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).