2018 People of Big River Field Class

7/14/18               Today was the day that we finally got to go home. But not really. We left our Campground from the Deschutes National Forest campground around 7:30 a.m. and eventually stopped in Tri-Cities to do laundry. We were so close to home yet so far. I tried not to think about my bed, or my fridge, or my dogs that were less than an hour away.               While we waited for our clothes to wash we went to the Dollar Tree, where we had like 20 minutes left till our clothes would be finished washing, so I felt pretty pressured to find something quick. With the little time I had left, I found a laser pointer to mess with Omar, Pablo, and Junior. I also bought myself a bag of peach rings because I had only eaten two burgers and a couple granola bars earlier. I don’t know how long we stayed at the laundry mat, but I think it was ...

7/13/18               This morning, I ate my first breakfast that wasn’t made up of cereal or bagels. We actually got to eat bacon, eggs, and potatoes. Sadly, my morning seemed to be going a little too well, so then the turkey and ham decided to be jerks and run out. But I was able to make my last sandwiches out of bacon, eggs, and cheese, meaning that I got to eat a different type of sandwich for lunch. Nice.               We then met Tom Walker, a Fish Biologist, who supplied us with tools that I once again forgot the names of. We walked to Goose River, where we were tasked with loosening up the ground on the shore that was covered in rocks of all sizes. The point of doing all this was so that the ground could be covered in soil and mulch so it could be suitable for trees to be planted in. I’m not sure if we did alright or not, but it ...

7/12/18               This morning, the Heritage and White Swan students had the option of doing trail work or vegetation surveys. So I obviously chose the option that didn’t sound boring. Then Omar did the unthinkable and decided to choose the boring option and go with the vegetation surveys. So today was the day that my friend Omar became an adult. I don’t think I even know him anymore. His eyes seem so dull and he has this aura around him that reeks of responsibility. It’s scary. I just hope he recovers soon and that it doesn’t happen to me.               Anyways, when we got to the spot where we were to start on the trail, we met Jessie Larson, a Trails Technician. She provided us with handsaws and all kinds of tools to cut trees and branches. I say this because I don’t know any of the other tool names, even if I was there when they ...

7/11/18               This morning was probably the closest I have come to waking up warm so far, but unfortunately I had to wake up. But I made the mistake of waking up around 10 minutes late as I was just trying to stay warm and rest my eyes, and I accidentally fell asleep. Although it wasn’t noticeable that I had woken up, I was wide awake because I thought I had slept for half an hour or something. It reminded me of my earlier school and work days.               We visited the Redmond Air Center, where we met Mike Gomez, who works for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He didn’t have an interest in firefighter but got a summer job firefighting while he was attending college. Now he created the Hotshot Crew and provides fire training for wildfires. This made me wonder about whether I will ever change my mind, which sounds kinda scary as I am hopin...

7/10/18               Although we spent most of the day driving around in the vans today, we did get to go to Lyles Falls Fisheries, which was super cool to visit. While we were there we got to see Shaun Bechtol show us the fishnet building, where they use hydraulics to trap the fish in the river and lift them up along with water in the building that had a 40-feet hole. Then they poured water into it so they could jump into a slide leading to the trailer where they inspected them. I had a pretty good spot looking straight into the slide, as I could see the fish jump into it and flop their way through the water. In the trailer, we got to see Shaun inspect the fishes and tag their fins, take a genetic sample from their tail, and put a small tracker in them. I thought the idea of the tracker was cool as it is meant to keep track of the fish in the area and make sure that they are doing alright and to be aware of the place...

7/9/18            Today we went to the White Salmon Field Office, where we met Jeanette Burkhardt. She showed us the White Salmon River, where we got to see raft boats go through there, but unfortunately they didn’t go through the crazier and possibly a little dangerous yet fun looking side where there was mini waterfalls.              Then we also got to see where Condit Dam used to be as construction started in 1912 and finished in 1913. It was taken down in May, 2013, but it was collapsed slowly over a year because all the sediment would kill all the fish downstream. So I thought it was pretty cool when she talked about how they rescued the fish that were downstream and moved upstream so that they wouldn’t be harmed. I never thought that there was so much to learn about the fish in the river because I thought most of the important work done with fishes was in the ocean.       ...

7/8/18               My two sweaters and double pajama pants were not enough as I kept on waking up in the morning, struggling to keep myself warm in my sleeping bag. I thought it would be much better as this was the first time I had slept on an air mattress while camping. I realized how wrong I was as I found myself just wishing for it to be time to wake up so I could finally warm up. When I finally hid myself in my sleeping bag and I was somewhat warm, it was finally time to wake up, but I still wanted to get out of there. We started off with a hike up a hill, with a trail that was a little steep and full of dirt. By the time I finished dying halfway up, I kept going and we finally made it up to the hill. It was pretty worth it as I got to Mt Adams from a better view and it felt super peaceful, especially with all the trees around us.   When it was finally ...