The Rogue

From the Wallowas, I was home for one night before taking off for a 5 day trip on the Rogue river. A group of 10 of us with 3 gear boats and a paddle raft departed Almeda campground near Grants Pass. On the first day we were treated to Osprey and Eagles as well as Turkey vultures as we got on our way. We floated through the first few miles and got out to spot Rainie Falls. Two boats took the middle shoot which was of slightly more difficulty. The paddle raft and our other boat took the fish ladder. We went a few more miles to Whiskey Creek and pulled off for the night.

We had a great night with delicious food and appetizers and lots of fun with cards and conversation. We decided to leave fairly early the next morning and moved along the river. A perfect day led us to Battle Bar and we pulled off the river for a delicious Mixican night. Margaritas, Fajitas and chips and dip were the treats of the night, as well as an impromptu dance party in a shelter just up the trail from our camp. We stayed at the camp for one day. We all slept in and then decided to cross the river and hike to Zane Grey's Cabin. We then hiked back to the boats, grabbed lifevests, and headed up river about a mile and a half. 7 of us decided to jump in the river and float back down to the boats. It was great.
That night after a delicious chili, we relaxed playing cards and watched a bear across the river catch a fish.

We took off early the next day with the goal of putting lots of water under our oars and reaching Tate creek. As we began, we spooked a black bear from the edge of the river and watched it rush up through the bush. We then scared another, and another, ...and just when we thought we wouldn't see any more, a Mom and two cubs slowly made their way away from the water and into our view. We stopped at the ranch near Mariel and then moved on to Blossom Bar. It was flawless. All of us made it through like champions and then floated the rest of the way to camp. At camp, the males walked up the trail to a waterfall/natural water slide and each took our turn feeling the cold rush of the water. When we returned we preformed one of the most importatnt tasks ever, cheap beer taste off. The winners: Tecate and Pabst. I thought I loved Coors, now I know that I should be drinking Pabst. We again played cards until the light went away.

The next morning we awoke to the sound of a bear eacting blackberries on the opposite side of the river. As we watched, a cooler came floating down the river. It had been preceded by a few peices of debris that we were not able to identify. We jumped in our partially deflated paddle raft and gave chase. We were able to recover the cooler and brought it back to our beach. A dam had breached up river and the river level rose. We were lucky enough to be warned by boaters the night before, but a camp was not so lucky.

We then packed and took it easy on the way out. It was a great trip on the river with no hiccups. The group was close, the food and drinks were incredible and the water treated us right. It was a very laid back crew and trip.

We saw river otters, 5 bald eagles, 12 bears (3 cubs), deer, osprey and turkey vultures. There were also numerous jumping fish. We were also treated to meteors every night. I saw at least 5 each night. It was incredible seeing the sky with nothing to pollute it. We even had a new moon to boot. I forgot how full of stars the night sky is. The entire sky has light in it, and the milky way is an absolute full band of light that fills the middle of the sky. I slept in my sleeping bag everynight without shelter and was as content as any 5 nights of my summer.

Last day in the Wollawas

I woke up at 7 and boiled some water for tea and warm powdered goats milk. I ate my breakfast and packed up camp. I filled my camel back and two Nalgenes and was on the trail by 8.
I decided to hike down West Lostine river, and that meant that I would need to climb up over a pass. I made it to the ridge at 8:40 and was down to the other side by 9:15. I walked along the bank of Miniam lake and was impressed by the size and beauty. I passed a few hikers that all made mention that I had made it an early start. The silence of the trees and the singing of the birds entertained me for most of my journey. As I approached the end of the lake, a couple that had just finished bathing were dressing and caught slightly off guard by me, the silent single hiker. I would not have noticed except that they audibly reacted to me. They were fully clothed, but just barely.

I then decided that I wanted to hike at a pretty fast clip, just to see how fast I could hike. I moved my sleeping pad to a more strategic location on my pack and started moving. I made it to copper creek trail and saw a family there at 10:33 and was at my car by 11:25. I was alone in the parking lot and actually found a beer in my trunk that I had forgot about. The best part is that it had stayed cold from the chill of the night before and not having direct sunlight on it. A COLD BEER! I changed clothes and snacked a bit as I cleaned my car. A few forest service workers came along and asked me about my trip. It was nice to have a conversation. I drove into Joseph to wait for my friend to come out of the wilderness.

I walked around downtown and looked at the little shops. I then drove over by Wollawa lake and found a public park/swimming area. At the park there were many families, sunbathers, a woman playing her guitar softly on a picnic blanket, and a group of high school kids swimming with inflated innertubes. I soaked my feet for a good thirty minutes and then went back to town. I then sat outside the bowling alley and watched a movie on my laptop as I borrowed their wi-fi network in the shade of their building. I then found a small bakery and ate a cookie and found that they had live music in the evening.

I went back and forth between town, the lake, Chief Joseph's grave, and snoozing for most of the afternoon. As the sun began to go down, I decided to go to the lake and enjoy it at dusk. I played my guitar in the stillness and had one audience member. An old man took a folding chair into the water and listened to me as he drank a beer.

I then went back to town and listened to the live music from 8-10. At ten I drove by where I picked up the book and my friend Talia was there. They were finishing up a bbq. I was given a plate of food and I shared with all present my dino bones and other rocks from my travels. As I went to leave, they invited me to stay in the bunkhouse. It was nice to have a mattress for the first time in over 25 days. I hung out with the forest service workers and it was like being amongst my brethren. I wish I could have spent more time there.

I woke up early and started by drive back home. I stopped in Portland to visit my friends and have food. I finally got home at around 6 pm for the first time since June 28. What a great vacation.

Backcountry Poetry

Morning Hike

Watching the sun paint the peaks in sunlight on an early morning hike. Trying not to be in teh direct beams yourself. It acts as almost a spotlight, illuminating the beauty of the moment. Finally it pours upon you, but it is okay, the amazing show is over and now that the house lights are up, you see you are among flowers , surrounded by trees and amid beautiful rocks.

Backpacking thoughts

There is a time while backpacking that the listlessness and the excited nervous enegy is over. you pack feels like an infinite weight, sweat is everywhere letting you know of any cut, scratch , welt, and abrasion, stinging its hello.
At that moment you wonder if you packed two Christmas hams or any other food you could magically eat and make the pack light again. no dice. Would you trade that moment? Not I.

Mosquitoes

The meadows in a glaciated valley are so quiet and so pure. The green is what suburbanites dream their lawn will look like, but they will never achieve it. The squeaking of ground squirrels lets you know you are not alone, even though you have not seen a human for a few hours. All at once you realize you have sat down and removed your pack to rest. you sit and drink in the surroundings. you sit on a rock and lean your pack against it. Maybe if you eat, the load will lessen. flies and mosquitoes buzz around you not biting, but checking you out. Two or three finally bite to keep you awake and you are up and on your way.

Eagle Cap Day 2

8-3-10

I woke up at 7:00 to an alarm but stayed in the tent until 8pm. I at a breakfast of granola and powdered goats milk. I consolidated my bag, filled water, and was on the trail by 8:37. As I approached the ridge, there was a group of high school kids with one advisor sliding in a snow field. I hike past them and watched them hike up and slide down a few times as I took breaks on the steep slope. Once I hit the ridge at 9:15, I figured it would be easy sailing. It was gorgeous. I had a great view of the valley I hiked the day before and I was able to see all glacial features that I cover in my classroom. I really wished at that moment that some of my students were there to see. I hit the summit at 10:00. I stayed on top, and read my book, ate some snacks and watched some birds until 11. I then took a long break on the ridge looking south. As I continued down, I then found another group coming up the trail. They asked me a few questions and it turned out they were a high school group and they had me do a quick geologic interp for the group. It was nice.

I made it home by noon nad then I tried to get some sun and do a crossword puzzle. I finished my book as well. After I had overheated I crawled into my tent and slept until 3 then I decided to explore the meadow at upper lake. I walked to a waterfall and then layed in a bit of grass in the meadow. I looked around and found that there were shooting stars everywhere. The flowers are one of my favorites. I then put my feet in the lake and looked at the clouds. I hadn't played "what does that cloud look like" in a long time, but I really enjoyed it.

At 4:00 I went back to camp and took another nap. I slept until 7. I woke up and ate dinner. I had aquired two neighbors and one chose my same grove of trees. I watched the sky turn colors and just enjoyed being in the backcountry. I then stowed my pack and almost lit a fire to pass the time, but instead decided to write some poetic thoughts. I then went into my tent and slowly fell asleep.

Eagle Cap Wilderness Day 1

On August 1st, I drove from Boise to Joseph and arrived around 4pm. I found the hurricane trailhead, suggested to me by my friend who was the ranger and also found a campground nearby. I debated hiking in, but I had no map. I decided to wait until 8 am and visit the ranger station and then hike into the mountains. I went back to Joseph and tried to find Wi-fi. I found it outside the bowling alley. Why the lanes have it, I wasn't sure. Just as I was ready to leave, I decided to call my friend one more time. She answered and told me that she had just returned from the wilderness. We met up in Joseph for a drink and dinner. After catching up, she told me that she would recommend a different trail. She said that if I hiked up the hurricane creek trail early for about 3 miles, there are great sites, and then I can drive to the Two pan trailhead and hike into the lakes Basin.
She told me to follow her back to her place and grab a map and book. We went to a local grocery and I bought two disposable film cameras. She led me to the Forest Service bunkhouse and told me that when I get out of the wilderness, I can come back and drop off the book.
I drove to the hurricane campground and then set up my tent and pack by headlamp.

I woke up at 6 and got to the trailhead by 6:50. For whatever reason I felt like running. I ran the first mile of the trail and then any uphill section after that. I made it to Slick Rock by 7:42 and then back by 8:35.

I drove through Enterprise on my way to Two pan trailhead, and got duct tape and jolly ranchers. The road construction slowed me down, but I started walking by 11:20 and stopped at 12:00 for lunch. I made it to Lakes Basin by 2:50 and realized I had forgot ropes. I finally set my pack down at 3:00. I set up at upper lakes and watched a group swim in a waterfall as I snacked on trailmix and jerky.

I took a nap from 4-6 then walked around Upper and Mirror Lake. I chose well. Mirror Lake was like a city. There were tents every 10 feet, and i had a grove of trees at upper lake to myself.

I finally cooked dinner at 7:15, but made too much. I had been laughing about fires in the backcountry, but actually made a fire to burn my leftovers. It helped with the mosquitos as well. I read my book and then went to bed at 9:00.

Last day and trip to Boise.

There was a group of people going to a seperate dig site and camping out for the weekend, so there were some early morning goodbyes and then decided it was too muddy to hit the hill. Three of us walked around the gift shop adn picked out some posters, and found out that they were sold out except for the display. I bought them to put in my classroom. We did get up the hill for afew hour in the morning. I had the three of us work on trying to pedestal a few bones so that could get field certified intermediate, but a staff memeber came up and told us to work on something else. It is not the end of the world. We spent the last hour doing paperwork and mapping on the hill and I showed my co-workers how to take some readings.

At lunch I said goodbye to a couple others that were leaving for Denver, and then went back to the hill. In the afternoon, we finished our paperwork, and tried to take out some of the bones that had been photographed and mapped. I destroyed two of them that had been exposed to the weather. We were able to glue most of them back together, and I am happy that my co-workers were patient with me.
We wrapped up on the hill and then I went and broke the bank in the gift shop. My classroom will be fun next year.

I went back to my campsite and packed up my gear, but left my sleeping bag in my tent. I then drove into town and played cards, showered and ate at the intern house. I stayed up fairly late, and then woke up early Saturday.
I drove 4 hours to Jackson and had lunch with a friend from college. I chatted for a few hours and then headed to Boise. I was angered again at the lack of camera. There were moose and deer on the road as well as gorgeous views of the Tetons. The amazing sunset near the end of my drive made me happy as well.
Currently I am in my buddy John's house and doing a load of laundry before leaving tomorrow for Joseph, OR for a 3 day backpacking trip in the Wollawa and Eagle Cap Wilderness.

Thursday

On Wednesday, the water cooler we put in the back of the SUV leaked. I had my camera on teh floor of the back of the vehicle. For the morning, my camera was not doing well. In the dry, hot environment, by the afternoon it was working a little better, and was working perfectly in the evening. I took some photos of the moon over my tent, and then ran out of battery power. I tried to charge my re-chargable batteries, and put them back in, but the camera did not work. I also took a co-workers batteries and put them in the camera, and it still didn't work. I am pissed.

Thursday morning it rained so the roads were impassable. Our boss told us he had a project that needed done for a while. We were to dust all of the exhibits that are behind glass. The first 1/2 of the museum tour is a walk through time. It starts at the Pre-cambrian and goes to the Triassic. There were a couple dozen cabinets that had fossils in them and glass shelves that needed dusted. We got to hold all of the fossils that most can't and took some fun photos. I didn't because my camera broke! Luckily I have friends that will share. The afternoon we went up to WBS and tried to continue to pedestal.

After work, my friends decided that we should go to dinner. Some of them were leaving Friday and it would be our last night together. We all went to Butch's place in kirby and all six of us ate a buffaloe burger with cheese. It was delicious. We stayed chatting at the table until they closed. I then went back to the intern house and watched a video.

I asked my boss about getting an intermediate field certificate, but he said it would only happen if he watched me plaster something. Right now, there is nothing ready. We shall see. I did get basic certification today. At least I won't walk away empty handed.

Day 14

Today, five of us went to WBS to try and pedestal and remove some bones that were in the quarry. Each of us took a seperate place and dug. I broke a bone into 7 different peices that were smaller than my hand, so I had a puzzle to put together early in the day. As I dug, I continued to find small fragment after small fragment and stopped my digging in case they were related. I literally could pick up two rocks and one of them had a frag. As I fought the bones, my coworkers found teeth of Sauropods and Therapods. After lunch we came back up and asked our boss to come and take a look. He told me that half of my pieces weren't that big of a deal and I could keep them, but a few looked like bones to keep. I labeled many and was not able to remove any, but I cleaned up my side of the quarry very well. Tonight I am going to a fellow volunteers house for dinner and conversation. I am excited about it. Tomorrow is my second to last day, and I may get certified in the field. Tomorrow evening we are going to barbeque together and then paint some signs late at night. Friday may be a shortened day and a few people are taking it off. I can't believe that I only have 2 days left. I love this work.

You can see how far you are moving each day. It sometimes is hard to see how far you have made a dent in the big picture, but it is satisfying to know that you are making progress toward your goal everyday. I enjoy the work and could see me getting into this work in the future. I have loved the workers here and appreciate every opportunity given me here at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center.

Day 13

Today started with a group of us going to site BS and trying to remove bone. There was a DFD (dig for a day) of a father and son from Detroit. They were great workers and found a couple of bones, even one we couldn't identify that was good sized. The morning was taken up by completing the rest of the paper work on the bones: photographing, mapping, and total stationing. We finished all the paperwork at noon and went down for lunch.
After my peanut butter and honey sandwich, we went back to BS and took out 6 bones. We then brought them back to the musuem and put them into collections. I perused the gift shop after work today and I am pretty sure I am going to spend too much money my last day.
After work I had 4 co-workers come over and enjoy the pool at the campground with me. We then went out to ice cream, and came back to a full moon. As I am typing this, the wind has picked up and there is threatening lightening on the horizon. I hope that I will be able to get to sleep tonight though there is a chance of hail.
I was invited to supper by a fellow volunteer tomorrow, and am excited to to chat with them over a meal. I am pretty sure I will be at WBS tomorrow, and I hope to be certified in the field by the end of the week.

Hike plus day 12

On Suday I woke up late and checked my email. As I did, a friend messaged me and asked why I wasn't hiking. I decided to go on a hike. I drove back to the paintrock canyon. I filled up 4 liters of water to take with me, and made a couple of peanut butter and honey sandwhiches. These have been my staple diet the last two weeks. I started the hike through a burned hillside made of silty soil and dry dusty tracks. I walked about a mile and then came to a ranch. The ranch looked like a paradice get away for rich people. There was a large building with walls of glass and little cabins that looked like tree houses attached to it. I really wanted to check it out. I walked by a rancher and kids loading hay bales onto a trailer and gave a big wave. They waved back and on I went on my hike. Trail started on BLM land and then it did 2 miles on private land to get back to BLM. I am going to write the ranch owners a postcard for letting me hike there. The trail just follows the paint rock creek as it cuts its course toward the bigger rivers.

The rocks were great. The formations with reds, blacks, oranges, yellows, and greens in the rock made me want to hike with my head looking up the whole time. Only toward the end did that become a problem when the trail became rocky and was full of tripping hazards. I was shocked that I did not see wildlife. There were fairly open hillsides in sun and shade with cliffs and trees to hide near. I saw nothing bigger then a meadow lark. The birds were great companions. Their songs kept me walking along at a fairly good clip broken up with slight interuptions when I would catch glimpses of the creek running swiftly.

I ran out of water in my camelpak about a mile before the trail ended. The only other water I was two Nalgene bottles full. I rationed on the way back. I was fine until I turned a corner and saw a black body that belonged to an angus cow. For some reason my body and mind were fine with the shady character until I saw the eyeball. It was like a slow motion video as my eyes scanned across teh body and saw the eye, I jumped and yelled. He was close enough to touch. As I jumped and yelled, the bull did nothing. I walked away briskly but really should not have worried about it. He was just eating his cud.

As I exited, there was a Dad with two girls going in with backpacks. I'll bet they had a nice and peaceful journey. I did the 14 miles in 4 hours. There was little elevation gain, and my body felt good the whole time.



I only stopped to eat one sandwich. I ran out of water before I got to my car too, so as soon as I reached my vehicle I went to find water. There was an archeological site near by and I decided tto check it out. It turns out there is a campground there with a beautiful snow fed creek and good drinking water. I drank two Nalgene's full of cool water and then dipped my tired feet in the creek. It was heavenly.



When I returned to Thermopolis, I went to the city park , made some phone calls and enjoyed the shade. I then went to the intern house and watched a video with co-workers.



Today I assisted on a dig for a day. I did like the family of four and enjoyed working with Kelsey. We gave the fastest complete tour of the museum I have seen. Go teamwork. I am now sitting in my campground soaking up the sun after I bathed in the warm waters to revitalize my weary legs and feet. I am going back to the intern house tonight to do my laundry and watch yet another movie. I have to decide what to eat. I am out of soups in a can and have just a cup of plain pasta left. Maybe I will go find a salad.

I only have 4 days left. I am going to try and get certified in the field and lab, but I may run out of time. We shall see. I am thouroughly enjoying the experience and may have to try and go back to school in the next 5 years for Paleo. It is a dream job.

kids dig.

Today we had 11 kids and 6 adults at the museum. We started at the the dig sites and after we made sure everyone had a flake of bone to take home, we went to the Sundance and found belemnites and crinoids. We then went to a park for lunch. We had two kids get wet at puddles around the swing set, and one fell off the swing and cut his back pretty badly. We then took them to the casting and molding lab. I had not yet seen it. There are body parts of random dinos hanging out as well as a mold of a Triceretops skull. I want one. Supposedly we may be able to make some molds of smaller bones aor teeth. We shall see.
We finished the day in the lab. It was not too bad. I can definitely tell that I have educator training. Not that any of the staff on the hill didn't handle situations well, it is just funny how there are little things you can do to redirect a late elementary or middle school aged student without making them feel bad or alerting the entire group.
After the dig, we went to a health food store for fruit smoothies. It was heavenly. Tomorrow I am not sure of my agenda, but I think it will involve hiking.

Day 10

Today we had 4 dig for a days but one was late. I rode up with 2 coworkers and watched them give the tour of SI. Each of the 4 times I have seen the tour, it has been with a different staff member. It is fairly different each time. We then got up to the site and dug for a few hours. I also helped get teh total station and surveying done for the site BS.
The late arrival was a woman from Boulder Colorado in her late 20s who was looking for a dig but slept in. She and her host stayed on the hill alone and worked through lunch. I went down with the rest of the crew. After lunch, Hallie (a coworker) and I were dropped off at BS to finish collecting data and mapping. The late dig and host were still there. After finishing up our map and data, we decided to explore the opposite hill side looking for petrified wood and a blue bone oxydized by the sun. We found both, walked back and realized nobody had remembered to pick us up. Luckily Nick called the office from the hill as he found reception and they sent a truck.

As I left the center there was an impromptu meeting in the parking lot as our bossman Greg pulled up. He told me to go to the Kids dig tomorrow. I had planned a hike, but decided to get all the dino bones I could while being here. It should be a blast. There are 5 staff members to 11 kids. I think I will survive.

Day 9

Yesterday in the morning I spent most of my time labelling bones on the hill and putting them in the book. Today my entire morning consisted of mapping the bones that we labelled yesterday. We set up the total station (surveying equipment) which gives the bones a 3-D place in the quarry and can be mapped as such. We then took measurments from 2 stakes and found drew them into a map of the quarry. I really enjoy doing this part.


In the afternoon I finally got to learn how to jacket. We took burlap sacks, papertowels, and plaster and went up to BS to plaster a bone. We wrapped it in wet papertowel, then drenched the burlap in Hydrocal (plaster) and basically paper mached it in.

We spent the rest of our time mapping WBS and trying to not break anything. You almost can put a brush in the ground and not find bone. I broke at least three today just by trying to move out of someones way. The bones are everywhere and fragile. I basically feel that the quarry will be half glue by the time we are done with it.

Tomorrow there are 4 dig for a day families, so all of us will be with one. I am happy to have had two days without the families. Tomorrow afternoon, I may skip the tour and move right into the lab.

I am leaving to go watch Toy Story 3 in the local theatre with co-workers. I can not believe that I only have a week left of this. I am almost sure I will come back.

Day 8

I began the day with a field crew knowing we would not have to deal with a kids digs today. I started to dig, and then we all realized together that no body had kept records of the bones found in CB. I grabbed the notebook and went to town. It took 3 hours to label every bone and fragment with whiteout and sharpie and put them in the book. I also took a few photos with a ruler and a whiteboard identifying the sample as well as giving a direction on it. I finally ran out of white board marker. There is still about 3 hours of work to go into photos and mapping the site. That may take place next week.

A group of people went up and jacketed the bone I had been working on. Since I seemed to be very good with the bones records, I stayed behind and cleaned up the site.

I then rained right at noon. That meant that we would spend an afternoon in the lab. I finally got time to work on my airtool skills. I did carve into the bone (a camarasaur fallange) a few times, but did make lots of progress. It felt good to put 4 hours in on a bone. I love it all here. I wish I could work here everysummer.

Maybe someday, I will.

Day 7 - Dig for a day

I tagged along for another dig for a day. I have now watched 3 co-workers host families and lead them through the different steps. The only problem is that it has been 3 days in a row. I would love a day with just workers again in the field so we could actually jacket the bones and/or give me a full day in the lab. As soon as the families show up, I turn into a teacher. Not that I mind that, and I have gotten many compliments on my work from families and from co-workers, I just want to spend my summer with dinos.
Today we didn't find anything new except fragments for the kids to take home. I did find tons of Belemnites at the Sundance and will bring them to my classroom for viewing. I also worked for about an hour on a bone with the dremmel. It was nice and relaxing to get off my feet and to tune out the world for the last hour.

Tonight a camper asked me to look up lyrics online for him to sing with the camp host. I think I will get some beer from the deal, and maybe get up on stage once or twice this week. Last night a family asked me if I liked spaghetti and dropped off an entire plate of garlic bread, spaghetti and green beans, plus a full glass of lemonade. I must look lonely here. I AM NOT ! I HAVE FOSSILS TO KEEP ME COMPANY!!!! (and my co-workers are cool too).