promising as they looked last season. ;)

The only slight downside is that I was hoping for a more natural resources/wildlife oriented position, but at this point I think I still don't have enough experience to land such a job in Alaska, without already being in Alaska. But, everybody knows I love working with my hands and having a job with such varied duties is great for my ADHD! There are also a few wildlife rehab places relatively close (I will be 30-40 minutes from Anchorage, on the Turnagain Sound, and 1 1/2 hrs from Seward) so I could always try to volunteer.

Now for the perks - all of my stuff still in storage in Estes Park, CO will be moved to AK, with minimal cost to me (since I live in CA). I will drive to CO from CA, drop off some of my stuff at my storage unit. They have a moving company come and pack up all of my stuff - including my motorcycle - and move it to Alaska for me. I get a misc expense budget, as well as money to cover my housing/expenses for the first 30 days in Alaska - and trust me, it is a VERY GENEROUS stipend. I also get a housing hunting trip paid for, which includes lodging, rental car, gas, and per diem, which I plan to take in a couple weeks. Not bad, eh?

Unfortunately, getting myself, Logan, and my truck will be a little less convenient than I hoped. The ferry out of Washington to Whittier does not have any room for a passenger vehicle in the month of August (and I'm supposed to start working around Aug 10th). So, I must drive the ~3500 miles (on top of the trip from CA to CO) through Canada. Fortunately, mileage, lodging, meals etc are all paid for (except the part from CA to CO). There are some logistics I am still trying to work out, like when I will get to CO to allow the movers access to my storage unit, and my dad will fly out to CO, drive with me to AK, and then fly back to MI... It's complicated, but not nearly as complicated as I figured it would be.

That's probably more details than most people care to know, and probably a little confusing. We'll just say my last month in CA is going to be hectic - going to my friend's wedding in Oregon, trying to work as much overtime as possible, and planning a move that I must make quickly. Tim gets back to CA from AK ironically 2 days before I plan on leaving CA. Yeah, it sucks.

Back to planning and researching my move in this sweltering heat. Traveling across the Canada border with a dog and a firearm mean special considerations; trying to find apartments to check out during my house hunting trip; and figuring out if I can register my truck in AK while I am house hunting (my CA plates expire 7/31, but I am leaving the state probably on 8/2 or 8/3, so I'd hate to pay CA when I'll be in AK so soon)... all on an old computer that freezes a lot, is not fun. Just sayin'.

A day in the life of...helitack

2011-06-05T21:10:00.000-07:00

Hello!
I'm bad at updating anyway, but the fact that I don't have 3G cell service yet alone frequent internet access on a real computer makes it even more difficult. My "newer" laptop has a broken screen, so I have to attach an external screen - making it big and bulky, so I keep it at Tim's and get online here every other weekend or so. I have an old laptop, but the closest place with free wi-fi is 45 minutes away in Sonora... plus, the battery doesn't work and it MUST be plugged in to function, so getting stonewalled at Starbucks with power outlets is a real bummer. I now have access to a Forest Service computer, but it is shared by a lot of folks and I can't access a lot of websites. So, I sometimes feel like I'm living under a rock. :)

My first month of working on the Yosemite helitack crew has been great! Lots of training, and lots of... snow. Our helibase is at about 6700 feet elevation, which is cold and windy enough to make for some surprise weather - like a foot and half of snow in mid-May. In fact, we were supposed to get snow this weekend - guess I will find out tomorrow!

What exactly do we do? Well, the first month has been filled with training and recertifications of all kinds - for us, the pilots, the rangers, everybody involved in fire or aviation. The most unfortunate and disappointing part is that the NPS allows their people to short haul and probably start up rappelling again (The Forest Service stopped all rappel and short haul after a fatal accident in 2009). However, us four Forest Service apprentices are not allowed to even do short haul, per our forest FMOs direction. :( So for a few days, us FS folks helped take photos and document the evaluation and training process of the rest of the crew (and the rangers) got to try out new belay devices, ropes and harnesses as they practiced rappelling off the tower. That was pretty painful to have to watch while everybody else had all the fun! But we still learned a lot and maybe one day, I will be on the right crew, with the right agency, at the right time...

We have two pilots that rotate days off - 12 days on, 12 days off. We also have a fuel truck driver and two mechanics, in addition to our helitack crew. The pilots needed to be recertified in the different kinds of missions that they fly in the park - short haul and rappel, specifically. First, the pilots must fly a few tests with a 150' rope and a heavy weight on the end, hovering and holding the weight for a certain amount of time within a box or circles painted on the helibase. It's apparently very tough. Once they pass those tests, they can do live tests - which means with actual people attached to the short haul rope, or an actual person rappelling out of the helicopter. FYI, "short haul" is when a fixed rope is attached from the bottom of the helicopter, and a person or two and/or a litter (the backboard thing that injured people lay on) are attached to the bottom. Both pilots passed the tests and we are good to go!

From there, our crew needs to know how to load the helicopter for different missions, most commonly: Search and Rescue, or Fire. Depending on the mission, we bring different items along... the short haul bags, the litter and wheel, the body splint, medical bag, the bucket, etc. We are on 7 day staffing, so our 12 person crew alternates days off and I think we typically have like 6 people working per day. So here's a typical day:

Arrive at work and put our head bag (contains our flight helmet), nomex and hardhat on the pegs for easy and quick access. Take the different carts (each loaded with gear for a different mission, like fire or SAR) and put them out for easy access. Load up the helicopter for low elevation fire - which is typically in CalFire area, so they like to have a large bucket attached to a long line, our line gear, two chainsaws and kits, and hand tools loaded up. We load for this as we won't get any fires in the park for a while (with the snow and rain and all). The other likely scenario is a search and rescue in the park, which we load up as needed when the call comes in.

In the meantime, the pilot and manager work out the load calculations, which is how much the helicopter can lift given the elevation and temperature. Somebody then works up the manifest, which is a list of all the passengers and gear on the helicopter. We then do the typical morning briefing, going over the local weather in the park as well as down in the lower, hotter elevations. From there, we will either practice drills loading and unloading the helicopter, setting up the bucket or short haul gear, and at some point do our PT - which alternates between cardio (running or hiking up a steep nasty hill) or the dreaded deck of cards - each suite is a different ab or arm workout... at this point, it's pretty brutal with a string of push ups or a string of ab exercises!!

Sure, there can be a bit of down time, but we have to be immediately available to fly so we can't venture too far. Always miscellaneous stuff to do around the base...

We have gotten a few false alarms, almost getting called up for a fire down in the low elevations... we hurry up and gear up and get in the helicopter... and then dispatch cancels everybody before we are even ordered. However, we have already gotten to help with two SARs. One mission was actually reconnaissance for a rock slide on Half Dome, to make sure nobody was injured. I didn't get to fly that one; they only took a couple folks and picked up the geologist and some other people to check it out. My first helicopter flight was just last week, on a SAR for a climber injured on a climb called "Snake Dike" on Half Dome. He fell 100 feet but got away pretty lucky with just a broken ankle. It was too far and too nasty of a hike for a foot rescue, so they called up the helicopter... We loaded up the short haul and SAR gear, and 5 of us flew down to Awahnee Valley to unload gear and set up a ranger to do the short haul rescue. First, we did a recon flight around Half Dome - AMAZING!! The waterfalls are raging right now, and we flew right at the top of the rim of the canyon... then we flew up real close to Half Dome, hovering and opening the doors to find the injured climber... it was an incredible view!! Anyway, for the actual rescue, only 2 people were in the helicopter while the ranger did the short haul, they attached the climber to the short haul as well, so we were waiting in the valley to catch the patient when they came in. It took less than 2 hours and had a happy ending. :) And I got my first helicopter ride!!

Anyway hopefully that sheds some light on what work has been like so far. At this rate, I am sure I will have more stories to share soon!

Overdue update

2011-05-15T17:14:00.000-07:00

From Return to CA Road Trip - Badlands Nat Park, Park City, Estes Park...

It almost seems ludicrous to try and cover everything that has gone on over the last 3-4 months, but it's a lazy Sunday so I'll give it a shot.

I spent part of my winter at the Advanced Wildland Firefighting Academy, and yaaaaay! I graduated! The Advanced Academy was more fun than Basic - in part because I wasn't simultaneously trying to complete my Master's degree, but also because the atmosphere was more laid back and everybody knew each other already. I really enjoyed our Fireline Leadership class, taught my something called Mission Centered Solutions. I'm not supposed to disclose too many details about it, but the instructors were excellent at role-playing and we had multiple incident scenarios that we played out in the field, and in the classroom. Other classes included Basic Air Operations, Firing Methods, Intermediate Fire Behavior, and Fuels Management. We didn't have physical fitness testing this time, and very little time for paid PT. I had a great roommate so that made dorm life better. Of course nobody from my engine came down for graduation, which was fine by me. I'm not much of one for pomp and circumstance and ceremonies anyway, didn't even attend my bachelor's or master's graduations and I think neck ties (which I was forced to wear as part of my official uniform) are absolutely one of the stupidest human clothing invention. It was fun, but I'm glad it's over!

After graduation, I went back down to Tim's, packed some stuff, and the next morning Logan and I were on the road for Steamboat Springs, Colorado. My friend Matt was having a bachelor party and, being "one of the guys", I was invited to the ski-extravaganza. It was probably a 20-ish hour drive, and I found a great place to board Logan in Steamboat while I stayed at the condo. Unfortunately, after a successful drive all the way from California to Colorado, I ended up going off the shoulder right outside of Steamboat and broke my truck! At the time, I thought the damage was much worse than it ended up being - I thought I wrecked my shock along with some other steering components. Let me just say that I'm sorely disappointed in Geico and it was going to take DAYS for an adjuster just to LOOK at the damage. I was able to drive it to the condo and swapped out my spare tire and it drove much better. I was heading to Estes Park after Steamboat anyway, so I decided it was ok to drive and took it to a dealership in Fort Collins; bought a used rim and paid for an alignment, and all ended pretty well considering!

However, I didn't know it would be that cheap while I was in Steamboat, and I opted to save the $100/day for a ski pass to pay for my repairs. :( It was still a good trip and it's always great to see Matt. It was a pretty mellow bachelor party, and involved delicious microbrews, watching the Gold Rush and Cops marathons on tv, the hot tub, Strawberry Hot Springs, walking around town, and just relaxing. After a few days there, I got Logan and continued on to Estes Park for almost a week of playing in the snow, seeing friends, and checking on my storage unit (Yes, I still have stuff stored in Colorado!). The weather gods were kind and dumped tons of powder while I was there! It was apparently TOO much for good skiing in the park (and I'm not very good anyway) so I took Logan snowshoeing up Lily Mountain. Any trip to Estes wouldn't be complete without a few trips to eat, drink and be merry at the Rock Inn of course :) . It was good to relax before my next push east to...

Michigan! Yep, almost 2 months of hanging with the family. It was good to be back! Despite the overcast skies and typical suburban culture that annoys the crap out of me (soccer moms in huge SUVs that run stop signs in subdivisions, for one). I got a cheap membership to the gym so I could get in shape for fire season, saw some of my wonderful lovely long-lost friends, and spent a lot of time with my mom! My friend Beth even had her baby while I was in Michigan, so I was able to see little Alex a couple times. And my family is full of hockey fans, so it was fun whooping and hollering with them while watching the Red Wings on TV. It was pretty low key and I'm disappointed that there were certain things I didn't get to do, but oh well. Hopefully they enjoyed my time back, even though I harassed them about exercising, eating healthy, etc etc! ;)

In the meantime, I had been slated to be on the Yosemite helitack crew... as such, I had found a sweet cabin in Groveland. No surprise, I get a message from my old district saying that I was slated to go to a different helicopter (Bald Mt)!! What?! I had been told since October that it was Yosemite, and then suddenly in March (while I'm trying to find a place to live in Groveland, thinking I am still going to Yosemite) they jerk me around. Not cool at all. The person giving me the news was like, "Oh they said they told you months ago!" Which was NOT the case. So then, it was a matter of finding out if I could be put back on the Yosemite ship. I really did not appreciate getting jerked around without ANY input or contacting me at all. I'm not the first person they have done that to, but it doesn't make it right. It took weeks to finally hear the decision as to where I was going - and thankfully it was in my favor, still in Yosemite. However, in the meantime the realty company needed an answer about the cabin, so I had to forfeit it... which meant I was totally high and dry with a place to live. Fortunately, they have barracks in Groveland and due to budget cuts, no other divisions hired any women this summer so they had room for me. I'm still upset though, because I had intended on getting a place so I could have my dog all summer, as well as have visitors - like Tim and Neota! And as of right now, I still haven't found a place to live that is affordable, like that cabin was.

I was told early April I was still on for Yosemite, but they didn't have a start date for me. I told them I was in Michigan and had to make the 2700 mile drive to get back, and I needed at least 2 weeks notice so I could pack and get back west. I was finally given a start date of May 9th and made my plans accordingly. Of course, they found a way to screw that up too... and ended up trying to give me 3 days notice, telling me on a Friday that I had to start on Monday, 2 weeks earlier!! You can imagine just how happy that made me. In the end I started a week later. And people wonder why I don't want to stay at this forest... So far, their communication, concern for their employees, and general attitude about jerking people around has left much to be desired! But at least I ended up on the crew I wanted this summer.

The drive back was fun, but getting the news that I had to start early definitely altered the pace of my planned drive. I had hoped to take my time, enjoy it, not stress out or keep to a schedule, but in the back of my mind I knew the sooner I got to California, the sooner I could unpack, repack, and get everything in order before work. I did manage to make a side trip to Badlands National Park in South Dakota, and saw tons of wildlife - antelope, coyote, deer, bighorn sheep, etc... I then stopped and saw my friend Gregg in Wyoming; he had just landed a new job in Montana and was moving in a few weeks. The timing was perfect, who knows when I will see him again after he moves! It was a short visit but was great to catch up! I had intended on a short trip back through Estes but it was out of the way, since my impromptu visit with Gregg changed my route. Next time, Estes, next time! And then there was Utah... and I FINALLY got to see my friend Steph in Park City! I wish I had a week to catch up and hang out with her, because her and I always have so much to talk about! Park City seems like a pretty awesome town and it was great to see the life she and her boyfriend are forging out in Utah! Went to the brewery, talked and talked and talked, walked the dog and talked more LOL... great hospitality and I was sad to leave early the next morning. I really can't let that much time go by again without seeing her!

And onward I drove, finally reaching Tim's place. I had only seen him like 2-3 times since I left for the fire academy in mid January, and let me reiterate that long distance SUCKS and I hate it! But I think we are getting good at it LOL. The young chickens are now full sized hens, the plots around the house are now sprouted with carrot tops, birds have nests in the rafters, and the green grass of the hills is now crispy and yellow. Guess it's springtime in the central valley! Tim had trimmed up this HUGE, old grape vine on the property - we call it the "vineyard", though it's just one very prolific plant, with two vines that are so far 20 feet long! The fig tree has green fruit, the pomegranate tree has red leathery flowers (the "petals" are the same tough, waxy red skin that the ripe fruit has, which I think is neat), and the cacti were blooming. I will hopefully take pictures of these things "on the farm" in the future. :)

From CA 2010 - Fall and Winter

Next journal I plan on talking about my new home of Groveland, and what it's like being a Forest Service employee on a National Park Service helitack crew - which, by the way, seems like it will be amazing! I also recently had an interview for a job in Alaska; will know if I was selected in a couple weeks, but if I am... do I give up this awesome summer??

I'll throw some random pictures in here too, to break up my long-winded text. :)

From CA 2010 - Fall and Winter

Random Observations of the Poultry Kind

2011-01-31T19:17:00.000-08:00

What better way to spend an evening at the advanced fire academy, than to update my journal. Totally random stuff regarding my first year of chicken-keeping:

- Chickens get lonely if they are by themselves... but they will quickly learn to consider you and your dogs to be their family, and follow you everywhere.

- They will eat almost anything. They especially love berries and pomegranates. Ours even eat leftover pork. Because they are like dinosaurs - little velociraptors!

- Marsala, the Rhode Island Red, may have started laying at 5 months of age. We aren't certain, because by the time Tim realized she was laying eggs, there were already 16 eggs inside her nest box. I still don't know how he didn't notice all those freaking eggs, poor Momma hen!!

- They say that in the winter, egg production drops off. Well Marsala must not have gotten that memo. She started laying in October and laid an egg almost every single day ALL WINTER. She averages 6 out of 7 days or so. It's amazing.

- We have 3 nest boxes in the coop; Marsala will lay eggs randomly in either end nest box, but will not lay in the middle one for some silly reason.

- She does not lay an egg at the same time every day. Sometimes its like 9-10 am; other times it is in the afternoon.

- A freshly laid egg looks wet, but it dries magically within seconds.

- Marsala laid a completely shell-less egg! Apparently it just happens every once in a while. It had nothing to do with nutrition (she gets oyster shells for calcium, a good layer feed, etc) and she laid normal eggs before and after the freaky squishy egg. It was pretty weird looking, held together with that thin flexible membrane... I had to poke at it, because it was neat.

- The two younger chickens are finally "friends" with Marsala, and they all hang out together...but make no mistake, Marsala is still the Big Momma and nobody messes with her.

- The younger girls might start laying in the next couple weeks... wonder what color eggs our Easter Egger will lay! Could be green, or pinkish, or blue!

- I'm a big fan of chickens.

- I still think they are like little dinosaurs.

Two sisters in the Sierras

2010-10-20T22:02:00.000-07:00

Since I was on light duty all summer, I wasn't available to go out on fire assignments. Things just fell into place, I took some time off, and voila! One of my sisters came out for a visit earlier this month. It's very rare that I am able to have visitors in the summer - I work my butt off and try not to take much time off, since I don't work in the winter - but I had a pretty lame summer and needed a familiar face and some fun adventures to make up for months of not being able to hike or run.
Linda's visit was the prime time to do all the touristy things in the area that I had yet to do myself. And we only had five days to do everything. Needless to say, I kept her busy. :)

How to have fun in the central Sierra Nevada mountains, according to me:

On the first day, hike 5 miles around the South Grove in Big Trees State Park and show Linda the biggest trees she has ever seen in her life. We took a ridiculous amount of time taking ridiculous photos. Tree hugging was mandatory. Quote of the hike: " If I squat down, does it make the tree look bigger?" (The trunk is 30' around... I think it's gonna look big however you pose!)

Since we took so long acting like dorks in the sequoias, we got to downtown Murphy's for wine tasting a little late and only had half an hour. I took her to Lavender Ridge, where I am a member... so wine tasting was free. :) I wanted her to try the great wood-fired pizza at Firewood,which was delicious as always. The hike, pizza and wine were a good warm-up for our bigger adventure on day two...

Day two, Yosemite! 2 1/2 hour drive, plus some extra time for excessive photography. Our goal for the day was to hike the Mist Trail, and - depending on how my ankle felt - make a smaller or bigger loop with the John Muir Trail. It was a steady uphill hike, but I was disappointed to find the first couple miles of our hike were PAVED. I guess when a park has millions of visitors a year, they must build trails to take the abuse... but still, I was very happy when the pavement began deteriorating and we were left with a more natural, rock-strewn trail. There were a lot of people on the trail despite the fact it was a Thursday, but I expected the crowds on this popular hike. Vernal Falls was the first stop, and I knew water levels were low so it wouldn't be at its full force, but looking at photos of the falls in the spring, it's pretty amazing how different it can be between the seasons. Since the falls weren't raging, we didn't get the "mist" that this trail is known for, but it was still beautiful. Instead of turning around right at the top of the falls, we continued uphill and eventually made it to the footbridge. From here, Nevada Falls were barely visible because obviously, these falls weren't raging either. But it was still a nice view of Liberty Cap and the falls next to it, and at that point I really wished I had fancy photo lenses so I could get the entire view in one photo!

And of course, we got thunderstormed on. Even though I hadn't seen a drop of rain since MAY, it just so happens to rain when we go on our hike. Linda and I have a history of being chased off mountains by lightning and thunder so we had to laugh a little about it. As a result, we did a shorter loop than I had hoped, and went down the John Muir Trail near the footbridge instead of continuing over the top of Nevada Falls. And FYI, the Muir trail is open to horses and, although it had less stone steps than the Mist trail, it was not as nice of a hike in that section. It was probably around 4 miles round trip. On our way home, her boss had urged us to find a place called Rainbow Falls off hwy 120 and jump off. It was cooling down and getting dark, but we found the pull off and checked it out. Ok, let's jump! It's only like 25 feet down! So Linda goes up to the top of this waterfall first. She goes to jump and then freaks out. I'm recording it all on my camera and egging her on, it was SO FUNNY to watch her freak out! Ok, let me show this pup how it's done! So I go up there. I was ready to jump, but she couldn't get my camera to record. I tried to talk her through it, and by the time she got it working, I lost my nerve! I couldn't do it! The water was so cold, I was convincing myself that if I jumped in my body would freeze LOL! We both chickened out, and we are still angry with ourselves. Next time, we will jump!!

That was an all day endeavor, so we played it low key on Friday. I made Trader Joe's beer bread (yum!) and we stayed lazy until the afternoon. I had never been in a "real" cave - you know, the kind with stalactites and stalagmites and is deep underground and stuff. The caves I have been in at Pinnacles National Monument are "talus" caves, formed by big jumbles of huge boulder... no stalac- or stalag- things, but lots of bats! The Motherlode has an abundance of caves to choose from! It sounded like the Moaning Cavern in Vallecito would be a great choice for the cheapest tour offered - ~$15 for a 50 minute walking tour. Other alternatives included much more awesome - but much more expensive - options to rappel into caves, crawl around with a headlamp and hard hat, swim through underground pools, etc... but we didn't have the $75-150 for those tours (depending on which cave you choose). ;) I was worried it would be lame, since it was "family friendly" and so cheap. We were not disappointed! They offer the walking tour every hour without reservations; so it was just Linda and I, and our tour guide. The natural entrance to the cave is a small gaping hole in the earth, plummeting straight down into the main chamber (which bottoms out at 165 ft, our final destination). The visitor center was built around it, with a small, humidor-type room housing this hole. A few ropes and climbing gear showed us this is where the rappel tour would enter - it was the original way miners explored the cave for gold (none was found). A display next to the opening was full of very old human remains, artifacts, "neat old dead stuff". Apparently as long as 13,000, clumsy unfortunate souls had been falling into the hole and never coming out again; their bones piled up below!

Then begins our decent down 234 steps, to the "improved" entrance that was built after the miners figured out they wouldn't get rich from the fake gold and a vertical hole in the ground. Wooden steps through a narrow tunnel lead down to a metal spiral staircase and you go around and around and around and around! It follows down alongside the "Chocolate Waterfall", a seep of iron-rich water that has formed a blob of weird formations all the way down to the bottom. There's a couple huge stalactites and some big round white thing called the "igloo". It was so hard to get a feel for how huge everything was until a rappeller came down from above, to our platform at 165 feet below the ground. The "adventure" tour would continue down some smaller tunnels even further down; the deepest part of the cave is off limits though (415 feet below?) because apparently the carbon dioxide sinks to the bottom and, over time, has filled up the bottom depths! Weird huh?

The coolest crazy part was when they turn off all the lights in the cave. The "darkest dark" you will ever see. Yikes.

That was fun! We still had time after the cave tour to go wine tasting and swimming! Back to Murphys, this time to Milliaire and Twisted Oak. Yay free wine! Then I took her to Candy Rock, the awesome local swimming hole on the Stanislaus River. And we had an absolute blast! Even had brought Logan (he waited in the truck during the cave tour) and outfitted him in his hiking harness so I could have a good handle to help him over the boulder and onto the slippery rocks in the water. He did much better, but we did squeeze/push/pull/lift him into some surely uncomfortable situations and I felt kindof bad! We played in the waterslide and then did a "double rainbow guy" freak-out when a double rainbow appeared over us! OMG IT'S A DOUBLE RAINBOW! Linda made a spoof video, now if she'd only upload the darned thing!

The next day (Saturday), I had trouble planning. What I really really wanted to do was take a long whale-watching trip out of San Francisco to the Farallon Islands. However, to make the 8 am departure, we would have to leave around 4 am. Yuck. Plus, I wasn't sure if I had somebody to let the dog out. By the time I had gotten confirmation, the tour was sold out! The other companies out there are even more expensive ($125 vs $75) and we didn't want to spend that much. Instead we opted to whale watch out of Monterey, through the same company Tim and I had used back in March. This way, we could bring Logan!

It was a long drive, but we got there early enough to take a detour through the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is always awesome. Linda got to see sea otters, and we took even more silly pictures. Once again, the crew and other passengers on the whale watching boat treated Logan like he was a celebrity. :) We decided to stand in the back of the boat with the dog...this is where people go when they are getting sea sick. People were puking left and right! I don't know what it was, but I think at least 10 people got sick and we were trying to avoid being in the crossfire! But we finally made it out to the whales, and WOW - there were humpbacks EVERYWHERE! We were surrounded by them! We even had a few of them come within 30 feet of the boat, and then one rolled over, it's huge flippers coming out of the water. While everybody was distracted, Linda and I were looking off into the distance and then suddenly a huge whale breached completely out of the water! I am glad she saw it to, or I don't think anybody would believe me! It was incredible. Logan did not get as sea sick as last time, and a deckhand was taking his photo for being such a good sailor. :)

All that excitement, and we were pretty hungry. Fortunately, many restaurants on Fisherman's Wharf are dog friendly! Once again, Logan was a welcome guest and received a dish of water and a bowl of Old Mother Hubbard dog treats when we decided to eat at Isabella's. The food was good but the bottled beer was pricey. Then was the long drive back to my house; Linda's last night here! Made it back late at night and woke up relatively early to take her to the airport.

We never did make it to San Fran, or even the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival that I really really wanted to see... BUT, I don't think it would have fit into our already-crammed week of adventure, and we would have probably fallen asleep after all the driving. ;)

And that is one way to entertain a guest in California. I will add photos to this later, but for now it is time to go to bed!

Spinning wheels, going nowhere

2010-09-17T21:52:00.000-07:00

This blog title pretty much sums it up. No news is good news?? I am spinning my wheels and going nowhere, but at least I've got NEW wheels! Yes, the old Toyota "Trucky Truck" was fading fast. Compression had been going down on the engine, but at least one of the cylinders wasn't even functioning anymore. Translation = gonna need a new engine. It didn't just like, catastrophically break down, but it was running hot on any extended up-hill stretch of road, almost over heating on a trip to S Lake Tahoe for the day... was gonna need new brakes and repack the wheel bearings; needed an alignment and 2 new tires pretty soon... So I started shopping. I was hoping the Yota would last until next summer but vehicles don't always behave. I did 100% of my shopping and research online, and ultimately found the Capital One Auto Buying Website that helped me get the best deal on my new truck.

I really wanted a "timberland mica" (aka dark green) truck; red was my 2nd choice. There were only two green, 2010 Toyota Tacoma Access Cab V6 with the convenience/towing package in the entire Northern Cali area. The price was somewhere above $27k. I was able to use that Capital One thing and get the truck for $25,400. I also got $1000 downpayment assistance for being a recent graduate through Toyota Financial.

In other words, I think I got a pretty good price on a sweet looking truck. :) With the insane California taxes and "gap protection" (had never heard of it, seemed like a good idea...if your truck is totaled, it pays off the difference between the insurance value, and the amount you still owe)... It was slightly above what I wanted to pay. I'm making it work but barely. $420 a month for six freaking years! I wish they had better incentives, like 0% APR or something, but alas Toyota doesn't seem as desperate as the Big Three. For the record, I did look at Chevy Silverados and I do like those trucks, but a full sized 8 cylinder truck was beyond my price range.

Of course I already scratched the new Yota up while taking her on some overgrown 4x4 roads. I'm not one of those people who buys something and then is too afraid to break it in! I bought a freaking 4x4 truck to take the thing on 4x4 roads! The only things I do NOT like are: the rear side windows don't pop out (like on the old one) so Logan can't poke his nose out; the back of the cab has a center console which I like in theory, but it makes it very uncomfortable for the dog; and the fact that I can't afford to buy a topper! I had no idea they were so expensive, I definitely need one so I can be ready for "random adventures" at the drop of a dime but we're talking like $1400+ for a nice one!

I am still working on the achilles problem. My frustrations have been that the doctor's office was putting the wrong claim numbers and stuff, and not even submitting stuff to worker's comp; or, waiting for authorization for stuff that they didn't need authorization for. Hence, it took 6 weeks to see a physical therapist - because they didn't even NEED authorization! Anyway, I started PT, then got results of the MRI I had to convince them to let me get - my ankle wasn't healing and still hurt, why not see what's really going on? So I found out I have a fractured talus, an irritated other random tendon, and apparently not much wrong with my achilles.

I went to the specialist, and I made it a point to ask the dr's office if I needed to bring anything with me. They said NO. I assumed this meant they had sent my MRI images electronically, as they did between the hospital and clinic. It said MRIs on the form they gave me. So I drive the 80 miles to Stockton, only to be asked, "Where are the MRI films?" Damn that doctor's office!! The specialist still saw me anyway. Did I mention both my Dr. and the Orthopedic specialist are University of Michigan alumni?? Without the films, they wanted to take X-rays. Before even seeing the x-rays, the specialist said I wasn't in "enough pain" for the talus fracture to be the issue; it must be my achilles. Do you see the dilemma?? I have pain in achilles, but nothing showed up on MRI. I have a fractured talus on MRI, but apparently not "enough" pain. I left frustrated, with an order to "have more patience" and increase PT to 3x a week. Come back in 2 weeks with the MRI.

Today was the 2 week - with MRI - follow up. Very clearly, there is a "lesion" on my talus. Achilles looks mostly normal, but a little thicker than it should be where my pain is. He isn't quite sure how to proceed, still doesn't think the biggest issue is this talus. Give it another month of PT, 3x a week (which I have only been able to go 2x a week due to the approval process through worker's comp). Come back in a month, if it's not a lot better then we need a different approach. He says he does not see any reason why it shouldn't be getting better, though was a bit surprised that I haven't made much improvement. I'd say it's maybe 20% better than when I went to the Dr in July...but that's only 20% over 2 1/2 months. So I'm in PT until mid-Oct with another follow up on the 15th. Another month. Another boring ass month.

Sigh.

At least the stationary bike actually does seem to be making my legs stronger and look better. I'm eating healthy and doing p90x 3x a week as well, and can actually do more pull ups than I could at the academy (up to 5, almost 6)!

Been pretty broke so no road trips or anything exciting lately... Though I am totally pumped for Michigan's first two football games, and my two favorite teams play this weekend - Lions and Eagles! At least I can still cheer for sports without aggravating my ankle! :)

Bearing the weight of not bearing weight

2010-08-25T21:21:00.000-07:00

On this ridiculously hot day, I couldn't do the things I wanted to, and did the only things I could do. The fact that I can't run, or can't hike, is like being on a diet... I can't have it, so I want it MORE! Except, running and hiking is GOOD for you, and I still can't do them! And no swimming, thanks to Logan's self-conducted removal of his stitches and the subsequent giant gaping hole in his side. With my physical limitations and the emotional crabbiness of a child who can't have her favorite candy, all I wanted to do was lie on the couch, lethargic from the heat, and watch TV and movies. Animal Hoarders. Daily Show. Alice in Wonderland (Johnny Depp) movie. Fortunately, for once Logan and I were on the same page about being lazy, and he didn't even beg me to throw his football.

We laid there, panting, licking (figuratively for me; literally for Logan) our wounds and carbo-loading on comfort foods. I had been eating healthy - more fruits, veggies, protein, and less grains/carbs - and although it wasn't exactly "low" carb, it was less than my body is used to. I binged and ate 3 pieces of garlic chicken pizza for lunch, bacon for a snack (yeah, weird snack), and an entire box (2.4 servings of glorious carbs and cheese) of Annie's white cheddar shells.

Am I going to be one of those people that come back from an injury, determined to do something dramatic, like run a marathon?? Today, the idea appealed to me. But I also binged on mac and cheese, so maybe it was just one of those "I've been deprived and now I'm gonna make up for it in a HUGE way" days. Realistically, I'm pretty sure my ADHD would ensure I would get bored and start chasing butterflies an hour into a marathon; maybe watching clouds or daydreaming... which would probably result in another broken ankle from not paying attention and running into a parked car or something. ;)

My first summer in the Sierras, and all I can do is watch from the sidelines. Trails to run, mountains to hike... I was in pretty good shape too, going into this summer. It will be so hard to stay motivated and not routinely drown my sorrows in Annie's mac and cheese...

Achilles?? How about, how to heal an entire FOOT!?

2010-08-24T20:38:00.000-07:00

MRI results are in! Drum roll please.... The results were unexpected and I'm not sure how to react... But I have a fractured talus bone, and inflammation and fluid around the "flexor hallucis longus" tendon. And yet, there really wasn't much but a little inflammation on my achilles. ?!?! What does this MEAN?! I don't know. The fracture isn't an "old" injury and is still not healed, so probably within the past few months. I don't feel pain in my foot as I would guess a fracture would feel?? In fact, the only pain I feel is direct, pinpoint pain on either side of my achilles, close to the surface and not deep where this flexor tendon would be. I do know that the ultrasound and "massage" (torture) has left me quite sore, and every morning I can barely put weight because my achilles hurts so bad... This probably/hopefully explains why I'm still in pain after 6 weeks of not running or hiking, and barely walking. But was it broken before my achilles hurt? Or did this happen later? Although they have answered the "chicken or egg first" question, I don't currently have the answer to this riddle!

I am glad I pushed hard to get the MRI done. They don't always want to authorize such an expensive test, and it took some convincing... Now, I have a concrete diagnosis and have been authorized to see a foot specialist. Will I need a cast? How long will rehabilitation take NOW? When on earth can I get back to firefighting?! I have a million questions on my mind, but just need to chill out and relax. It is what it is and stressing over it won't help me heal any quicker. I'm impatient by nature and this ordeal has certainly taken an emotional toll, not to mention the physical effects. But, I'm trying to keep my spirits high and take it day by day. A glass of wine or two never hurt either. ;) Tonight though, Moose Drool is my comfort "food"!

I'm sure I will obsess over my injury and look up ridiculous amounts of stuff on the internet because, like GI Joe says, "Knowing is half the battle!" I'll probably post those on here.

Man, I really am gonna be bummed if I end up in a cast. And if I do, it better be off by the time my sister visits in October!!

Today's physical therapy once again included ultrasound, torture massage, foot exercises, and instead of taping my arch up (made my foot sore; my arches are pretty good anyway so was just trying it out to see if it helped), my PT Dennis taped me up with "Kinesio Tape". I don't know what it's supposed to do, but it really is water resistant and is perfect even after the shower! This was all before I got the MRI results, so we will see if therapy changes with this new information.

To Heal an Achilles...

2010-08-19T22:16:00.000-07:00

My fire season was pretty much over before it started, and I've tried really hard to just roll with the punches but I'm just flat out frustrated, sad, angry and desperate with this darned injury!

I'm not exactly sure why my achilles got injured - I had been running consistently before the fire academy all winter, usually around 3-5 miles, around 4 times a week. Sometimes I'd thrown in a slightly longer run; most of it was on hilly pavement to help get ready for running on pavement at the Academy this past April. I rehabbed my other achilles (left one) last fall, 2-3 months of physical therapy to finally fix an old injury from high school 10 years ago. I didn't know enough to stop running on it at the time; as a result, I had an definite nodule of scar tissue on my left achilles. Some years it would bother me more than others. I ran a lot in 2004 doing fire in Montana; I ran a couple races in Estes in 2007 and 2008...it was manageable but occasionally flared up. I had a definite "injury boundary" - too much, too fast or too far and my achilles would let me know. I pushed that boundary in the summer of 2009 training for a half marathon that I wanted to run in Portland with my friend Kim. Fortunately I had Colorado State University health insurance, and time between classes, so I took care of it once and for all. So far, it's been pain free.

I got that taken care of and what happens? Sharp sudden pain while sprinting in my RIGHT achilles. This was April, at the academy. Long story short, we tried self-treatment - rest, ice, motrin, less running - but I couldn't stop running 100% because it was part of fitness testing. After the academy, I took off 3 weeks from running and hiking. Then we starting our daily physical training at work. The crew runs faster than me, and the route is steeper than what I normally ran. In sum, I ran too much, too fast and too far, on an already compromised achilles. I iced it; my boss let me take off a couple weeks from running; it just wouldn't get better. Some days were better than others so as long as I could still run and hike - even though it was painful - I continued to do so, because it's my job. I HAVE to do those things. I'm a wildland firefighter!

It got worse. I was compensating for my injury by walking and running funny. I ended up pulling my left calf and knew that was it; time to get real treatment, because at this rate I'd be lucky to be on 2 feet by the end of the season!

At this point, I've been on light duty 6 weeks. Due to slow paperwork with worker's comp, I am JUST NOW starting physical therapy. Two of those weeks, I wore a walking boot to immobilize my calf and achilles, as I did for my left one. I tried many of the same things I learned for my left achilles, on my right one. It STILL hurts, despite no running, no hiking and minimal walking. Every morning is the worst, can barely put any weight on my right achilles. It does feel better as it warms up during the day, but going up stairs, on tip toes, or if I even just push off too hard makes it hurt. I've been setting at a desk for those six weeks, pretty much miserable. Not only the ADHD makes me fidgety and uncomfortable, but being indoors is giving me cabin fever, so to speak. I can't even enjoy my favorite hobbies on my days off! It is rough keeping my chin up about the whole ordeal right now.

MRI was Tuesday; waiting for the doc to look at it, but the techs said they still saw inflammation. Physical therapist today dropped a bomb on me - it will probably be at least 2 months before I am even starting to run again. It is THAT bad. I figured it was stubborn but didn't think I'd be out for a total of over 3 months. If I would have just sucked it up and went to the doctor early, I'd probably have a shorter recovery time. But I could still run, and still hike!! And I was brand new to the job, I wanted to make a good impression. My feet are my livelihood. Bad bad BAD if you can't run or hike!!

Anyway, contributing factors to my injury may include: just sprinting in itself, since I never sprint and the increased intensity is just a lot of stress on an achilles anyway; he does think the fact I have taken Cipro many times over my life (including recently before the injury; Cipro has been linked to achilles injuries and ruptures) may have made my tendons more brittle; biomechanics of the way I walk and run; and I have short tendons. Throw the uphill running on gravel roads and hiking with heavy weight onto the injury and it was just too much.

Ultrasound and painful "massage" with these nasty metal tools, and taping up my arch were on today's menu. I will be going back 2x a week.

What on earth am I going to do at work? I've been able to keep busy so far, but 2 months is a very very long time. At least it is a slow season so I have no missed out on a single fire or OT opportunity yet; but I really really need the extra money. Unless fire season runs late this year, I might be SOL!

First camping trip of the year!

2010-08-13T21:33:00.002-07:00

A couple weekends ago I was feeling particularly cooped up, since I've been on light duty for a month and stuck in the office at work. No running, no hiking... no fun. :( My achilles injury - which I originally hurt at the Academy in April, but got worse and worse with all the physical training we do at work - is putting a huge damper on not only on work, but also my fun! I decided to hit the road in my new truck (yep, new truck...will hopefully post at some point about "life" updates, but this is a travelogue) and just drive where ever my whim took me. I must admit, not having a camper shell is inconvenient - I kept all of my car camping gear in the back of my old truck and topper and didn't have to worry about it being stolen, or exposed to the elements. I keep my trusty "Action Packer" full of things like matches, firestarters, hatchet, blanket, water, 2 burner stove and fuel, hand warmers, cooking kit, and other random things. You know, just in case of a last minute spontaneous camping trip. ;) I also grabbed my tent, sleeping bag, etc... and the dog of course. I was feeling proud at all the random, "never know when you'll need it" crap I carefully selected for permanent storage in my truck.

I decided to drive East over Hwy 4. I really didn't know where I wanted to go. It really didn't matter! I was happy to be on the road, on my own, nobody to answer to and no reason to plan. Felt so good to just do whatever I want! This was the first time I'd gone camping alone since I started dating Tim, almost exactly 4 years ago, and this solo camping trip was my proclamation of liberation!!

Which means there had to be a few... hiccups. I'm out of practice doing things totally alone! And, dating a trail worker had the perk of him owning lots of awesome gear, so I could just use his stuff and didn't own my own! But I'm jumping ahead...

From Hwy 4 I headed southeast to Bridgeport and stopped at a sporting goods store to buy a California Atlas/Gazetteer. This was the 5th attempt at buying my beloved Gazetteer, as apparently Californians don't know what a Gazetteer is! I stopped for food and sat on the patio with Logan, examining my options. I saw sweet looking, jagged mountains to my West; I saw lots of lakes on the atlas; I knew one of those drainages would be my home for the night. But, since I can't hike, it had to be accessible by truck. I also didn't want to see ANY people! It couldn't be in wilderness though, because the ranger station was closed and said you must get wilderness permit in person. I opted to NOT go to Twin Lakes/Mono Village, because it looked so easily accessible it just HAD to be busy. I chose Virginia Lakes, a little bit south of Twin Lakes. It's the blue dot on the map:

View My Saved Places in a larger map

This spot was in the Toiyabe National Forest, Bridgeport District. I first drove to Virginia Lakes, hoping to find some jeep trail I could camp off of for free. As beautiful as that area is, the only areas accessible by vehicle are either private property or pay campgrounds. I couldn't even really see the lakes themselves, because it would take a hike (albeit a short one) to get there. So, I turned around and went down some "020" road. This is also known as Dunderberg Meadow Rd. The road skirted along the foothills of some tall mountains and went through thick pockets of aspen. There were plenty of places to pull aside and tuck back into a grove of trees. I kept driving until I reached a faint road that headed up the grass and shrubland toward the mountains a little bit; it followed an agricultural ditch that supported a nice barrier of lodgepole and alder trees. The road ended a few hundred feet up and that's where I decided to camp...and where I discovered I neglected one of the most important parts of a camping trip - the tent!

Oh, I had a tent with me. I thought I was so cool. I pull it out, and realize it doesn't look like how I remembered it. The thing is, I've never used this tent. Tim had really nice tents, so we always took his. I acquired this tent a few years ago, but apparently it's not the tent that I THOUGHT I owned. But once I brought it home, since I THOUGHT it was the nice tent, I never bothered to check. Somewhere, something went awry and here I was, not with a full sized tent for Logan and I...but a single person tent, just slightly larger than a bivy sack. It would be great for lightweight backpacking, but since I was car camping and had Logan, I was expecting something...bigger, and more luxurious! SURPRISE!!

Ok, no problem. I see the thing only has 2 poles. I start to worry that I'm missing poles. I look at this weird little tangle of fabric, 2 poles, and a lot of string. I start to think, maybe it's SUPPOSED to be this way...I slip the 2 poles through the head and foot, like a collapsed caterpillar. I realize it's not a freestanding tent, like a typical dome-style... it relies on string and stakes, opposing forces on all the corners to keep the structure upright. (This link is for the nearly identical Eureka tent and clearly shows my dilemma). No problem right?

THERE AREN'T ANY STAKES.

That's when I finally felt really stupid. I packed everything under the sun in case of snowstorm, flood, zombies or apocalypse... but no freaking tent stakes.

Setting up the smallest, simplest "tent" took a ridiculous amount of time as I pulled off hooked branches to use as stakes, or wrapped the string around rocks. But, it worked! I had shelter!

But Logan... what to do with Logan?

Really, he could fit at the head of the tent, but he'd almost be my pillow. Logan doesn't snuggle. And, it was a tight fit. He freaked and wouldn't go back in. I tried to let him sleep outside on the ground, but after taking off after 2 very large jackrabbits, I was scared he'd run off in the middle of the night and get lost in the wilderness - he's not the smartest shepherd I've ever met - so I made him sleep in the truck bed. In the middle of the night, he whined so I let him out. He came over and "apologized" and whined and nuzzled me and stayed put next to the tent for the rest of the night. :)

From Toiyabe Nat Forest, July 2010

Before bed, I read my Sierra Nevada naturalist guide and studied maps of cool looking areas. Although it wasn't a full moon, not long after sunset it was so bright, it seemed the sun came back up! And one perk to the tent is that the entire body is mesh, so I could see the sky clearly...without having to worry about mosquitoes, scorpions or other buggers crawling on me at night. Although it had been quite warm everywhere else, it got nice and cold at night, probably around 44 degrees. Perfect!

There was no campfires, there was no cooking. I didn't have a campfire permit (think they were banned anyway) so I just brought leftovers. In the morning Logan and I walked around identifying wildflowers and watching mule deer; packed up and drove up a rugged 4x4 road towards the site of the Dunderberg Mill.

It was the inaugural voyage of my new Tacoma, and there were certain spots where the rocks or ruts tested my judgement of my ground clearance. One shallow water crossing added to the fun! In the end, the shrubs and trees left a few scratches as souvenirs, which is fine by me! A coworker gave me crap for scratching my brand new truck... but why buy a 4x4 truck if I'm not gonna USE it like a truck?!

It would have been a nicer spot to camp than the spot I had selected, with denser clumps of trees and a small waterfall near the site of the old Mill. All that remained of Dunderberg was some gnarley iron and metal, some rocks, and a layer of red dust in a bare patch among the sagebrush and rabbit brush. Apparently there are some cabins that are still standing but I didn't see them. This would be a beautiful area in the fall, with so many aspen coating the foothills!

I continued on my drive back down to Dunderberg Meadow Road and eventually to Green Creek Road, the next drainage to the north. Here too, the road ends before the lakes, required a short hike that, if it weren't for my stupid achilles, I would have taken Logan and the fishing rod and spent some time there. Instead, we stopped at Dynamo Pond, where I was shocked to see signs of beaver! As dumb as it may sound, I didn't realize there were beaver in California. I also learned they reintroduced antelope in the area as well (they were extirpated). Dynamo pond was the first hydroelectric project in the eastern Sierras, and the first time the electricity was transmitted and used away from the source. It's hard to tell that there was ever a dam on this small pond now.

I drove back to Bridgeport and just had to take the extra 12 mile drive to Twin Lakes - the jagged-edged "Sawtooth Ridge" looked quite dramatic from town. As I had expected, though, the lakes were surrounded by developed RV campgrounds, condos, and marinas. Not gaudy or overdone and looked like a blast to take a family with kids, rent a boat or some jet skis... but not my cup of tea. It looked like there would be some sweet hikes up into the mountains. If only my stupid achilles would heal...!!

From Toiyabe Nat Forest, July 2010

It was more driving and less hiking than Logan would have liked and I felt bad for him. We left Twin Lakes and took Hwy 108 back - which is the road that runs through the southern half of Stanislaus National Forest. I'm sorry to say, but I think I'm on the less-dramatic district of the forest - wow! There are plenty of wide open views, waterfalls, stunning mountain peaks... on my side, it's thickly forested and good views are not easy to find. This part of the Stanislaus is directly adjacent to Yosemite National Park. We didn't stop and hike, just took pictures and drove the loop down to Sonora and back up to Hwy 4.

And that was my first camping trip of the summer - saw a lot of land, drove a lot of miles, and learned that I need a bigger tent. ;)

"My First Summer in the Sierra"

2010-08-12T14:55:00.007-07:00

I pulled that book out of storage and intend on rereading it at some point. It's a book by my hero, John Muir; I read it in college for an American Wilderness and Literature class. At the time I remember sometimes getting lost in Muir's flowery, overly descriptive and long-winded abstractions of natural features. That was about 10 years ago, and I too have become more long-winded and overly descriptive as I have grown older! ;) I also remember how much I liked John Muir for hating SHEEP. He thinks sheep are the stupidest creatures ever, as he discovered while herding a flock across the mountains or something. Anyway, I need to reread it now that I live here and may be able to appreciate it a little more.

Yes you will notice I added a little Amazon.com thingy. If you buy something off my page I think I get like 2 cents or something. I'm broke, this will help pay the bills. HA HA HA! I crack myself up.

Today, my "first summer in the Sierra" included a trip to the popular swimming hole called Candy Rock, on the North Fork of the Stanislaus River. I knew of this place all summer, but it is very popular. I like to relax and avoid loud crowds when it's just me and Logan so I've gone out of my way to find other places to swim. After reading an intriguing description of Candy Rock to a visitor at the ranger station last week, though, I gave in and had to see for myself.

It was awesome.

A drive on a dirt road into the canyon, thick with brush and baked-hot by the sun. The road ends at a parking area, where eroded steps lead down to the river. There was one truck there but the owner was nowhere to be found. The entire stretch of river is strewn with huge boulders, forming relatively deep, clear pools and connected by slickrock waterslides and cascades. Neat, perfect circles from water and erosion form pockets both above and below water; the rock was so slick that Logan fell into one above the river. It was deep enough I had to pull him out of the mucky-water trap, which left him a little nervous while on the river banks. He stirred up a tiny little frog, with black stripes along its eyes. I'll have to look it up later.

For a while, we had the entire place to ourselves, which I'm sure was a sight to see - me pulling and pushing Logan up and down the slick rock, laughing at him, and then falling in myself. I think it was a wise idea to leave my shorts on over my bikini, because there was a lot of sliding around on my butt. Logan seemed to enjoy the waterslide as much as I did, which swept you from one pool to another. It was so much fun, and so refreshing! Another group of people eventually showed up and were cracking up as they saw Logan and I swimming/being swept by the current, and laughing even harder when Logan started crying because he couldn't get OUT of the water on the slickrock! Those folks traveled downriver so we still had the solitude I wanted. After swimming, I laid out on the smooth rock and read a Backpacker magazine until I was dry. On the hike out, we passed 2 groups of high school boys; on the drive out, I passed 5 cars full of people! We left at the right time, around 2:00. The key might be to arrive early - before noon - and avoid people on a Thursday??

So now I'm at the local coffee shop in Arnold, it's been a while since I've engaged in my "hobby" of sitting at a coffee shop with the dog, writing in my blog. Nothing beats Kind Coffee in Estes Park of course, but it's a nice day to sit outside. I even made a new friend! A blue and white pit mix puppy took up shop under my seat.

Other swimming holes I have found include one down the road from my house, which lacks the large unique boulders of Candy Rock but is nice and deep and I've never run into anybody there. Then of course there is Lake Alpine and Spicer, both of which are quite busy but Alpine was nice and warm. If I ever pick up my kayak from Tim's place, there are so many lakes to paddle! I need to figure out a way to float Logan with me though, kayak isn't built for a 110 lb dog.

Logan on the waterslide

Bad raccoon karma

2010-06-16T20:39:00.000-07:00

My happy little "family" is enjoy a relaxing afternoon on our large deck, shadowed by the looming pine and hemlock. And by family, of course I mean Log Dog and two chickens. Because that's totally normal, right? ;)

Sadly, those two chickens aren't the same two I started with. Alas, I was a bad chicken momma and I take full responsibility for the murder of my Easter Egger, Nugget. Even worse is that I forgot which one was Nugget, and which one was Peeps, and was calling them by the wrong names. Oops.

Nugget was taken just before she was reaching young hen-hood; 4 months old, and probably would start laying in the next few weeks. But selfish me went to hang out with friends and got home after dark, carelessly leaving the coop open. Prime time for the masked marauders of the forest - raccoons. Although the coop is fenced with chicken wire, it's NOT raccoon proof. Within that 45 minutes to an hour past dark, I'm pretty sure a fat momma took my little hen away to her kiddos - I've heard them screeching and squealing in the tree lot next door. I'll admit, I cried. I raised them from 2 day old chicks and am totally responsible for what happened. I pulled up and saw my Silver Laced Wyandotte Peeps looking spooked in the coop and Nugget was nowhere to be found. I searched for an hour, hoping she was wiley enough to escape under the house. The next morning I heard the raccoons going nuts at daybreak as I searched then, too. There were barely any feathers in the pen and no blood. %^$#@%$#@%$&^%$&^

You'd think I'd have better raccoon karma after rehabbing orphaned babies during my internship at the wildlife rehab center. Then again, even with their eyes barely opened, those little velcro-clawed demons were already hissing and snapping at people and their own litter mates! I sure don't own the raccoon kingdom any more favors, that's for sure.

The next day I improved the fence, but it's still not raccoon proof. While I was rebuilding, the neighborhood nuisance dog ran up and tried to eat Peeps! Logan ran down from the deck and literally pinned the dog, saving my confused chicken. She was pretty distressed, as chickens are social and don't like to be alone. Logan loves his girls though and protected her, I was impressed. But I now had the task of finding a new gal pal for Peeps, who seems like she may be getting ready to lay eggs in the next few weeks. I was happy Peeps considers Logan and I as part of her "flock" and got over her stress quickly. She figured out how to escape the pen so whenever I come home from work and call her, she comes running or flying to greet me at the steps! Just like a dog. She'll even climb the 15-20' of steps up to my deck, just to hang out.

So here I am now, with a 4-5 week old "Nugget 2". I'm not sure if that's what I call her... but it's gotta be food related! ;) She's a Rhode Island Red and will be large hen, probably about 8 lbs like my Wyandotte. I could have gotten another Easter Egger, but they were only 2-3 weeks old and very small still; didn't want to have to worry about it escaping through the chicken wire. I was worried about getting an "older" chick since it hasn't been handled much, but the new gal is pretty mellow. Sometimes, when introducing a new chicken, the old chickens will peck it to literally establish pecking order. So far, Peeps has been pretty good. Little chicken is getting used to her new home and the two gals are roaming the deck, devouring random specs of who-knows-what. My little dinosaurs!

My friend Kim just wrote me with chicken name ideas. Marsala!! She's a genius.

I went into the cigar shop in Angel's Camp today and the owner was awesome, so I have a great cigar to go with my beer while I hang out. Extra relaxed!!

And so continue the adventures of a Detroit city-girl and her backyard chickens! Maybe at some point I'll write more about other things...you know, like the job... and the area... and Life Beyond the Chickens... But I'm so relaxed, I'm done writing. ;)

Eyes on the prize, eyes on the prize...

2010-05-04T20:21:00.003-07:00

Sorry, I think that's a funny expression, "Keep your eyes on the prize!" I say that to people because I think it's funny; to them hopefully it almost sounds like encouragement or something. ;)

In any case, I made it through the Basic Academy without failing my grad school classes! At least, not yet... just over one week of classes left for me to blow it. Just kidding, mostly. I definitely bit off more than I could chew but I know my grades aren't the A+s that I'm so used to. Just kidding again, mostly. For some reason, I'm particularly sarcastic today. Perhaps it's the stress of watching the Red Wings blow their lead in a game that is now going into overtime; comedy is my coping mechanism?? Sure, sounds good to me!

Academy was a lot more fun than I anticipated before I got there. Sure, my ADHD makes me freak out from sitting still for too long, but I mostly kept it together with caffeine or something like that. They let us hamsters out of their cage often enough to keep us from eating eachother, in the form of such field exercises like: Maps and Navigation (I played squad boss and well, I didn't lose anybody so that's a good sign); Fire Shelter deployment; Followership to Leadership crew cohesion "problems; PT (working out); and our grand finale, the Field Day. So what exactly do you teach 90+ budding young firefighting apprentices??

Nutrition and Wellness
Communications and Radio Use
Fire Prevention and Investigation
L-280 Followership to Leadership
Weather Observations
Tactical Decision Making
Map and Compass
S-260 Interagency Incident Business Management
I-200 Basic ICS
S-131 Advanced Firefighter
Fire shelters
Wildland Fire Skills Field Day

I have to say, Business Management aka Paperwork from Hell was by far the hardest to deal with. We didn't get any fun field days except PT that entire week. Our fire shelter instruction was unique compared to past experiences...we review how to use them, then deploy them once and call it good. This involved sprinting and crawling under an obstacle course until we were winded, then randomly telling us to deploy while a high powered fan blew our tarp-like shelters. The instructors were also kind enough to rip them from our hands; don't worry, I held on because I'm stubborn. ;) We did something comparable to team building "problems" for our leadership class; in small squads, you are given unique tasks and have a time limit to come up with a process and a solution. Such as leading blindfolded team members across an obstacle course or getting people from one side of a web of rope to the other, without touching the sides and each member staying on the other side once they are across - making the task tough for the last person left.

By far the "capstone" experience was the field day. Each person took turns being a squad boss and leading our crews - formed on the 1st day of the academy - through simulations of common tasks asked of firefighters. Digging line and finding spot "fires" (no real fire for this academy); construction line downhill, with a simulated fire blowup that forces us to run up the hill (my achilles was shot from our fitness test, so I only made it halfway before I voluntarily "died") and deploy our shelters; getting helicopter loads ready; managing a dozer; using the engine for mobile attack and then a progressive hose lay; and setting up pumps and laying hose around small spot fires. Some of these tasks were unfamiliar to us (helicopters and dozers) but showed that with the right references and some leadership and delegation, we could still succeed. Although my darling Purple crewmembers forgot to buy me a cigar, our crew boss dished one out and probably 8 of us out of 17 donned fat stogies and corn cob pipes. Because we rule. ;)

Despite working out less than I had been before the academy started, I did improve in everything...except pull ups, but that might have been a function of the order in which we tested this time around, and doing more sit ups and push ups. Sit ups: 101; Push ups: 36; Pull ups: 2 (grrr); 1.5 mile run: 11:54. Still not as fast as I'd like but A. I'm built for comfort, not speed and B. I ended up with a killer leg cramp on top of my inflamed achilles. I'd like to thank the Guinness I drank the night before for my increase in strength and speed because it certainly wasn't from working out more!

Of course I met lots of awesome folks from all over the western states and "networked" a lot over brews at the Lion's Gate and at Harvey's. At some point, even got the coordinator and a couple crew bosses to sing karaoke. I broke out my Folsom Prison, dedicated to my last hazy karaoke night with Kim. We were warned about how sketchy the local dive bar could be, but I had really good experiences the 3 times I went. Now, the hookah bar/VIP lounge... definitely won't be going back there anytime soon. Run by Russians, whispers that the bellydancers were prostitutes, the excessive attention I received from some dudes... I'll stick to Fat Tire and Juke Box at Harvey's, or Sierra Nevada, Guiness, hockey games and good pizza at Lions Gate. I'm relieved that the next time I go back in January - for the Advanced Academy - I won't have to worry about finishing homework before I get a beer buzz!

One Sunday, I jetted out to Point Reyes to enjoy the ocean and get a little alone time. Didn't hike much because of my achilles but it's gorgeous and dogs are allowed in certain areas; will have to go back at some point. I was only able to drive down and see Logan, Peeps and Nugget at Tim's place once, since it is a 4 hour drive from the academy; I meant to pick them up this weekend but with my last couple weeks of school left, I was stressing out and Tim offered to keep them one more week. The girls were so big, and still growing! They finally lost their baby "peeping" and now cluck and coo like real chickens. Their tails were longer and fuller, but their combs were still light pink and little. Tim put together the simple coop kit I ordered and just moved them outside this week. With the lack of daytime predators and the scent of Logan and Neota around the house, we decided to let them free-range around the property. I'm sure they won't be happy when they are forced to be caged and cooped up here at my mountain home, but they don't roam very far anyway and I'll let them out when I'm outside with them. It may be illegal to let them run around uncaged here so I don't want to bring unwanted attention to my chickens.

My first real day of work on Engine 22 was Monday and met my crew. We are short on qualifications for 7 day coverage, so we will be running 5 day coverage with 6 people. If our Engineer gets his Engine Boss signed off, we can go to 7 day coverage and hire a seasonal, but I'm not sure how likely that is. As it stands,if the engine goes out, 1 person will be left behind. Looks like I will have Tuesday and Wednesday off after Memorial day; even stranger is that I won't start work until like 9 or 9:30 am! As it stands now, starting at 8 am is weird enough - without Logan here to walk and play catch with, I have all this time in the morning and don't know what to do with it! I'm used to working four, ten hour days from 7-5:30. My first two days of work were spent rolling hose, washing trucks, paperwork, and taking a driving test to get my government driver's license. Because having a CDL-B isn't apparently enough to prove I can drive a standard pick up truck, ha ha. I think it's going to be a good summer and I'm excited to learn a lot. Even more excited for my days off to explore the mountains, lakes, caves and vineyards surrounding me!

Well the Wings blew it big time so I could use another Moose Drool beer. $#@^%$^&#&$#@!$ Next time I write, I'll hopefully have my master's degree as well as my dog and chickens back from Tim!

When I think "Apprentice", I think of Mickey Mouse and walking brooms

2010-04-11T13:00:00.001-07:00

One week down, three more to go!

Thursday before the academy, I decided to take some time from writing my term paper and take Logan to Yosemite. It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive to get in the Park; the weather was cold with sporadic rain or snow but I needed to relax. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that you can bring dogs on the extensive paved paths throughout the valley, and I picked a short 3 mile round trip walk to Mirror Lake. Walking with a big-ass German Shepherd prompts a lot of comments and looks - 99% good with a couple sour-pusses despite how well-heeled, calm and pretty much oblivious Logan is to other people. In the past, foreigners have even taken their photos with my dog! On the hike down, a park truck passed me. They stopped, and a scruffy-bearded guy popped his head out the window. I had to do a double take when he said "Hey, how's it going?" I had to ask, "Do I know you??" Well it was a coworker from Rocky, Dave from trails. Didn't recognize him with his beard and in a random location, such as a pedestrian trail in California. As always, small world in the federal government!

I dropped the "kids" (dog and chickens) off at Tim's last weekend and arrived at McClellan last Sunday. McClellan was once an Air Force base but has been converted to...well, not really sure what all is on site. It's generally surrounded by a metal fence and the buildings inside the fence are significantly nicer than anything outside the fence. We were warned early that the area outside the base is pretty sketchy. Lots of car break-ins; pickpockets and people with knives; don't go anywhere alone! Apparently this is typical for the area surrounding military bases?? Obviously the Forest Service has staked claim to a number of buildings; the SCA operates out of it as well. There's the Lions Gate hotel, which has the only public wi-fi on the base. Which means to do homework, I find myself at the over-priced bar/restaurant, drinking Sierra Nevada and trying to concentrate while everyone else is socializing. Just 4 more weeks and I'll be done, assuming I pass my classes!!

There are about 93 apprentices in my Academy, 53; Academies 51 and 52 were overlapping their 4 week programs with ours by a week or two, each with between 90-100 people; as well as the Engine Operator academy, FireHire meeting, some safety meeting and who knows what else, with plenty of big fish from D.C. running around. Some folks got in trouble for cussing in front of a high-level civic rights human resources person...yeah, pretty much the worst person you could get caught by!

Quick run down of what it's like; we were broken up into crews; my crew is Purple. Hard to sound cool when you are "purple", so we go by the "purps" because that sounds so much better (sarcasm). Our crew has 16 folks, a crew boss and an assistant. 98% of the people here are with the Forest Service; of those, 98% of them are from California. There are a handful of BLM. Some people are from Nevada, a couple from Wyoming (including a guy that works for the engine boss that originally worked/trained with me in Montana), a couple from Montana, maybe Oregon and Washington?? I am quickly learning that California does things differently than pretty much any other state, and any other agency. Those of us from outside Cali - even people that had been in the Forest Service before - have to ask questions at times.

We wear our uniforms and do need to keep them looking pressed, but thankfully don't need to wear that silly tie until next year at the advanced academy. We have different classes each day, which involves way more sitting and paying attention than I am capable of, but between coffee, Red Bull in the vending machine, and my ADD medicine, I think I can make it through! That's probably the hardest part of the entire ordeal! Unlike what previous academy attendees told me, we don't PT (work out) every day. We don't work out at 5 am. In fact, we work out maybe 2-3 times a week for 1 1/2 hours. Some people are going to the gym to make up for it; other people say, "They should pay me to PT like they are supposed to every day". During our paid PTs, we do things like bump runs (everybody runs; person on the end sprints to front, when he gets there the next person on the end sprints to the front, etc) and about 100+ push ups (or at least, I try to do that many... yikes) and so many lunges and squats that my butt was screaming at me! Good stuff.

I didn't wow the academy with my incredible fitness, but I did better than I had hoped and better than a lot of men and women. Ran 1.5 miles in 12:09; 35 push ups, 3 pull ups and 53 sit ups. Was pretty disappointed with the sit ups but it was the last test after all those other things. It will be neat to see how much I can improve in 4 weeks!

I do sleep in a dorm, but they aren't bunk beds. My roommate is a cool gal that also works on the Stanislaus; we both don't really stay in the room except to sleep, so I don't see her that much. The twin beds are ok but I just haven't slept that well; often the sound of police and ambulance sirens from off the base echo through the night. We have to keep our rooms neat and clean for the random inspections and I despise making my bed but I can suck it up for a month. ;)

I'd say networking after work is as important as going to class, and I've met a lot of cool people. The vast majority of people here not only work in California, but they are originally from Cali. This is in stark contrast to Rocky Mountain, where very few people were actually from Colorado. Of course firefighters like to work hard, so they also play hard... Drinking a lot every night and staying up really late. I've been pretty good so far but when people keep buying pitcher after pitcher, it's easy to get caught up in it!

Such is the day in the life! I still think it's weird that I'm a permanent wildland firefighter with the forest service. It wasn't where I thought I'd be; but, things happen for a reason and I think this is going to be a good adventure! And hopefully will lead me to a paid move to Alaska in a couple years. ;) But one step at a time.

I do miss my dog and even my psycho chickens; but it was nice to go home to my cabin for the weekend and do homework outside of the bar! I better get going back to the academy, a 2+hr drive and another winter storm is on its way.

1 Week to the Wildfire Academy!

2010-03-28T23:43:00.002-07:00

My to-do list even strikes myself as odd. 1 week to tie up lose ends and saddle up for the month of April. April will bring my current, fairly casual daily schedule of homework, exercise and "tending to the homestead" (dog and chickens) into a chaotic overdose of physical and mental stimulation. This includes finishing 3 online grad school classes; plus the classes and physical fitness of the Academy; while trying to find time for things like showering and relaxing in between.

To-Do:

Fitness: Running, sit-ups, push-ups and pull ups; but not too much. Fitness test the first couple days at the Academy!
Scholarly endeavors: Complete a term paper.
Homework.
Homework.
Homework. Yeah, I'm a little behind; even if I wasn't, I'd still be up to my ears in California tiger salamanders, rangeland management, prairie dogs, cattle and plant responses to defoliation.
Eat local: Use up my latest produce box from Outer Aisle Foods CSA. New adventures in cooking: rutabaga, green garlic, more leeks, artichokes and braised greens! What the heck are braised greens!?
Move the "funny farm": dog and the chickens to the ex boyfriend's house. That in itself just sounds weird. It is.
Put together a chicken coop: Since I don't have tools or ambition to construct something myself, I ordered a small, portable coop from GardenEggs.com. It probably won't arrive before the Academy but when it does arrive, I need to drive 3 hours to Tim's to put it together. Contrary to what the chicken lady at the feed shop told me, the chickens ARE ready to go outside after 2 months old.
Little Suzie Homemaker: The worst chore - not only laundry, but I have to IRON MY UNIFORM! GAG!! I'm anti-ironing as it is. The fact that I have to wear a fake clip-on green tie also... At least I got some very cute shoes.
Oil fire boots.
Be prepared! Fire gear, that is. Red bag and line gear, with all the firefighting essentials. Nice, shiny, obnoxiously new gear. Kindof want to roll in the mud, just to tone down the screaming bright yellow!

Plus, April is my birth month! I was supposed to go to a Punch Brothers (Chris Thile) show in San Fran with Tim but since the break-up, who knows if we'll be speaking or if he already gave the ticket away. I don't usually speak so candidly about my relationships on my blog but oh well, life goes on. I'm just lucky he's still taking the "kids" (Logan, Peeps and Nugget) while I'm stuck in a dorm for the month.

As always, I'm way behind on my journal; I hope to reinvigorate it with stories of excitement, adventure and travel now but, then again, I'm on an apparently slow fire district and probably won't get out much. The best chance is filling in on the fire use module that is also based up here on the Calaveras District.

I never did write about Tim's puppy as promised. But after he didn't even mention to his friends the fact that I moved to Cali, yet alone that I had moved in with him... but talked at length about "his" puppy (that I cared for and he barely saw while he worked overtime for 2 weeks straight) and his career and all that was new and important to him... leaving me out totally - well, a girl can take a hint! So, not much to say except Neota is a very smart, very good dog with a lot of potential as long as her owner provides positive reinforcement, training, and adequate physical and mental stimulation! She isn't always given as much credit as she deserves; guess he's used to Logan being such a good dog, he forgets that Log is an adult and she is only a puppy!!

The Funny Farm - Meet the Chicks

2010-02-15T21:36:00.000-08:00

Since we moved to our quaint little mobile home surrounded by well-manicured acres of raised-bed agricultural fields and have only carrots for neighbors, it seems fitting that we have cultivated our own little Funny Farm in the mere 6 weeks that I have been here.

I kept telling Tim I wanted chickens. But I didn't know much about chickens. His coworker, who keeps about 40, raved about how simple it was. In fact, many of his coworkers have chickens. It's no big deal; it's like having dogs or cats - totally normal. Remember, I am from Detroit. Chickens have NEVER been a normal part of my life. Though, at least I did own numerous birds - cockatiels, canaries, budgies, and zebra finches - so it can't be that different, right??

Tim wasn't as enthusiastic as I was. He never said no, though he would be the one to care for my girls while I am at the Academy and away on fires. So once he brought home a Murray McMurray catalog and I started looking at all these crazy looking chickens, I felt inspired. I asked the lady at the feed shop about them. I realized that these babies were going to live indoors for probably 2-3 months before they were even moved outside; once outside, if I come up with a clever coop design, I wouldn't even have to "tuck them in" and close the coop at night. Feed and water bowls hold food for a few days. If they were totally fenced in, I wouldn't have to worry about predators.

So when I saw the "Baby chicks have arrived" sign at the feed shop, I stopped. Not totally impulsively - I went ahead and bought a heat lamp and chicken feed, "just in case". I went into the feed shop alone and came out... a farmer?? Or, at least, as a momma hen. :) All for less than $38 - $8 for feed, $2.25 per chick, and the rest was for a cheap thermometer and the infrared heating lamp. You can even apparently just use a regular light bulb (Tim's boss just keeps a candle lit in a mason jar) but I figure they wouldn't want bright light 24-7.

In the feed shop was a low round metal bin with a large heat lamp and uncountable numbers of fluffy chicken nuggets. Most were not all yellow - some were reddish, some were all black, some had black and grey stripes, some had yellow and black stripes, and some had reddish and black stripes. I thought the ones with racing stripes looked pretty cool, so I grabbed two feisty chicks that were eating heartily and peeping loudly. Alas, as they had all just arrived from Arizona, some chicks were fading fast and on their way to the big barnyard in the sky. Mine seemed tough and spunky. The shop employee had no idea what type they were. That's ok, I like surprises... as long as they are female and make me breakfast!

The 30 minute drive home actually seemed to stress them - they need to be at around 95 degrees heat their first week. Each subsequent week, you reduce the heat by 5 degrees (more or less; just watch the chicks, they will be obviously hot or cold and it's pretty intuitive). So they were a little chilled despite cranking the heat so high that Logan and I were both panting.

I set them up in a cardboard box with pine shavings and one peanut butter jar lid of water, one pickle lid full of food. They peeped loudly. Apparently loud peeping means chicks aren't happy. Eventually we worked out the height of the heat lamp and bought a better waterer that keeps the water cleaner. At a good temperature they make chickee noises but not loud peeping. Plus, they got used to being away from their 100+ fellow chicks.

Day 2

Day 3

The first night, I was nervous. Nugget (the reddish/black racing stripe one) seemed listless and fading. She was laying down but putting her head on the ground. Um, birds aren't supposed to do that right? I didn't think she'd make it, but I resisted the urge to stress her more by messing with her. I saw her eat and drink, all I could do is hope that she could recover. I was so happy to see her scratching about the next morning! And ever since, these babies just keep growing and growing!

When I got them, they didn't have "real" wing feathers, just fluffy down. Then, real feathers started popping out. Soon, they had beautiful patterned primary and secondary feathers - like what you collected when you were a kid, "real" feathers - that helped me figure out what breed they might be. Peeps - Wyandotte. Nugget - Ameraucana, aka the Easter Egger. They quickly started acting like real chickens - scratching, pecking, preening. They are messy eaters and instead of pecking, they peck at the food and then toss it right out of the lid. They eat constantly. I went from one handful of food the first day or two, to two handfuls of feed... now it's like 3-4 or more.

Day 7??

Then, their nubby tails started sprouting something almost resembling feathers. Ugly spires with little feathery strands here and there. They are beginning to look better. Every day, more down is lost and more feathers sprout up. Their feet are huge! (Picture is of 1st appearance of feathers on the chicken butts)

Best of all, Logan LOVES them. He watches them. He sniffs them. He wants to check on them with me when I go into the other room. It is the cutest thing ever!

So as of today, they are approximately 11 days old and at least doubled in size. They now can perch on my finger and flap their wings. I don't know how much longer I can get away with a cardboard box. Feed store lady keeps her chicks in a dog cage until they are old enough to go outside. Other people use cardboard boxes the entire time. They poop a lot but if it gets too dirty, cardboard boxes are free. Maybe when they are 5 months old, they will start popping out eggs!

I'm sure more people are excited about the puppy... yes, I love puppy. But, I didn't want to go out of order. This is how funny farm started. Logan, then our two chicks. This whole time, we kept watching petfinder.com and visiting the shelter...

Tim and his little girl, in the next entry!

Racking up the miles on the ol' truck...

2010-02-07T20:07:00.001-08:00

I have now been in California for just over a month... and this is the first journal entry I am writing? LAME.

It's probably not even worth it, but here's a reader's digest version of the past 2 months.

I MOVED TO CALI.

Now if you care to indulge in more details, read on. Which at this point the only people who would want to trudge through the details are my mom, my sisters, and maybe Bruce and Kerry. ;) December was a stressful blur of final exams, term papers, packing, moving and truck repairs. Somehow I made it through and had a little work get-together at the Rock one night, which was as close to a going away party as I needed or had time for! I was so happy my friend Kim and her boyfriend were in town to visit from Portland literally during my last few days in Estes. Although I was up to my @ss in alligators (homework, packing, broken truck), Kim always cheers me up and helps me relax and have fun! This included an awesome night at Jerry's cabin for the most unique White Elephant exchange I have ever seen and too many margaritas at Ed's, and of course hanging out at the Rock. I ended up leaving a day later than I had hoped (which was a week later than I originally planned... stupid final exam schedule), with Kind Coffee in my mug and after a big hug from Kim. I walked around in the snow, looking at the Rocky Mountains and enjoying the high altitude air... Really really miss it there, 5 years in Estes! Miss the town, miss my friends, miss Bruce and Kerry and the Rock where so many good times were had... But, time to move on to the next stage in life ya know?!

I left Estes and drove not West, but East... all the way to Detroit to see the family for the holidays. This would be the last time I was within semi-reasonable driving distance from my family, so I wanted to bring Logan, have a car to drive during the day (otherwise I'd be stuck at their house!) and be able to bring some things to my family, as well as take home x-mas presents. I was incredibly busy visiting family and friends, as well as taking plenty of time to decompress from the whirlwind month of December. Stephanie (friend from Estes) was on a road trip of her own, from Texas to the east coast to Niagara Falls, through Detroit and up to Wisconsin, and she and her boyfriend stopped by for a night. Neat to see a Colorado friend in Detroit, that's never happened before! It was good to be apart of our huge 50+ person family X-mas eve party, gotta love it when the families all get together to exchange dollar store gifts, eat lots of Polish food and cheese fondue, drink Kahlua mudslides and tease each other. It just was not the same without my 29 yr old cousin Greg, who died in October. The presentation of an engraved stone bench in Greg's honor to his parents and wife touched us all; but he was there in spirit with us and we will always remember him. On the other side of the family, they had their own sorrow - my dad and stepmom's dog was dying on X-mas day. So Christmas was a little sad but it's always good to be with those you love.

Saw lots of friends here as well, Amadeo's birthday party and sushi with the Gole sisters, one on one with many of my BFFs like Beth and Donna, the Mount Family, Jeff's party... I can't even remember everything I did! But one of the highlights was going to the Red Wings/Colorado Avalanche hockey game on New Years Eve with my sisters and brother! Despite the Wings taking a dive in success this season, they still beat the Avs - nice coincidence that, considering the 2 teams play only a few times a year, I was in Detroit at the same time as the Avs. GO WINGS! I think my brother was a little embarassed by his hootin' and hollerin' sisters, but he takes it in good stride. ;)

Skipping lots of stuff because I have ADHD and bore myself easily. Ha ha!

After the New Year, hit the road right away to drive in the completely opposite direction, back to Estes. I put all my stuff in storage and had to swing back up to get the essentials to take with me to Cali. The rest of it, well.... we will see when I have the time and money to get a uhaul. I want my motorcycle BAD though! These sweet twisty roads and warm temperatures are taunting me! Anyway, I digress. Blew through Estes after a quick bite at the Rock and from then on, it was Cali or Bust!

Uneventful drive west, took about 18 hours from Estes to Greenfield, where I sit now. Tim moved from right outside Pinnacles National Monument to this mobile home - it was cheap compared to everywhere else, allows dogs, and is owned by his boss. Unfortunately, he now has an hour commute...but at least it's a nice drive!

We still don't really have furniture - 2 camp chairs, storage containers used as tables, and a bed. ;) It would be nice to have a futon or couch, but hey we are making it work. Our mobile home isn't pretty but we are on a plot of land with a nice empty home that belongs to our landlord's aunt. Other than that, as I told my mom, our only neighbors are carrots! Surrounded on all sides by agricultural fields. Which I just found out isn't very good for our well water quality, don't worry we bought a filter (which doesn't do much for the nitrates but I try not to think about it). It is actually quite windy in Greenfield, which is part of the large valley extending north and south, bordered on both the east and west by mountains. Weather has been 60-70 degrees almost every day, with incredible amounts of rain at times. Amazingly, there is snow in the mountains to our West, which probably aren't more than 3-4,000 ft tall. Apparently that is NOT normal and locals have told me I must have brought it with me from Colorado. ;)

I was in culture shock for a couple days until I began nesting in the weird way that I do - I leave home and explore the towns nearby. Tim takes care of the home stuff... I explore the "new frontier". :) I hit the visitor welcome centers and find the coffee shops. I try to find the best, most eco-friendly, charismatic locally owned cafe... I'm still not impressed with my options compared to Kind Coffee! Unfortunately, up until this week we didn't have internet at home so I had to drive 1 hr roundtrip just to get to a cafe with internet (which is important because I am in online courses to finish my masters degree). After AT&T providing the worst customer service EVER for a month, canceling orders or getting them wrong, putting me on hold for 2 hours and disconnecting me... They tell me they don't offer DSL at our house. My head almost exploded when they told me that, after a month of telling me they DO have it. Our ONLY option was satellite (which has a 2 YEAR contract and is expensive and not that fast) or this wireless broadband which is working out pretty well. Life is so much easier now that I can look up stores and businesses and get directions at home, as well as doing homework whenever I want without interruption!

Salinas is actually a pretty decent city with a nice old downtown and I've found the places I need in my life - the gym (still working on those physical fitness requirements for work...3 pull ups down, 2 more to go minimum!), the pet shop, and internet cafes. I LOVE going to the ocean in Monterey or Carmel, but finding parking for the cafes in Monterey is a nightmare!

Our weekly treat is taking Logan to the dog-friendly beach in Carmel. Hundreds of dogs running free along the coast! He was scared at first, running from the surf as it washed in and out. Now, he finds the biggest driftwood he can carry and retrieves it from the crashing waves until he is exhausted! He is usually one of the biggest dogs on the beach and has been THE largest German Shepherd (and there are SO MANY shepherds out here!).

In a few weeks I will start work 4 hours away, up in the mountains near Arnold. I have free housing in the bunkhouse, but am checking out a sweet 900 sq ft A-frame cabin with wood stove up in Dorrington next weekend. It would be great to have my own place so people can actually visit me (not allowed in dorms) and I can have Logan. I'm kindof over the whole "living in a small room with bunkbeds and sleeping/working with coworkers 24-7" thing, like my space and my privacy as well as my visitors and pets!

My official date for the academy is April 4th, which means I will be stuck in Sacramento/McClellan for my birthday. Required to live there but if I get this cabin, Tim can bring Logan up and we can stay in the cabin on weekends.

I left tons out but I'm long winded and this is long enough. NEXT ENTRY: CHICKENS! And... Tim's new puppy?! WTF?! PUPPY?!

Oh yes. And we just might name her another X-Men name. BWA HA HA.

As my mom would say, "Welcome to the funny farm!" (Though I know she's excited to have grand-chicks and grand-puppies on her grand-farm... since there won't be any grand BABIES any time soon!)

In case you didn't know, I'm moving!

2009-12-03T18:03:00.003-08:00

I'm moving to California. :)

This really shouldn't be new news to anybody since I accepted the job in September, but I still get a lot of questions. I should have written this post months ago, but school doesn't leave me much desire to type any more than I have to. Quite a shame, I used to really enjoy writing for fun! I only have another couple weeks left so perhaps I can write a good one about my recent trip over Thanksgiving week to visit my future home.

What, When, Where and Why: Lisa's New Adventure!

What: Permanent wildland firefighter with the Forest Service
When: Moving to Cali probably by early January; job starts March 1st.
Where? March-April at the Academy in McClellan, CA; then Stanislaus National Forest, Hathaway Pines
Why? Permanent job, closer to Timmy!

I probably wrote in an entry once or twice or even five times that I didn't want to move out there. Tim has been out there since July, which has been about as much fun as long distance relationships can be (in my book, NOT fun!). The options to make things work were not particularly attractive on my end, as I was hoping the next time I move would be to either Alaska or even back to Montana. I was "stuck" in Colorado for at least a while, to finish my Masters degree at Colorado State. So we either continue long distance (boo) and he agreed to move where ever I want after I graduate in May (although I doubt this would have happened, he has a great job out there) or I find a way to move out there.

I applied for term and permanent wildlife jobs with the federal government; mostly Forest Service, as those are the closest job to Tim besides the park he works at. Unfortunately, Pinnacles is small and does not hire many terms or permanents, so it was unlikely I would land anything there anyway unless I wanted to be stuck as a seasonal yet again. Since the park is fairly isolated from other federal lands, the closest jobs I could find in any case were at least 2 1/2 hours away.

I figured since I was trying to move to Cali, I might as well put in for a couple fire jobs. I mean hey, the state burns like crazy every year, lots of overtime and hazard pay, job security... Why not? So I put in for a permanent fire job. Although fire wasn't the direction I had planned to go - especially considering I am finishing my 2nd degree in wildlife - I do well in fire and really enjoy it.

Out of the jobs I put in for, I was offered... the permanent firefighting job. Surprise!

There wasn't even an interview. The lady in charge called my old bosses and they gave raving reviews; was left a completely unexpected job offer in my voice mail in September.

Here's the deal: Permanent wildland firefighter on the Stanislaus National Forest,which borders Yosemite National Park to the north. It is HUGE - about 900,000 acres (compared to Rocky Mountain, which is about 245,000 acres). It is one of the oldest national parks in the country.

But it's not just a normal permanent job. It's part of the Wildland Firefighter Apprenticeship (also known as "Jack") Program. Which has its own... quirks, compared to a normal permanent job.

The job starts March 1st, and I will generally work March-October, 6 months permanent season. I am excited to have winters off still! While I am in the program, my job consists of formal training as well as rotations doing different wildland firefighting duties. This year, around mid-March, I have my first month of the academy - this year it will be basic academy, next year is advanced. We take a bunch of fire classes, have physical fitness requirements we must pass when we first get there, as well as daily PT. I live in a dorm and the academy is in McClellan, CA at a converted air force base. Mid-April, I will be done with this. My first rotation is on a Type 3 engine out of Hathaway Pines, CA for 2010. In 2011, advanced academy is also a month; my rotation that summer will be on a helicopter crew. It will be either on the on-forest helicopter, or on Yosemite's helicopter. I will be "graduated" March 2012, at which point I will switch to a 12 month year-round permanent somewhere on the forest.

I told them straight up that I'm trying to move to Alaska, and they said they would help me do this once I'm done with the program. The "golden goose" of permanent status with the feds means "STATUS" - eligibility for jobs that you can't apply for without status. It means that next time I move for a permanent job, all of my moving expenses are paid! I won't have to sell everything I own in order to move to Alaska! Yay! Another nice surprise is I was rated at the highest grade offered for this position; it is lower than I am making working for special projects at Rocky, but it is higher than I would be ranked on a "normal" fire crew because I am not a squad boss yet. Yet another thing that worked out in my favor is credit for my previous experience: the program goes from either 2-4 years, with those extra years needed for folks to work on a hand crew, an engine, and a helicopter. I had enough previous experience, I was given almost full credit for 2,000 hours of previous experience, so I don't HAVE to work on a hot shot crew. This made me happy. :)

So it is a pretty nice gig. Not without some downsides though: The biggest part is that in order to take this job, Tim has to take Logan for a while. While I am required to live in the dorms, I obviously can't have a dog for a month. Once I move to Hathaway, I can get my own place and have him with me... but, working fire, I need to be flexible to either stay out late chasing smoke or actually fighting fires on the forest, as well as being dispatched where ever they send us. We will see how this works out, but Tim will probably have Logan for most of those 6 months. Also, I am now "owned" by the government. If I don't finish the program, I theoretically have to pay back the costs they spent on my training. I am also required to work for the feds for at least x number of years after the program. I am NOT required to stay in fire after I am done. So I may still be able to do wildlife, either in the "off" season during the winter, or after the program is finished.

I can focus on whatever I want within fire when I am there: fire ecology or aviation management for example. No, I do not get to FLY helicopters or airplanes. I would love to do helirappel (descending from a flying helicopter from a rope) but they don't do it on our forest. I'd probably sprain my ankle anyway. ;)

I originally was a little nervous about what I am getting myself into... I mean, I'm going to be 29. A lot of people from federal, local or state fire agencies participate; many of the folks are scrapping young men in their early 20s. I had wanted to make fire a career when I was 23 and in Montana... but when the funding for my job went away and I found another job elsewhere, I figured I would stick to once-a-year fire dispatches, with a different career focus. But you know what? I'm good at that stuff. It's a gorgeous area. It's a permanent job. I will miss my Rocky Mountains, but at this point, I am SO excited! Still a little nervous, and Tim will still be about 4 hours away. We will see how it goes.

Oh, and I'll be finishing my masters degree online, so add a few classes onto the complexity of my spring. Yikes! I have enough credits overall to graduate... but I didn't fill certain requirements. I had not planned on moving when I started the program, so it wasn't a big deal. BUT my advisor helped me make it work so I would be able to move.

So that's the scoop. I am finishing classes the next 2 weeks, packing up my stuff from my downtown Estes apartment and putting it in storage; driving to Michigan for Christmas and hang out for a couple weeks; and then heading to California. Tim found a new place to live, which is far from his work and I feel kindof bad... but it's affordable and he can take Logan. So I'll be moving in with him when I get out there, near Greenfield, Ca. I am not sure if I am spending New Years in Michigan or Colorado, but it probably won't be in California. I will definitely be in Cali by January 7th - Tim's birthday!

Hopefully that answers everybody's questions. I have a paper to write now, guess this was a good warm-up. :)

Tim's move to Cali; sitting and sweating

2009-07-14T14:13:00.002-07:00

Greetings from sunny, ridiculously hot California!

Why am I in California? Here's the long version:

Two weekends ago, Tim and I took a sweet hike through the Mummy Range in Rocky Mountain, his last jaunt in the North Fork before becoming a California boy (again); leaving the Chapin Pass trailhead at 4:00 am, we were already blanketed by clouds overhead. Fortunately, the 3:00 am rainstorm ended just as we began our hike, and didn't reappear as a vicious thunderstorm until after our peak bagging. We skipped Chapin to save on time, and get to the top of our final peak before the afternoon (when daily thunderstorms are to be expected). Got to watch a nice sunrise between Chapin and Chiquita... only to be socked in by a thick cloud, which sat on top of us, bringing with it some COLD weather, winds, and 20' visibility. I know better, but pulled an alpine faux pas (is that the spelling?) and didn't bring a warm hat or gloves. It was cold enough that I couldn't move my hands. At least I was wise enough to bring self-heating hand warmers so that I could at least unzip my backpack with my frozen claw-hands!

We summited Chiquita (13,069 ft) and Ypsilon (13,514 ft) in these conditions. As we decended into the saddle between Ypsilon and Fairchild, the clouds lifted and we could see for miles! As a bonus, the winds died down and the sun warmed my cold hands. Which was fortunate, because the hike up Fairchild was some serious rock scrambling, over both small and huge boulders. Brutal on one of my knees, to the point that it is still bugging me today. In any case, the last 500 feet elevation gain up Fairchild was fairly easy and the rocks were more forgiving and not nearly as steep; Fairchild was at 13,502 ft.

This is when the thunderstorm started rumbling from the west. Our goal to include Mummy and perhaps Hague's Peak in our jaunt was "cut short" - though I'm not sure you can call a 12.5 mile hike up 3 mountains as "cut short" in the first place! (I bought a snazzy fancy-pants watch that gives elevation, distance, heart rate, etc... seems fairly accurate, but can't be positive it was 12 miles.) Besides brief gropple and rain, we were able to decend down from Fairchild, down the broad saddle, past Crystal Lakes, and literally unlocked the Lawn Lake Ranger Cabin just as it began to rain. And rain. And rain. We lit a fire in the wood stove and relaxed at 4 pm. 12 hours of hiking! It's no surprise we were alseep by 6 pm. ;)

The hike out was a comparatively easy 6.6 mile downhill. Mummy Mountain will have to wait for another day when Tim comes out to visit.

Tim packed and we had a little party at the Rock Inn; it was a whirlwind of activity last week before we left. I had to work, since I already don't have enough time saved up yet to take off this entire week to be out in Cali; no rest for the weary!

With Tim's belongings packed neatly away in a 14' Uhaul, towing his truck behind us, we set out last Thursday in the evening. We learned quickly, from our drive up Trail Ridge Road, that a 14' Uhaul does not have much towing power up the mountains. Which kept our progress slow the entire trip; Berthoud Pass, Eisenhower on I-70, all the ups and downs in Nevada (apparently it's not flat along US 50), and Yosemite... Snail pace. Made it as far as Grand Junction on Thursday night and stayed with a former Rocky traildog, Conrad. I didn't even get to see him! We arrived at 2 am and then he went to work in the morning.

We plowed through Utah's heat and arrived at Great Basin National Park in Nevada on Friday evening. Unfortunately, we missed the cave tours for the evening and had a dilemma - camp out and lose time on our travel, without the guarantee to get into a cave tour in the morning (and not have any camping gear easily accessible in the Uhaul... there was talk of pulling out the mattress and sleeping on that...), or skip the awesome-looking caves and keep going. The less-stress option was to keep going. We stopped at 2 gas station in Nevada, neither of which had a Nevada road map; however, they had California, Oregon, and other random places far far away. Which was weird. We ate at the worst, strangest McDonalds ever with super space cadet girl getting our order wrong 4 freaking times... and some 15 year old girl looking like some 50s farm wife with her old fashioned hair and man, I felt like I was living in that HBO series True Blood with the way those people talked and acted in Ely, Nevada... I was convinced there were vampires nearby and we needed to find a place to hole up for the evening. Made it to Tonopah, which was just as bizarre as everywhere else. I am sorry, Nevada, I don't like you.

Saturday, made it through Nevada without any other freakishness and finally saw the lovely snow capped mountains in Mono Lake, California. By the way, the road between Mono Lake and Yosemite National Park is a HOOT! Like being on a rollercoaster. They made an otherwise straight and boring road, that much more exciting with its abruptly undulating dips and hills. Just goes to show, Nevada has no sense of humor with their even-terrained flat roads!

We breezed through Yosemite, although a day ahead of schedule, Tim wanted to get to Pinnacles and relax. The valley between Yosemite and Pinnacles - the valley where a lot of the big Cali cities are - was flat and boring, as I had been through there before on the way to and from wildfires. Agriculture. Yuck. Was happy to see another mountain range - although without any snow on its ~2-3,000 ft "peaks" - and drive into the oak savannah.

We may be out of the city, but are certainly not out of the heat. It's killin' me, folks. Seriously. I'm melting.

So my first and lasting impression is, Pinnacles is a nice place to visit...but sure as hell wouldn't want to live here. At least, not in July and August. I'm pretty sure today it was already 90 degrees by 10 am; supposed to be 105 degrees or so. I'm taking refuge in a coffee shop in Hollister, about 30 minutes away.

Pinnacles is a neat little park. Strangely, they have a pool at their campground. I enjoy the little lizards running around but have yet to be unpleasantly surprised by a rattlesnake. Intead, the reservior in the park was the waterpark for snakes of all different sizes. I told Tim, all I have to do is show my mom photos of these snakes (which I am going to do) and she'll tell me not to live there. ;) I did a 5.3 mile hike yesterday morning; hoped to get an earlier start, but didn't make it on the trail til 9:45. HOT. But I'm stubborn. It was a nice hike, steep climbs up steps carved into the rock were interesting... but I needed to make it quick. Managed the hike in 2 hrs 15 minutes by running nearly the entire length of the Condor Gulch Trail downhill. Good thing too, I am not used to this heat. Came out pretty well, barely a sunburn. ;)

We did take a quick trip to Trader Joe's in Monterey, my how I have missed Trader Joe's! It's amazing that it is actually almost COLD, with that ocean wind blowing. I'd much prefer that climate, but there's so many freaking people. Is there no happy median in this state!?

Lots of stereotypes have come true - such as the hotshot jackass crotch rocket riders that pop wheelies for no reason, almost get in accidents around curvy roads, and shooting up between lanes wrecklessly. I told Tim if he acts like that, he's yesterdays news. ;) Also, the ads in the local arts/music paper including things such as SmartLipo, face lifts, and EAR RESTRUCTURING! Seriously, they are EARS people! Ears! Ears do not need improvement. Sigh. But, the tee-hee bimbo blondes with fake boobs and bikinis are nowhere to be found, even on the ocean... it was probably 65 degrees, guess they keep to southern latitudes, and far from the interior heat. I wonder if fake boobs have an optimal temperature range??

Well, time to be hit by that oppressive heat and head back to the ranch. Literally. Tim is living/house sitting for his former boss, whom owns a nice chunk of sizeable property adjacent to the park. She owns a horse. Since she isn't around, I don't know the horse's name, so I just call him Horse. The house stays pretty cool, but I still found myself tossing, turning and sweating. Although the nights are much more comfortable, I still miss my 60 degrees or below Rocky Mountain evenings.

Tim's settling back in very easily, since he used to work here. I don't see myself willingly moving here, but the soonest would be January, if I can find a way to finish my degree at Colorado State either online, or something. Only have a couple classes left after Fall semester. Well, anything can happen between now and then. I hate long distance enough as it is, but did I mention Tim doesn't get cell phone service or internet at his new place? Guess it's back to courier pigeons and the pony express.

PHOTOS galore:

From Mummy Range Peak Baggin'

Mummy Range Peak Baggin'

From Tim's Going Away Protest

Tim's Going Away Party

From Cali or bust!

The Move

Has spring reached the Estes Valley??

2009-05-07T08:35:00.003-07:00

It's warm, it's windy, it's sunny, and we haven't had snow (and not just any snow, 3 FEET of snow) in 2 weeks. And there's a dandelion outside the coffee shop window.

Plus, I start work in 2 weeks. MUST be spring!

My term job, which I have been on furlough since October, expires in a couple weeks also. Is it weird that I kindof want to celebrate? I'll be making MUCH better money as a seasonal maintenance worker, with a lot less controversy and headaches. Look for me driving the military hi-low and replacing wood picnic tables with 1300 lb concrete tables! Ahhh, living the dream, ha ha!

I had one final exam this week, a big presentation to the Open Space advisory board for Fort Collins tonight, and my last final next Wednesday. I still have a big public relations plan to develop for my correspondence course (BLEH! worst distance learning course I have EVER taken) as well as my paper on paleohydrology to be published for Park Break. So, I don't quite see the home stretch yet!

I'm excited for classes next semester; Wildlife Disease Ecology, Evolutionary Ecology, and Wildlife Field Studies. Sadly, my internship playing with baby squirrels and raccoons ends next week also. The picture is of my fellow intern, Ali, feeding a squirrel with a syringe. That's when they were sweet and cute! Now they're little terrors, their razor sharp nails drawing blood. My hands look like I got into a fight with Edward Scizzorhands! The baby raccons are the cutest things EVER. Even when they were tiny, they are strong and stick to your clothes/skin like velcro. They are too young to pee or poop on their own (like baby kittens) and we have to rub their privates to get them to go... and once they start peeing, they totally relax and start making little cooing noises, while they just saturate tissue after tissue! It sounds gross but seriously, they depend on mom (in their case, on us pretending to be mom) to help them relieve themselves, so I'm sure it's the best thing ever when they finally get to go!

The biggest news, which is really BIG news, is that Tim is moving up in the world... up, and West! He snagged a rare permanent trails supervisor job at the park where he used to live, Pinnacles National Monument. It's great for him, but I have no desire to move there; I also don't believe in long distance relationships in most cases, unless you are married and there's no other comprimise. I'm very happy for him, but well you can see the dilemma this poses. He leaves in July. I have a good job and school for the next year here in Colorado, and I don't like the hot weather, no snow, too many people, too much pollution, and living on an earthquake fault line. I'm trying to get back to Montana, or Alaska. Hell, even Canada! It's a very small park and opportunities are limited for me. So, what does this mean?? No easy answers here! Will I end up in Cali?! Or is this the end of a 3 year relationship?! Dun dun DUHHHHh (dramatic music)!

Well, needless to say, I'm a little cranky. :P

Irrelevant, random distractions from homework

2009-04-01T13:40:00.005-07:00

I'm pregnant!

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

APRIL FOOLS!
I do this to Tim every April Fools Day, and he has never once fallen for it. I figure my mom might poop a cat, so I thought I'd give it a try. Then again, she knows me pretty well so she probably won't fall for it either. Now, if I were to say I just adopted 3 puppies, she'd probably believe that (because I probably WILL do that sooner than later!).

Speaking of puppies, I'm supposed to be busy doing homework but I feel like I accomplished a lot today so far, so I was inspired by Tara's facebook selection of her favorite dogs... So I started looking at Wikipedia dog breeds. Apparently, besides German Shepherds (the best dog in the world), I have a thing for rare northern breeds. So this is my puppy "wish list"; if nothing else, learn a little bit about some neat dogs that I had never heard of before. When I make it to Alaska some day and raise my own sled dogs, this might be much more relevant!

The Canadian Inuit Dog (Wikipedia): Like a malamute on 'roids
Here's a Canadian Breeder's website for them

Tamaskan Dog: Another sled dog, this one is from Finlad... looks wolfy but isn't a wolf

Czechoslovakian Wolfdog: shepherd with eurasian wolf generations ago

Utonagan: a mix of husky, german shepherd and malamute, what bliss! plus it looks like a wolf, but isn't a wolf. ;) sled-dog potential perhaps?

And the Northern Inuit Dog (different from the Canadian one): another husky, malamute, gsd mix... though in my quick search there is a debate about Inuit sled dogs vs hybrids just using the term inuit... oh well I like the pictures anyway. To be researched another day...

And of course, since the internet is full of random stuff... Tell me, have you ever heard of a breed of cat called a CHEETOH?! Pretty groovy looking. Too bad I don't have a good working relationship with felines (ACHOO)... I think cats know I'm allergic and they go out of their way to be friendly just to make me sneeze!

What else have I been up to? I did the "quinzhee or die" snow cave trip with my wilderness class about a month ago; I went to Mt. Rainier and Olympic National Parks a week later to study volcanoes, natural disasters and such; it was so much fun, pretty much non-stop learning and talking and traveling every day. Took me a while to make up for lost sleep from traveling and school work and being sick. Finally feeling pretty good though!

Also was psyched that my lovely doctor friend Kim, who sadly moved to Portland for her residency a year ago, was in town for a couple weeks! I got to meet her boyfriend, drink margaritas and watch basketball, and then hit up some delightful March powder at Breckenridge. She's my original telemark ski inspiration and her advice was soooo helpful, I'm mad at her for going home. ;) Just kidding (sortof)! The good news is she can come out to Colorado for a month for her residency next February! Yay! She wants me to come out to Portland for her 30th birthday to run a 1/2 marathon, but the furthest I've ever run is 7 miles... and overtraining recently gave me a mild case of plantar fascitis! We shall see, I have until June...

I started my unpaid wildlife rehabilitation internship a couple weeks ago. The baby squirrels are starting to arrive, but so far I've tended to the needs of some rather cranky waterfowl. The house finch is cute and scared to death, but I love giving him his little bowl of fresh fruit. He loves grapes! The pigeon got a new roommate, a dove... Pretty easy to deal with them. We have 2 Canada geese, and we have an uneasy cooperative relationship right now. As long as I feed them first, then leave them alone for a while before I come back to do any cleaning, they seem to almost tolerate my intrusion. Otherwise it's a lot of hissing. The real bastard is the swan! It's apparently a domestic swan and it's HUGE. I swear its head is up to my chest or higher! And he is NOT happy to see us. I took on the task of getting way back into his cage and washing it out with the hose; somehow, I made it out alive and he didn't even freak out on me. Stress kills wildlife pretty easily so it's very important to cause as little stress as possible... but what about me?! Having a bird that big hissing and coming after me stresses ME out! ;)

Tim and I went skiing in the Park last weekend after that awesome dump of snow refreshed the crusty, melting leftovers. We went up from Bear Lake Road towards Flattop Mountain, then took a right and followed the trail towards Odessa. Somebody put in an aweful trail that made NO sense, so we went a bit out of our way... eventually went past the Banana Bowl to the Drift and guess what, the wind was HORRIBLE. It LITERALLY knocked both myself AND Tim (big strong burly Tim!) over! I could barely breathe, asthma does NOT like cold air being violently forced into my lungs. I can't even guess how windy it was, probably some of those gusts at least 60+ mph. On top of that I'm not that great on skis; by the time I got to the Drift, between the wind and fatigue, there was no way I was gonna get any tele turns in. I was pretty cranky at that point. We turned around and our trip took about 4 hours total... literally 3 hours 40 minutes to get there, 20 minutes to get back!! I was pretty damned scared of how steep and through the trees it was on the trail we blazed ourselves, but I made it out ok and had fun. Gotta keep hitting the gym so I can go out a few more times for spring skiing in the backcountry!

Oh yeah, and Tim is becoming a conspiracy theorist. :P I despise some of these "reporters" that he has shown me, just so happens they are conservatives but even any liberal that is as derogatory or disrespectful just plain pisses me off. The loudmouth type, YELL first ask questions later type... think radio talk show. I wish I could remember this one arsch's name, but then again I don't want to promote him. The one thing I will admit is that the whole Sept 11th attack is mighty suspicious.... We watched this Architects and Engineers for 9-11 DVD and I'm sold, it sure as hell looks like those buildings were demolished via explosives INSIDE the buildings. Don't jump down my throat if you disagree.... watch the DVD. What really got me is that 3rd building that fell... the one that the planes did NOT hit... It sure as hell looks just like those videos of imploding old casinos in Las Vegas! What's up with that?!

He's also getting into this "New World Order" thing about Obama wanting to take over the world or something. I don't know much about it but I'm not sold on that. We also went and saw that Nicholas Cage movie, "Knowing"... I actually really enjoyed it. ;) You know they say the world is going to end in 2012 right? I figure, why freak out about it. If the Apocalypse comes, or if a big solar storm destroys Earth, there's not much I can do about it. So I have a lot of shit to do in the next 3 years. Then again, didn't some other prophecy say the world would end in 2018? Besides the naysayers saying the world would end in 1999, 2000, 2003, 2009... Ha ha. Maybe I'll just pretend it will end in 2015, a nice comprimise. Guess I got a lot of traveling to do between then and now, "just in case". Of course, my plan is to move up to Alaska and homestead. You know, grow my own food and gotta have chickens of course. This part I'm not kidding about. To live a self sufficient life, solar power and off the grid... Yeah, that's my dream.

Everybody is freaking out about the government taking over the car companies.... really, is socialism that bad? Canadians seem to enjoy it. ;)

That's what's floating around in my head for now.