Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend was a busy one. It's been non-stop busy since Thursday afternoon; and, at this point, I'm running on fumes. I've worked almost 70 hours since the 24th and haven't had a day off yet. 

I'm FUCKING EXHAUSTED!

Hopefully I'll be able to take it fairly easy on Tuesday and just finish out my 40 hours then and take all of Wednesday/Thursday off.

As I sat down to type this I got a call telling me that the guy taking my truck would be here sometime tomorrow. Nothing like letting me know at the last minute to really round out the week. I now have to scramble to clean out the truck to make sure it's ready for him to pick up whenever he decides to arrive. I guess tomorrow he's going to call and give me a smaller window of time for when he will be here. How considerate, right?! As if I have nothing better to do with my day than to make sure I am here with the truck and wait for him to arrive. I LOVE IT!

Saturday's Finders

Anywho, that abrupt little conversation is really just getting on my nerves right now, but let's not let that overshadow the most excellent weekend I had here at Beaver Lake. As much as I enjoy the maintenance aspect of this job, I genuinely love working with the visitors- especially the kids. One of my favorite things about this little park is that the kids here are actually kids. They run around the park, ride bikes, make up games, catch frogs, and not a single one is sitting around on phones or electronics at all and I absolutely love that. The highlight of every week here is the medallion hunt. I make these little tree cookie necklaces that say Beaver Lake and then the year in some form. Then, on Saturday mornings, I take four or five and hide them together somewhere in the park. Throughout the day, I post fun little clues that start out pretty vague and slowly get a little more specific as the day goes on. The kids LIVE for the medallion hunts every summer and will spend the entire day combing the park for them. The follow me around when they get stuck and try to get more clues out of me and boy are they persistent. It took them five clues and almost the entire day to find Saturday's medallions, but they were so excited when they found them (you could hear their excited screams all throughout the park). Being that this was a holiday weekend, I his a special medallion for Memorial Day on Sunday (per the kids' request as many of them were leaving early on Monday).  I watched all of the usual finders walk right past the medallion several times, but these two first timers went right for it. They are clearly masters of the hunt or have some medallion hunting super powers. 

Memorial Day Medallion Hunt Clues

Saturday's Clues

Memorial Day Finders

There were so many familiar faces in the park this weekend and everything went smoothly. My little arsonists are getting the hang of things and I got so many compliments from campers about how amazing Sebastian and Mike (our camp host) are and how clean and safe our park felt. I am so happy to have received some good feedback in my first weekend on the job. Things are slowly starting to sort out on my end and I'm feeling more comfortable in my new role every day. One of the arsonists is off to an interpretive training this week and my boss is going to be visiting the park this Friday (no pressure). Hopefully a lot more of my questions will be answered during his visit and I'll be even more comfortable with what I'm doing. There are definitely some kinks that need ironed out, but all of that will get taken care of with time. I'm trying really hard not to stress about little things and especially not about things I can't really control. I keep telling myself that I'm doing the best I can and if I'm not trained on something, it isn't my fault and it can wait until I am. 

All in all, I'm positive this will be a great summer. 

HOW NEAT IS THAT?!

Oh Deer!

The lilacs are starting to bloom!

Yesterday was SO much better than the days before!
I'm finally starting to get answers to my more pressing questions and getting some training at least scheduled. I still have some frustrations with the way I was thrown into the job without guidance at all and the fact that the park was not set up all the way when I arrived (with some things needing to be done that I am not yet trained to do), but I am slowly but surely working through all of that. Even though those frustrations are still there I am feeling less overwhelmed by them and they seem more manageable. There is an end in sight and soon (hopefully) all will be resolved and I will be able to move on to other tasks.

My little arsonists are slowly getting the hang of things around here as we head into a busy Memorial Day weekend here at the park. This is a learning experience for us all and with time I'm sure we will get to a place where most things run without issue.

SUCH pretty eggs!

That being said, they do still have quite a lot to learn. For example: I had them go around and clean up the picnic shelters so they would be ready for visitors to use over the weekend. I went up to check on things and to take some pictures of the lake from the shelters to find that they had taken it upon themselves to move this robin's nest. They were quite proud of themselves and thought that they had helped the birds by moving them from a visitor use area. they felt pretty bad when they found out that you are not supposed to move the nest once there are eggs in them. We quickly returned the nest to its original resting place and I'm hoping that the momma robin was not to offended by their mistake.

My high-tech deer protection set-up

We planted some little sapling trees, but I forgot to take pictures of them. I'll have to take some another day when we go to water them so I can document their changes as they (hopefully) take root in their new home and leaf out. After planting the baby trees, one of the arsonists came and told me that a little fawn was curled up in one of the campsites. With so much tall grass and forested areas around the park, it was strange to see that the momma deer had left her baby out in the open like that. With campers arriving to other sites that night and to that one the next day, I was worried the deer would be hurt or that the mom would be too scared to come back for her baby. I called North Dakota Fish and Game to ask what I should do and she insisted that the fawn was find and the momma deer would come back for it after dark. Because I was concerned for its safety, she suggested marking its location so that campers would at least know to steer clear of the area. I couldn't find cones, so wet floor signs were the next best thing. After a few hours I drove back by to check on him and he was gone, so I collected the signs and went on home. A few minutes later, our camp host called me to say that the fawn wasn't gone, it had just moved to another site. He was concerned that it looked a bit deformed and said he saw the momma deer come back for it but she licked him a few times and then kicked him in the head before running off. I was concerned that it was sick or injured when we found it, but Fish and Game insisted that it was just pretending and would be fine. He was gone this morning, so one can only hope that the momma deer got over herself and came back for her baby. I just hope that the little guy is ok and doesn't suffer out there alone or anything. Fingers crossed no more baby deer get left in the campground this summer!

I hope you're ok little baby deer! 

Most of my deer friends over the years have been dead. This is a nice change.

 HOW NEAT IS THAT?!?!

Diving Into "The Dumpster Fire"

Today is only my third day as Park Manager and already I am a bit overwhelmed. In any other position, when you start a new job you have a supervisor or some other employee there for at least a brief period to orient you to the various aspects of the position and make sure you are set up for success with all of your work duties and expectations. That, unfortunately, is not the case here. With the department shuffling around staff right at the start of the busy season, I am being thrown into things to fend for myself (remember the dumpster fire I mentioned last time.....its proving to be an ongoing thing). So, huge shout out to the three employees who decided that this was a great time to retire instead of doing so in the fall or winter so that this could have been settled then and everyone would have been better prepared for the busy season. But, here we are. This is the hand we have been dealt, so we've just got to play through and hope for the best. 
Thank goodness I worked here last year and have a handle on the daily operations of the park and what all the seasonals need to do each week. I can't imagine how much more stressful it would be to get thrown into this position having never even visited this park! So at least I have that going for me.

The dumpster fire in all its glory:

• 

  
  

  The park's amazing maintenance guy, Steve, also retired this year, which leaves all maintenance supervision up to me. One of my seasonals is a "maintenance ranger", but it is his first time working in this type of job, so I've still got to get him trained up on how things work around here.
• I'm two weeks out (at least) from getting my park cell phone
• My computer set-up in the office is barely functional (I've got someone coming down on Thursday to help with that though)
• Its days before Memorial Day weekend and the buoys are not out at the swim beach (apparently they should have been put out by May 15th, but nobody did it) and I haven't yet had boat/trailer training to put them out myself. My current options for that are to just not have them out or get in the freezing cold water while its 30something degrees and windy as fuck out to place them myself. But, SURPRISE SURPRISE, they are old as shit and the chains are rusted through so those need to be replaced first.
• I don't have a purchasing card, so I can't go out and buy things (like the chains) that the park needs until that comes in.
• The firewood shed was removed before a replacement arrived, so the firewood bundles were outside and got rained on last week. (my executive decision was to throw them all into the shop for now so at least people can buy some dry firewood this weekend)

• 

  The beautiful truck they are stealing from me

  They tore down an old vault toilet but haven't finished the replacement, and I have no idea when that will be done. I don't even have the keys to it- the contractor person is holding them hostage.
• I have one little Kubota among three employees because one is in the shop and the wrapped ranger pickup is being taken away from me and given to a manager at another park, so the blank pickup will become my work vehicle.

I'm positive that after the first few weeks of chaos, it will all settle down and be completely fine, but at this very moment it kind of sucks. 

Despite my complaints, I really am excited about this position and I can't wait to learn and get a better handle on what's going on. I'm going to gain so much from this position, that any bout of stress will be overshadowed in the end.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Campground is almost ready for campers!

Now that I've had a chance to go through my day, I do feel a bit more in control of what's going on. One of the little arsonists is on his weekend and the other seasonal ranger is back from his. (Don't tell the others, but this one is already looking to be the favorite) Things on their end has been going really smoothly today and I've actually had time to get some stuff figured out in the office and even hop on a mower for a bit to clean up some of the trickier areas. The two of them have been busy touching up the park grounds with the mower and weed eating wherever needs it (I drove around half way through the day and made them a list of what still needed cleaned up). 

Everything is actually looking pretty good for their first official go of it and it will only get better as they get more practice with the equipment and get a better rhythm going. They should have it all finished today or tomorrow morning and then we can move on to planting the baby trees we just got in the other day. With it being Memorial Day weekend, most campers are arriving Thursday and staying through Monday, so we had to make sure everything with the campground got squared away before then.

Hopefully we keep on this ever so slight upward trend and things just continue getting better and easier from here on out!

Tomorrow starts my first [BUSY] weekend as Park Manager!

How Neat Is That?!

The Return of Ranger Rhian!

 Its been a hot minute since I've been on here, and I've done a ton in that time. I decided it would be fun to hop back on and share about the day to day of life in my new job and my new home!

I'm now the Park Manager at
Beaver Lake State Park in North Dakota!!!

I was a seasonal Park Ranger here last year, so I'm super excited to dive into a new realm of 'rangering' with the added responsibilities this position will bring. In addition to ensuring the successful day to day operations of the park, I will be supervising four seasonal employees (three have already started and I will be hiring one more) as well as camp hosts who rotate in and out monthly. In the fall or winter (when the busy season has subsided) I will be attending LETA- the Law Enforcement Training Academy where I will spend 12 weeks learning and training to earn my Peace Officer certification. That's right- Ranger Rhian gets a gun!!!!! This is probably the part that I am most excited about. I've always enjoyed enforcing park rules and even do it in my off time when I'm out and about hiking on my own, but to be able to have the training and certifications to do more than just talk to rule breakers is exciting. 

I can't wait to write all these bitches tickets. 

Dog off leash?.....TICKET!

Fire left unattended?.....TICKET!

Sneaking into the park without paying?......TICKET!!

Mild power trip aside, I am also excited to get wildland fire training, pesticide application certification, and work with a local game warden on trailer and boat training. I think the part I'm most nervous about is the "behind the scenes" stuff like managing the park budget because its an area I have never worked in before. I'm confident I will pick it up quickly, but it is certainly overwhelming to think about right now- especially starting the week before the busy season starts (i.e. Memorial Day weekend). Starting a position like this right at the start of the busy season is shaping up to be quite the shit show. I fully intend to be completely honest about my experiences in this position, sharing the gross and stressful bits as well as the fun and exciting. 

Did I mention the new job comes with a three-story lakehouse?!

Today marks the close of my second day in this position and it has been non stop GOGOGOGOGO both days. I have essentially been thrown into a dumpster fire and the fire department is not on duty. I have to put out a lot of these "fires" on my own and with little to no help/training/guidance from anyone else. All the while, I have three little arsonists (my seasonal staff) setting more tiny fires for me to deal with. In their defense, they have had about four "supervisors" in the week or two that they've been here, so they haven't had much consistent direction or training in what to do. It might take a couple weeks, but I plan to have them whipped into shape soon. All three are brand new to the park scene and it has already proven to be a challenge trying to train them as they go while also having to deal with a backlog of emails and deadlines that I am being thrown into last minute. Its going to be a stressful start, but I'm hoping it will calm down soon.

Thus far, I have spent a shocking amount of time trying to convince two of the seasonals that they can, in fact, use the riding mowers on uneven ground. For whatever reason they are convinced the ground needs to be completely flat (hehe...flat earth) in order to mow it, so they have left random patches of long grass throughout the park. They also seem to think the mowers are like 10 feet wide, so they won't mow around the trees and fire rings and things. We will definitely be taking a nice in depth crash course next week on what the mowers can and cannot do because this is just silly.

In between showing the little arsonists what needs done and how to do it, I have been in and out of the office dealing with ice deliveries, making deposits, creating the work schedule, helping visitors, and trying to weed through a sea of emails and information. Little by little, I'm chipping away at this dumpster fire- it'll be out in no time.

There is so much to do to get the park ready for the Memorial Day crowd this weekend- many of them are staying Thursday through Monday. I'm sure the coming months will create for some amusing little stories and I can't wait to share my experiences as I settle into this new position.

Cheers to the next few years!

New job, new house- HOW NEAT IS THAT?!

Ice Slides For Me!

I'm a bit behind on posting as I have spent the better part of this past week being sick.
Last weekend, my coworker Andy tagged along on my hot springs adventure. There are a few hot springs not too far from the hatchery, and I wanted to spend my day off relaxing in one. We chose to visit Weir Creek Hot Spring as Andy had been before and said it was the better of the other options we had. It is about a 0.7 mile hike from the parking lot to the hot spring- not bad at all. WRONG!
There was a beautiful coat of snow all around, but the trail was almost entirely ice the whole way! I managed the first half just fine while Andy struggled and complained. The real struggle came when the trail started going downhill. It is damn near impossible to walk downhill on ice- in case you thought otherwise. We determined that the best way to handle the situation would be to sit down and scootch along on our butts. This plan worked perfectly for Andy. Unfortunately for me, I had a much different experience. The momentum of me trying to sit down caused me to start sliding, and I ended up flying down the hill and off trail, plowing through a baby pine tree in the process. It was quite a sight, I'm sure. I only wish it had been captured on video!
After a bit more struggle on the ice, we finally made it to the hot spring! The water was PERFECT and there were only two other people there, so we had some time to relax without a crowd for a bit.

After a little while, a large group showed up, beers in hand, followed by two separate couples. It ended up being too crowded for my liking (we were all sitting shoulder to shoulder) and I decided I had had enough time in the hot water anyways, so we dried of and started the trek back out.
The people who were in the hot spring when we arrived told us there was a makeshift trail up the snowbank that we should use to avoid the ice hill of death. We gladly took their advice and it made the hike out SO much easier. We did have to scooch along for a large portion of the trail, but nobody ended up sliding of trail this time- thankfully. I did end up post holing on the side of the trail and twisting my knee a bit, but it wasn't too terrible. Overall, it was a successful adventure. Definitely looking forward to visiting the other nearby hotsprings soon!

Toughing It Out For The Fishies!

The second half of the week went well overall, but was a bit more rough than any other part of my two weeks here. Wednesday was just super cold, so we were bundled up the entire day on the steelhead bridge. Thursday, however, was a long one. It rained pretty much the entire day to the point where my Fish and Game jacket was soaked through by the end of the day. I volunteered to be with steelhead crew that day though, knowing what the weather would be like, so I suppose I did it to myself! Surprisingly enough, Friday turned out to be a pretty solid day weather wise! It was a nice temperature and actually was sunny there for a bit. 

The wacker pump setup

I got more experience operating and trouble shooting the wacker pumps while we were pumping the steelhead tailboxes on Wednesday- something I am definitely stoked to add to my resume. I also spent some more time with the Chinook in adult holding and up on the bank and learned how to sweep the raceways on the bank, which was incredibly time consuming. Then, on Friday, Caleb (one of the culturists here) took me up to the top of the dam to check on the platform and such that brings water to the hatchery. All in all, I'd say it was a pretty solid second week here at the hatchery! Still looking forward to improving and learning more each week!

Starting My Second Week For The Fishies!!

The Chinook Bank 

Some of the Chinook morts from today

My second week at the Hatchery has been off to a great start. I have still managed to find new things to learn and do every day!
On Monday, I finally got back in the vat room to sweep/clean the baby fish raceways (I haven't done that since my first day). After that, I got to feed Chinook on the bridge for the first time. It's essentially the same as feeding Steelhead, but the Chinook seem to be better eaters. We swept the Chinook raceways and then Andy taught me how to pump the tail boxes back in adult holding (more Chinook raceways).
On Tuesday, I started in the vat room again and fed out Chinook on the bridge. I spent the rest of the day sweeping the raceways on the Chinook bank, which was new to me. Definitely not my favorite thing, but not too bad. Just very time consuming.

Weekends With New Friends For Me!

I spent the majority of this past Saturday with a new friend from work. Andy and I went up into the trail system I hiked last weekend and did a much longer trail, starting from a trailhead lower down and hiking all the way up to the quarry overlook, then down to the reservoir and back down to his car. It was a much steeper hike, and the elevation gain was pretty consistent throughout. I definitely still need to work on getting my stamina back when it comes to hiking uphill- part of me wants to just keep hiking that trail until it doesn't hurt anymore, but it isn't much for views so I'm not sold on the idea just yet.

It was a pretty good time hiking, so we came back to the dorms to play some video games, some board games, and have a few drinks. Definitely glad that the people here are down for playing games- I have too many fun board games and it would suck not to get to play them!
I'm really enjoying getting to know my new coworkers and hanging out with some of them outside of work. Looking forward to more fun times and adventures!

Day 3 and 4 For The Fishies!

One of the little Steelhead morts from today

Weighing out feed

Work continues to be a blast! I learn something new every day and my resume of skills is just growing exponentially. On Wednesday I got certified to use the forklift after watching a safety video, learning to inspect the forklift and then safely navigating through an obstacle course. It definitely isn't as easy to drive as I thought it would be, but it is definitely manageable. After passing the course, I got to go and feed some Chinook that I haven't gotten a chance to meet yet and weigh out the feed for the next day. After that, I spend the remainder of the day in the vat room scrubbing trays, inspecting/repairing the tray screens, and helping Andy weigh out feed for the little Chinook babies. A group of us ended the day with dinner and beers across the street at Northfork again.

Today I spent the day with the Steelhead crew again- feeding, sweeping, and weighing diets. I did get to learn how to use the pump to clean out the tailboxes at the end of the Chinook raceways though, which was cool. And I got to put my newfound forklift skills to the test and move the pump from the bridge back to the garage where it is stored.

Definitely still loving my job here and excited to see what else I get to learn and do!

Day Two For The Fishies!

The view of the outdoor raceways from outside the fencing

My second day was even more fun than the first! I got trained on Steelhead and spent the day feeding them and sweeping out their raceways. The majority of the day was dedicated to slinging pounds and pounds of feed into the big outdoor raceways where the Steelhead live. You wouldn't think it, but there truly is a technique to slinging feed out into the water. You have to make sure that the feed doesn't get too clumped up in one spot so that more fish can access each scoop that gets thrown out to them, and you have to watch how much the fish are eating and adjust your scoop sizes as needed. Sweeping the raceways was pretty easy- you just push the fish poop down the lanes with these super long brooms. At the end of the day we weighed the feed that didn't get fed out and then weighed out feed for tomorrow.
It was freezing outside, and it rained a bit towards the end, but I had a blast working and chatting with my new co-workers!

Looking down the raceway from the bridge. The bridge moves back and forth along the raceways to allow you to feed and clean along the entire thing.

Looking behind the bridge at the rest of the raceway

Day One For The Fishies!

My first day as a Bio Aide at Clearwater Fish Hatchery went really well! They wasted no time as my day started with a quick morning meeting and a short training in the vat room before being thrown right into work alongside everyone else. I started the day cleaning the raceways where the little baby salmon live. This process includes sweeping the waste down to the drain, and collecting/counting morts (the dead fish) and ensuring you don't contaminate any of the tools along the way. It took me a little while to get the hang of it, but after one or two raceways I had it down and was moving along at a faster pace. After our 10am break, I had to do a bit of new hire paperwork but was able to get back to work after lunch. I spent the rest of the day with Andy scrubbing egg trays. Turns out I'm not the only Floridian here- Andy is from Florida too, and he also has a degree in Marine Biology! Small world! Scrubbing the trays wasn't too bad either- I got to use a pressure washer and the water in the scrubbing tub was warm so my hands didn't have to freeze. It reminded me a lot of my Stingray Bay internship at the Jacksonville Zoo.

All in all, definitely a solid first day and I'm looking forward to the new experiences this job will bring!

Just a portion of the trays I got to pressure wash and scrub!

Starting a New Adventure For Me!!

Hello again!!

It has been a while since I last posted on here, but I'm starting a new adventure and wanted to get back in the saddle of blogging about my experiences both in work and my free time!

After spending the past three months at home in Florida I am back in Idaho and gearing up to start my new job!

On new years eve I packed up my car and left Florida on yet another cross country road trip. My car is honestly such a trooper to put up with all of this nonsense. I arrived here at the Hatchery on Friday afternoon where I was quickly introduced to whatever staff was nearby, given an abbreviated tour of the dorms and jumped right into unpacking. I was invited to join some of the staff for dinner at a little diner across the street so I had a chance to unwind and get to know some of my new coworkers over burgers and beers. Definitely a nice start to this new adventure.
Saturday I needed to get my grocery shopping done. I was told not to shop at the local grocery store as it is super expensive and we are poor seasonal workers, so I made the 1 hour trek into Lewiston to hit up Winco for some groceries. After that trip, I truly feel like I am living in BFE.

My Sunday has been spent relaxing after going on a quick little hike up near the reservoir. There isn't a ton of snow on the ground here, but it was a nice little hike with a fair amount of elevation gain right off the bat. I think I did about 2.5 miles on the trails up there, but will definitely be going back to hike the rest another time! I am definitely looking forward to this new job and the chance to explore a new part of Idaho!!

Starting tomorrow (1/7/2019) I will begin working as a Biological Aide at the Clearwater Fish Hatchery in Ahsahka, Idaho. I have a very vague understanding of what the position will entail, but I am super excited to find out and experience working in a field that is fairly new to me. I will be sure to post updates both via blog posts here, as well as through photo posts on my Instagram (@mermaid_rhian).

Polar Plunge For Me!!

This weekend I hiked the most popular trail in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area: Iron Creek Trail to Sawtooth Lake. It was a moderately rated hike with incredible views. All in all, we hiked a total of just under 12 miles that day- including some scrambling to and from the waterline so as to avoid the group of people at the "beach" area.

A great deal of the trail was through decently shaded forest with large boulders and fir trees all around. The switchbacks were pretty gradual, so the hike was not incredibly difficult. We encountered a forest ranger on the way up who stopped and checked to make sure we had a permit- of course we did. The first of many spectacular views was an opening into a meadow full of wildflowers of all different colors. Once in the meadow, you have a 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains. (Talk about gorgeous)

After snapping some pictures and taking in the views, we continued on up the trail. It wasn't long before we arrived at an overlook of the first of two alpine lakes. This lake's blue-green water was sparkling in the sunlight as if it was completely saturated with glitter. The water was enticingly clear and I could see what appeared to be the perfect camp spot on a flat looking rock formation that jetted out into the lake. I'll definitely be keeping that in mind for possible backpacking trips in the future.

After spending a decent amount of time taking pictures here and just soaking it all in, we make the final climb up the rest of the trail leading to our destination for the day.

Just as I began to get a stitch in my side, the first glimpse of our destination comes into focus and all pain was forgotten. Sawtooth Lake is a thing of beauty and I cannot recommend this hike enough. The water is crystal clear and blue. The surrounding mountains, with their frustrating patches of snow in the middle of July are perplexing but beautiful all the same. We scrambled down some rocks to get to a good sitting area amongst the rubble close to the water's edge.

I started this hike with the notion that I would be jumping into the lake upon arrival and had even packed in a towel to ensure that I could do just that. Upon an initial toe-dip, I determined that it was going to be a bad time- but that wasn't going to stop me.

After a bit of mental preparation for my plunge into the icy waters of the lake, I was ready. I stripped off my hiking gear and stepped into the water. I stood there, motionless, for a minute and a half trying to stop psyching myself out and JUST DO IT. Finally I dove in, my sunglasses were pushed off of my face (yet somehow I managed to catch, and not break, them in my knee pit), and immediately all of the air was forced out of my lungs. When I surfaced, it felt like my lungs were spasming in attempt to pull in air. This resulted in some very odd gasping and grunting sounds as I returned my sunglasses to my face and pulled myself back over to the shore.
As awful as that all might sound, it was truly an exciting experience and I'm definitely glad that I did it. I was all smiles as soon as I started heading back to the shore anyways. After drying off, enjoying some lunch and fresh filtered water from this pristine alpine lake, we headed back down to the trailhead, thus concluding this weekend's adventure.

How Neat Is That?!

Everyone needs a good adventure buddy!

The views in the Sawtooths are incredible!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crossing The Border For Me!

We got done with everything so late last night and we were so exhausted that we decided to not worry with trying to find a campground, so we pulled into a boat launch parking lot and slept in the car. We woke up the next morning and got ready for the day, accompanied by the judgemental stares from various visitors to the boat ramp who likely assumed we were homeless (we certainly looked it after the previous day's events).

An easy day was on the agenda based on how incredibly sore and tired we still were from my birthday hike. Being that we were already so close to Canada, we decided to make the short drive up to the border just to say we did it- and so we did! When we finally realized we were at the border, we were already across and in the line of cards to get through customs. Neither of us have a passport, so we start searching for an out. There was a small dirt turnaround to the right of us, so we backed up and headed there to pull around the building and park at the US customs building. We figured we would go inside to see what it was all about and to ask if they had passport applications there. A grumpy old man greeted us with an abrupt "What are you doing in here?'' When we explained, he informed us that they don't have passport forms there, gave us a 1-minute summary of how the border works (x-raying trucks and all that) and sent us on our way. We left the building and walked up to the official border, which was marked with a small cone shaped concrete structure- which I, of course, took my picture with. The border was marked to the left and right up into the forested ridges by a thin pathway, completely cleared of trees. We took our pictures, hopped back in the car, and headed for the Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge.

I hadn't realized there was a NWR up there, so it was a pleasant surprise to find it on my map when we were deciding what to do for the day. It seemed like a neat little place to spend some time relaxing and observing nature. There are a few displays around the refuge office buildings, a story trail that leads to a beautiful waterfall, and an driving tour that promised excellent chances to see moose this time of year. As pretty as everything was, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed in the lack of moose that day (we saw a whopping ZERO).

After finishing our visit to the Refuge, we started to head towards Priest River in anticipation of our campsite reservation in Priest Lake the following evening. After driving through one campground with no luck in finding an available site, we pulled into a second and lucked out with a pretty solid campground with access to showers! (I'm all for spending days in the backcountry without showering and embracing nature and all that jazz, but after Scotchman Peak I really needed/wanted a nice hot shower). After cooking up some dinner on a pitiful little fire that really did not want to light, we crashed super early (it was very much still daylight out) to ensure we were well rested for the next day's adventures!

How Neat Is That?!

 

  



As an added bonus to the day, I found some Cactus Cooler at a gas station. We used to drink this as kids (we thought it was actually cactus juice) and I've been searching for some for YEARS now and there it was, staring me in the face in Sandpoint, Idaho of all places!