Sunday, September 30, 2007
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Bones & Spermy like creatures
The day started out great, it was a bit chilly with a heavy wind from the west but the sun was out and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Stuart, Tim & I loaded up and canoed from Meadville to Highway 183. This part of the rive is a bit more shallow and a whole lot wider. The purpose of the trip was to do some water quality testing along some of the creeks that dump into the river. I learned a lot about how to read the river and find where the channels are and where they are going.
I was in my favorite kayak which is the gray. I ended up naming it 'Smokey' after an old house cat we used to have. I don't know if I mentioned this already but I named my favorite canoe 'Sport' after my horse that my dad gave me, Sport the horse wasn't much of a kid horse so he was something of a challenge to work with but eventually I got a feel for how to control him and he turned out to be a damn good horse. I can say the same for Sport the canoe, it has a much more pronounced rocker, which makes it very responsive to my paddle strokes, sometimes too responsive, but its fun to take on the rapids and eddys, I will just have to figure out how to control it.
On the way back into town we stopped at The Nature Conservancy's (TNC) Headquarters. We talked a bit to the people there, one of them is Tracy Nelson which is an old friend of Grams & Pappy's. I saw a lot more of her when I was a kid, she lived just down the street of G&P.
Here are a few pics of things that I found today during our trek.
This is an old turtle bone fossil I found at Jewel Creek, I'll have to do some research on it to find out more. It inspired me to make two Jurassic Park references because of it, one of them was the 'man thats a big pile of shit' joke. No one laughed...
These are the tadpoles that I found in a pool on a sandbar. They totally reminded me of how much our friend Ashley would go crazy over catching minnows at the river. Anyway, I named them in honor of my friends who have left Nebraska to grow up and start their lives, kind of symbolic isn't it? The spunky looking one that has a little bottle of Captain Morgan is named Rachel, the one just sitting there by himself is named AJ, and the one molesting everyone in the water is named Andy. And yes, those are cheerios that I am feeding them, what the hell do tadpoles eat?
I am going to the Lincoln/Omaha area for the weekend, so my entries might be scant but I will do my best. Peace out!
I was in my favorite kayak which is the gray. I ended up naming it 'Smokey' after an old house cat we used to have. I don't know if I mentioned this already but I named my favorite canoe 'Sport' after my horse that my dad gave me, Sport the horse wasn't much of a kid horse so he was something of a challenge to work with but eventually I got a feel for how to control him and he turned out to be a damn good horse. I can say the same for Sport the canoe, it has a much more pronounced rocker, which makes it very responsive to my paddle strokes, sometimes too responsive, but its fun to take on the rapids and eddys, I will just have to figure out how to control it.
On the way back into town we stopped at The Nature Conservancy's (TNC) Headquarters. We talked a bit to the people there, one of them is Tracy Nelson which is an old friend of Grams & Pappy's. I saw a lot more of her when I was a kid, she lived just down the street of G&P.
Here are a few pics of things that I found today during our trek.
This is an old turtle bone fossil I found at Jewel Creek, I'll have to do some research on it to find out more. It inspired me to make two Jurassic Park references because of it, one of them was the 'man thats a big pile of shit' joke. No one laughed...
These are the tadpoles that I found in a pool on a sandbar. They totally reminded me of how much our friend Ashley would go crazy over catching minnows at the river. Anyway, I named them in honor of my friends who have left Nebraska to grow up and start their lives, kind of symbolic isn't it? The spunky looking one that has a little bottle of Captain Morgan is named Rachel, the one just sitting there by himself is named AJ, and the one molesting everyone in the water is named Andy. And yes, those are cheerios that I am feeding them, what the hell do tadpoles eat?I am going to the Lincoln/Omaha area for the weekend, so my entries might be scant but I will do my best. Peace out!
Snakes & Gays
So I stayed up late last night talking to Eric, we were planning our weekend at Omaha Pride. Basically it is going to be a drunkfest, which I am excited for, duh. I totally forgot though to write before I went to bed so this post is me reminiscing about yesterday. I'm going to do it in bulleted format.
- Did water quality testing, this time I went further upstream at Borman bridge and didn't get when, much unlike the last time we went there and the water went over my waders.
- Ran into the Middle Niobrara Natural Resource District day camp, they were taking kids out on the river and showing them what is all to see. We talked for a while, and by we I mean me, Tim scares the kids, and the kids probably scare him. I really do like working with kids though, I remember when I was a counselor at Camp Kindle I got to take the kids on the nature hikes, they loved it and I loved it that they loved it. There was actually this one girl who said her favorite show was Nova, I am never going to forget her.
- Went hiking on the trail at the wildlife refuge, ran into a rattlesnake, it has been two weeks on the job already and I run into a god damned rattler. I will be damned if I lived on Bar 25 for 18 years of my life and never got bit and then I get bit this summer. I of course was in my flip flops and shorts.
- Ran into some kayakers, one of them was super gay. Said he wanted to be an environmental studies major.
- Spent the rest of the day doing odd jobs around the station. I replaced a seat on the canoe. I thought of myself during my retirement working on canoes in my shop, good quality craftsmanship, yup that'd be me, widdlin' away on my boats.
- I was talking to Britanni on the phone in my car and I realized how filthy it was. I then decided to clean my car once I was done talking to her. The ho was distracted so the conversation was short, usually we chat for a good hour.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
blah,
would be the correct word to describe how I feel right now. I have something of a tummy ache, and I won't be up for much longer, it could be the whole can of peas that I ate for dinner. Ya, that might have something to do with it. Well anyway this morning was spent on the river with Tim and Stuart.Stuart wanted to take us out on the canoes for training. We only got in a Brewers Bridge and stopped at Stan's Landing. It is a short trip but we actually probably stretched it into a 3 hour one. There were a lot of eddys, rapids, and long waves that we spent our time on. Stuart and I were having fun with it all, Tim didn't quite get the hang of it. It was a beautiful morning out, we saw something that was either a beaver or an otter, I said otter Stuart said beaver. Tim didn't see anything because he was 50 yards downstream from us.
After we canoed we went to Smith Falls Park where there is a nature trail that we walked and trimmed. It's a good hike because you get to see pretty much all of the layers of the canyon starting with the river bank to the prairie at the top. There is also an aspen grove that Stuart has a hardon for, I think he just likes the trees because it reminds him of Colorado, I personally think that they aren't a big species of trees in Nebraska and we shouldn't have to clear out other trees to make space for them.
Oh right, now that I am thinking of it I might feel crappy due to the fact that I ate some mushrooms during our hike. Stuart IDed one of them and said that it was o.k. to eat. There is an saying that goes "There are old rangers and bold rangers, but there is not such thing as old bold rangers."
The rest of the day was spent piddling around, that is all.
After we canoed we went to Smith Falls Park where there is a nature trail that we walked and trimmed. It's a good hike because you get to see pretty much all of the layers of the canyon starting with the river bank to the prairie at the top. There is also an aspen grove that Stuart has a hardon for, I think he just likes the trees because it reminds him of Colorado, I personally think that they aren't a big species of trees in Nebraska and we shouldn't have to clear out other trees to make space for them.
Oh right, now that I am thinking of it I might feel crappy due to the fact that I ate some mushrooms during our hike. Stuart IDed one of them and said that it was o.k. to eat. There is an saying that goes "There are old rangers and bold rangers, but there is not such thing as old bold rangers."
The rest of the day was spent piddling around, that is all.
The previous post
So I apologize for my first post being so long. It took me until tonight to just start my blog because I really didn't know what I was going to name it and I am too lazy. It was just too convenient to type my daily entry into my TextEdit and call it good for the night. I am a bit blog illiterate so excuse the crappy layout and whatnot.
Just the past few days...
5.29
River Flow - 804 CFS
Weather - Early morning rain, cloudy overcast, 53 degrees
Today was my first day working for the National Park Service, my position is Biological Technician and I am at level G-4. The G scale tells everyone how much money I make and you get higher on the scale as you become more experienced and qualified. To no surprise George Bush is at G-7.
I suppose I will explain what I am doing here in the first place. I had first got the job by being in the right place at the right time. Some friends and I participated in the Niobrara Adventure Race back in May. Well, I was kayaking along and I started to talking to the guy I was in 2nd place to, soon enough found out that I am from Bassett and that I am an environmental studies major, he told me to get him my name and number before the day is done and he might have a job for me. Yadda, yadda, yadda, a few weeks later and many goodbyes I find myself working at the Niobrara Scenic River station in Valentine.
My duties include: monitoring of the piping plover & least tern (both of which are endangered species on the river), starting a turtle research program, testing the rivers water quality, and of course, general bitch work.
Anyway the days start out at 8 a.m. and today we started out in the morning by going down to Berry bridge, which is located in the wildlife refuge, and Stuart, my boss whom you will hear more about him later, had taken us down to the water and showed us how to complete the water quality tests. **Boring Warning** We tested for phosphorus, nitrates, pH, conductivity, turbidity (our monitor SUCKS!), fecal form bacteria, water temp., and a few more insignificant things. The thing about the Niobrara is that since it's main source of input is form spring water the quality of the river itself is exceptional, and very boring. All of the water testing however reminded me of my lifeguard days when we would have to battle with waaaay to high of pH or waaaay to low, once a kid poops in the pool you have to super chlorinate and when that happens everything gets thrown off scale. Anyway, the river is clean, super clean in fact, despite that the wastewater from Valentine is dumped in the a tributary of the river. Downstream however things get a little bit more sketchy with the poo bacteria because of that shithole of a town Ainsworth dumps all of their waste into Bone creek which eventually finds its way to the Niobrara. By the end of the morning I knew all there is to know about water quality in the river, and hopefully you do too. Oh ya, and one of the pieces of equipment we use doesn't work right so I have to call the company and see what the dealio is, what the hell?
The afternoon was spent on canoe training. Now would be a good time to introduce Tim, my fellow coworker and the guy who hasn't shaved his beard nor cut his hair since 2001, he looks like Jesus on meth. Well I don't think he has much experience canoeing so we had to go through all of the basics of it for him. Stuart is an excellent paddler, he canoes and kayaks and he's a Boy Scout which automatically means he can survive in the wilderness with nothing but a toothpick and that he has to help every old lady that wants to cross a street. Basically taking canoeing lessons means that you are taking something incredibly easy and making it incredibly difficult. There are terms and strokes that you need to know but I already knew how to do the strokes I just gave them more fun names like "whirlywooo" and "the rub." We ended up going out to the fish hatchery in Government Canyon and taking the canoes out on one of the ponds. There is one stroke called the "J" stroke which requires you to twist the paddle just right but it allows you to stroke on just one side of the boat so you don't have to alternate sides. It's handy but a tricky bitch to learn.
At the end of the day I worked out in the weight room we have in the Ranger Station, which happens to be where I am staying at until our (Tim & I) apartment is ready, right now I am typing on a cot in a cubicle in the station, pretty exciting, I know. I just got back from a run, I ran on some trails they have here but they aren't too long, I think I am just going to hop on the Cowboy Trail and run my far distances there.
5.30
River Flow - 1200 CFS
Weather - Rain, hard rain, 52 degrees
Two guys came from headquarters to talk about our water management plan. They were really nice guys and super freaking smart about water science. We had a meeting in the morning about what we are doing for the water and all I could think of was my classes that I took this last spring and how much I actually knew what the hell they were talking about, I even tried to add my two cents, as an intern I never followed the "be seen but not heard" part. We showed them how we test the water and they gave us some pointers as to how we could do a better job, consultation is pretty much their job. Tyler from the hydrologist for the region was with us all day as well, he's a great guy, he worked in Alaska for 13 years and then finally got a good job here in Nebraska, he complains that its too hot here, psh.
Around 10 a.m. we get in the river at Brewers bridge and we were going to land at Eaglehoff, I had never been down the river this far east so I was pretty excited to see the new territory. Tim & I took kayaks while the other guys took a white-water raft. Since the heavy rain that we got overnight and the rain that we got in the AM we knew that the water was going to be pretty high and fast. Stuart had mentioned that I would be able to take some rapids and of course I couldn't say no, my policy is that I have never said no to a black diamond slope so everything else should apply (of course except for recreational drugs, I much prefer hugs). We stopped along some springs and looked at the trailed up the waterfalls that were on them, it was pretty fun except for the fact that I had my flip flops on and the water was so cold that I couldn't feel my feet at all. We searched the stream beds for some fossils and Stuart actually ended up find a pretty big petrified bone, he said its the biggest he has ever found. We are going to take it to the Nature Conservancy and see if they can ID it.
The total highlight of the day however was taking the rapids. With the water level so high they were especially fast and heavy today, just perfect for my first day on rapids. I have plenty of kayaking experience but the opportunity to take a rapid had never come up until today. The first and toughest was at Rocky Ford. It turns out with all of the rain that on a normal day the rapids would classify as II or III but today it was a definite IV, well Stuart was a little worried, he said that they would go first on the raft and then see if I still wanted to do it. They ended up making it through the shoot just fine and dandy but they were a little bit wet. They land just a few yards downstream and Stuart asked me again. Well of course I can't say no once I already said I would do it. It's like working your way towards and finally getting to the the black slope with your friends and then chickening, no way Jose! Tim decided that he wouldn't take this one however. Well I end up putting my helmet, PFV and skirt on, and take one deep breath. My dad always wanted me to do some kind of rodeoing, I know this because he used to put me on the back of steers and let them buck me off, but I oddly felt like a bullrider. If any of you have seen "8 Seconds" then you know what I am talking about. Where the guy goes through the motions to prepare himself for an almost certain but goes for it anyway just for the glory. Okay, so I wasn't that dramatic but I did tell myself to "cowboy up." Its kind of funny how calm the water is before the rapids but you can just hear the powerful water up head, its like hearing a heard of elephants coming towards you but you can't see them. Anyway, I paddle hard and to the keep my kayak to the left, just as Stuart had instructed, I got caught in an eddy just for a second or two but I kept my bow downstream and paddled right out of it. It all really just involved me getting bucked around by the water and getting really wet, my skirt actually popped off. After all of the excitement we floated down the river for about another 20 min, where there was another rapid at Eaglehoff. These rapids were a class III and were a piece of cake after Rocky Ford. Tim even took them.
I ended up working out tonight. I knew that kayaking is a really great workout for the abs, since you are supposed to use your torso more than your arms, but after today my torso was especially sore. I then talked to Eric on the phone for a bit, he is making Jello shots and going to the Red Fox, I'm super freaking jealous, I really wanted to do some karaoke the last time I was there but they didn't have my song, bastards! Anyway my running time got pushed back just a bit. I ended up hitting the road at 9 and got back at 10. I went to the fish hatchery where I chased some geese and their goslings. One of them hissed at me but I just jumped at him and he jumped in the water, coward. It was a cold run today and I had to run just a bit in the dark. I ran all the way around the Minnecadooza lake and ran out of the canyon, I am guessing that everyone driving thought I was a freak. Right now I am thinking that I want to buy a crossbike for $800, a kayak for $400, and find someone that will go back-country backpacking with me in the Badlands later this summer. Also, what the hell am I going to do this weekend?!
My thought of the day is this, "I actually got paid to do all of this."
5.31
River Flow - 1120 CFS
Weather - Sunny in the AM! 43, got up to around 70 mid PM
Today was a pretty standard day for us. There really wasn't anything too exciting, no class IV rapids or anything like that. I didn't even get wet today so that was a mild let down. We started in the morning with Peter, the guy from HQ, showing us how his water measurement instruments work and how they compare to our little dinky one. Basically the morning was spent with us calibrating our instruments, then comparing them to one another. The difference between what he had and what we have was a good $7,000. His was the Troll 9500 ours was the MD 85, the two extra zeros mean on the model number of course means a few extra numbers for the MSRP as well. Anyway it was all very boring but it was interesting to anyone who cares about hydrology. The funny thing about it all is that I just barely got B in that Water Science but I have probably learned more in the past two days about water than I have in that whole have in that damn course. I do however like to drop some lingo that makes me look like I know what I am talking about.
The afternoon was spent going down the first half of the river, yesterday we did the last half. We got in at Cornell landing and landed at Nickols landing which is just a little past Smith Falls. I went down on a kayak again and today I tried working on my eddy skills and surfing. Eddys are the currents that are caused by an obstruction in the stream which causes an up current towards the object downstream. I don't any of that makes sense, but just google it. Surfing on waves is kind of fun, basically you maneuver the kayak just on top of a big sloping wave and you sit and ride the crest. The surfing part isn't too hard but positioning your kayak just right on the wave is the tricky part.
Later in the day we got back into town around 1600 hrs and we started cleaning out all of the vehicles since we have been taking them down muddy roads in the past few days. Stuart told Tim to go fill up the Jeep and give it a car wash he 1) didn't know where the car wash was at 2) he didn't know where it was at because he didn't know what a car wash was! Sometimes he frustrates me, I will keep it at that.
Around 1830 we all got together at the Bunkhouse to have dinner before Peter and Barry took off for Colorado tomorrow morning. The food wasn't bad, I had my first beer in, three days which I think is the record for me since summer has began. It was pretty good food, I am a sucker for roadside diners. During dinner I was bitching that I have to go run after the meal that I just had, which I am pretty sure was more than I have ate in the past three days combined. But Stuart talked me into going on a walk and letting it all digest. I am still burping it up, but whatever. Oh, I ran into a guy I knew back from my Acacia days, it is always awkward when that happens but he's a nice guy.
I am not quite for sure what we will be doing tomorrow. It was supposed to be an office clean up day but we already kind of accomplished that.
Random Thoughts
I am looking up for some places to do some back-country camping later this summer. I first need to find someone that would want to go with me. There are a lot of places up here that are within 2 hours. Wilderness camping is something that I have always wanted to do so I figure now would be the time to do it.
This weekend I plan on going up to the refuge and doing some hiking. I really need to get some sun. I figure I will just find myself a sandbar on the river and take a book with me.
Bush is starting to intervene in Darfur and has called for $30 billion to go towards the fight against AIDS/HIV in Africa. If my memory serves me right, that pretty much doubles what we are giving them now. I am guessing that he is just trying to gain some karma back from being such a total jackass, that or he is storing up on karma because he plans on doing something really really bad.
The mayor of LA, a rising star in California politics, has given his endorsement to Clinton. How many times do I need to say this, Bill Richardson is the man! For peeps sake people why can't we see that 1) senators don't get elected, in fact JFK was the last Senator to ever be elected 2) we want our next President to have foreign relations experience, hello? Gov. Bill negotiated peace talks with North Korea, Iraq, and Sudan, he was also the UNI ambassador, oh and he was a congressman and the Secretary of Energy under the Clinton admin. 3) Democratic frontrunners usually loose their fizzle when the primary dates get closer, Dems are more likely to vote for a dark horse candidate than the Repubs are, Gov. Bill in '07 is in the same position as Gov. Bill was in '91
Peanut butter is good.
6.1
1020 CFS
Overcast clouds, high was around 70
So today was pretty boring. Tim and I went out for some water quality testing in the morning I was the first to get in the water and get the samples, the water was so high that it went over my waders and I ended up swimming to the bank. So as you can imagine I was cranky for a good bit of the morning because I was wet and cold. The weather really didn't help matters, the rain was intermittent, it would go from sprinkle, to sunny, to hard pour, it was incredibly annoying. Today was the first day that I got to meet Steve Knispel, he is the nephew of Ron Knispel who was my Junior HIgh Social Studies teacher, Ron was a total asshole, Steve on the other hand is the complete opposite, he's a great guy. He seems to be a lifelong federal employee, he has worked for 5 other agencies, but he decided Valentine was the place to be so he could be near home which is up in Whitewater, South Dakota.
Anyway the afternoon was spent farting around the ranger station. I really don't think I got any significant accomplished.
A friend did call me late in the afternoon and wanted to know if my room in my apartment was still open. I was pretty much elated to hear that news that she wanted to move in. I actually think that she might move in this weekend, yay! One less worry.
I did get off work early today so I decided to go to the public library and use the internet so I could get on Facebook. The office here has a block on it so I can't use it here, so instead I opted for using a PC with a 5 year old playing some Magic School Bus game right beside me. It has been since Monday that I have been able to check Facebook, but I found it to be actually kind of depressing. It reminded me of how much I miss my friends back in Lincoln and that I actually don't have anyone here in Valentine to share the same experiences with that I could with them. That and they are all having fun without me, jerks :-P
My run tonight was something of an expedition, I set out to find the other lake on the Minnecadooza Creek. It is called Mill Pond and it actually has a hydro power dam on it. I eventually found it but the grass and weeds were a bit too tall to my liking. I actually ran through a patch of neddles, which for those of you that don't know they are a weed that "sting" you with sharp hairs and actually inject some kind of allergen into your skin it hurts like the dickens.
After the run Tim and I decided to go grab some beers and see what Valentine has to offer for nightlife. Oh sure boring is a word that could be used to describe the experience, but it was good to do some talking with Tim. When we work together he seems to annoy me a good part of the time, he doesn't take a lot of initiative which really bugs me. Anyway, there are four bars in Valentine. The first one we went to is called the Derby, which is a "natives" bar. Basically the natives from the refuge come to this one bar to drink. It was a bit awkward but we were there early enough as to not make a big difference. The next two bars that we went to were strip joints of a sort. They have women come in and get naked. That's really all I know about the whole situation. All I know is that one costs a $1 to go see it and the same place and the skunkiest Miller Hight Life I have ever had. The final bar we went to is called the Bunkhouse, it kind of seems like our kind of place. There were at least some people there wearing A&F.
I need to decide what I am going to do this weekend. I called my old man to see if he needed help on the ranch. He never called back so I will just take that as a "no". I think I am going to do some hiking up on the wildlife refuge. There is also some community events going on that I might check out. Who knows, I am pretty good at entertaining myself.
6.2.
Pretty normal day, I went down to the Minnecaduza Park to see the turtle races, which is where they float plastic turtles that people bought down the creek, the first place winner gets some cash prize or something like that.
After that I went for a bike ride on a trail along the creek. During the ride I came upon a fawn that was about 5 ft. away from me, it was pretty neat to see. I also came upon some orange mushrooms that were really tiny. Both times I wish I had a camera with me so I could of taken pictures. The trail started pretty heavy but then it soon turned into a game trail. I am never the kind of person that likes to backtrack so I just kept going down the trail or lack there of. Eventually I ran out of trail and found myself meandering through the trees. I do believe that the number one rule to mountain biking is to stay on the trail, one of the punishments for breaking that rule is to get a flat tire, which I got. I ended up throwing my bike into the trees and walking back to the ranger station. Along the way I stopped at a garage sale, there were two nice old ladies running the show there they gave me a martini strainer and a VHS Pulp Fiction for $0.50.
Anyway I got back to the station, loaded up a kayak, and took my Explorer down to the hatchery reservoir, my bike was just about 30 yards from shore. I kayaked for a while then set anchor, ate some sunflower seeds, and started to read "Old Jules" which is written my Maria Sandoz.
Tonight I didn't do much, Tim & I watched Pulp Fiction, which is a damn good movie. Then I talked to Eric for a while, there is currently a 90% chance that I will be going to Lincoln this weekend.
6.4
So today we drove to O'Neill for a staff meeting. I met everyone that makes up the whole park which includes the administration and the Missouri National Recreational River. I met Paul Hedren who is the superintendent for both scenic rivers. He is a pretty stern guy but he seems to be the type that gets the job done. I actually gained a lot from the discussion that was being had today at the meeting. It was a a never before seen insight of how a National Park is ran. I will just say that there is a lot involved, and usually the public gets pissed about it.
I drove both to and from O'Neill with Stuart. We had some great conversations on the road, I am a bit jealous of his younger years. He worked at a ski resort for 7 seasons and then would work other odd jobs in the Colorado outdoors.
Stuart has a big sweet tooth so he requested that we stop in Atkinson to have some ice cream at the Goekes there. I have never been there so it was kind of cool to see the difference between that one and the one in Bassett. I had a clown, it was deeeelicous.
When we got back to the station I had a lot of energy for some odd reason so I my workout was pretty short. I then went for an amazing run to the old railroad bridge on the Cowboy Trail that crosses the Niobrara. I actually can not remember a run that I enjoyed so much. I am pretty sure that it was just about 7 miles and I could've went for another 7 more if it meant I could enjoy the same ride. The nighthawks were out at dusk and I don't think there is any one single symbol that makes me think of a summer night than a nighthawk squawking in the sky. I am honestly afraid that if I run that trail too much I will start to find it a bore and that I wouldn't want to return to it. I will have to see if I can find another trail just as long and as beautiful so I can split my runs between them.
I read some more of Old Jules the other day. The thing about this old man is that he has a total disregard for societies norms, other people, and he is just plain selfish. He is however a tough mofo, he is bound and determined to plant corn in the Sand Hills of Cherry County even when he could move eastward and find much more hospitable land. I don't know if I want to hate him or look up to him. We will see how the story unfolds for him before I make my judgement, so far he annoys the crap out of me with his rudeness.
I made a movie that I sent to Erin, it's a really rough cut of what the ranger station looks like and what we all have here. It was just a last minute thought of mine and I was sure that she would enjoy it.
River Flow - 804 CFS
Weather - Early morning rain, cloudy overcast, 53 degrees
Today was my first day working for the National Park Service, my position is Biological Technician and I am at level G-4. The G scale tells everyone how much money I make and you get higher on the scale as you become more experienced and qualified. To no surprise George Bush is at G-7.
I suppose I will explain what I am doing here in the first place. I had first got the job by being in the right place at the right time. Some friends and I participated in the Niobrara Adventure Race back in May. Well, I was kayaking along and I started to talking to the guy I was in 2nd place to, soon enough found out that I am from Bassett and that I am an environmental studies major, he told me to get him my name and number before the day is done and he might have a job for me. Yadda, yadda, yadda, a few weeks later and many goodbyes I find myself working at the Niobrara Scenic River station in Valentine.
My duties include: monitoring of the piping plover & least tern (both of which are endangered species on the river), starting a turtle research program, testing the rivers water quality, and of course, general bitch work.
Anyway the days start out at 8 a.m. and today we started out in the morning by going down to Berry bridge, which is located in the wildlife refuge, and Stuart, my boss whom you will hear more about him later, had taken us down to the water and showed us how to complete the water quality tests. **Boring Warning** We tested for phosphorus, nitrates, pH, conductivity, turbidity (our monitor SUCKS!), fecal form bacteria, water temp., and a few more insignificant things. The thing about the Niobrara is that since it's main source of input is form spring water the quality of the river itself is exceptional, and very boring. All of the water testing however reminded me of my lifeguard days when we would have to battle with waaaay to high of pH or waaaay to low, once a kid poops in the pool you have to super chlorinate and when that happens everything gets thrown off scale. Anyway, the river is clean, super clean in fact, despite that the wastewater from Valentine is dumped in the a tributary of the river. Downstream however things get a little bit more sketchy with the poo bacteria because of that shithole of a town Ainsworth dumps all of their waste into Bone creek which eventually finds its way to the Niobrara. By the end of the morning I knew all there is to know about water quality in the river, and hopefully you do too. Oh ya, and one of the pieces of equipment we use doesn't work right so I have to call the company and see what the dealio is, what the hell?
The afternoon was spent on canoe training. Now would be a good time to introduce Tim, my fellow coworker and the guy who hasn't shaved his beard nor cut his hair since 2001, he looks like Jesus on meth. Well I don't think he has much experience canoeing so we had to go through all of the basics of it for him. Stuart is an excellent paddler, he canoes and kayaks and he's a Boy Scout which automatically means he can survive in the wilderness with nothing but a toothpick and that he has to help every old lady that wants to cross a street. Basically taking canoeing lessons means that you are taking something incredibly easy and making it incredibly difficult. There are terms and strokes that you need to know but I already knew how to do the strokes I just gave them more fun names like "whirlywooo" and "the rub." We ended up going out to the fish hatchery in Government Canyon and taking the canoes out on one of the ponds. There is one stroke called the "J" stroke which requires you to twist the paddle just right but it allows you to stroke on just one side of the boat so you don't have to alternate sides. It's handy but a tricky bitch to learn.
At the end of the day I worked out in the weight room we have in the Ranger Station, which happens to be where I am staying at until our (Tim & I) apartment is ready, right now I am typing on a cot in a cubicle in the station, pretty exciting, I know. I just got back from a run, I ran on some trails they have here but they aren't too long, I think I am just going to hop on the Cowboy Trail and run my far distances there.
5.30
River Flow - 1200 CFS
Weather - Rain, hard rain, 52 degrees
Two guys came from headquarters to talk about our water management plan. They were really nice guys and super freaking smart about water science. We had a meeting in the morning about what we are doing for the water and all I could think of was my classes that I took this last spring and how much I actually knew what the hell they were talking about, I even tried to add my two cents, as an intern I never followed the "be seen but not heard" part. We showed them how we test the water and they gave us some pointers as to how we could do a better job, consultation is pretty much their job. Tyler from the hydrologist for the region was with us all day as well, he's a great guy, he worked in Alaska for 13 years and then finally got a good job here in Nebraska, he complains that its too hot here, psh.
Around 10 a.m. we get in the river at Brewers bridge and we were going to land at Eaglehoff, I had never been down the river this far east so I was pretty excited to see the new territory. Tim & I took kayaks while the other guys took a white-water raft. Since the heavy rain that we got overnight and the rain that we got in the AM we knew that the water was going to be pretty high and fast. Stuart had mentioned that I would be able to take some rapids and of course I couldn't say no, my policy is that I have never said no to a black diamond slope so everything else should apply (of course except for recreational drugs, I much prefer hugs). We stopped along some springs and looked at the trailed up the waterfalls that were on them, it was pretty fun except for the fact that I had my flip flops on and the water was so cold that I couldn't feel my feet at all. We searched the stream beds for some fossils and Stuart actually ended up find a pretty big petrified bone, he said its the biggest he has ever found. We are going to take it to the Nature Conservancy and see if they can ID it.
The total highlight of the day however was taking the rapids. With the water level so high they were especially fast and heavy today, just perfect for my first day on rapids. I have plenty of kayaking experience but the opportunity to take a rapid had never come up until today. The first and toughest was at Rocky Ford. It turns out with all of the rain that on a normal day the rapids would classify as II or III but today it was a definite IV, well Stuart was a little worried, he said that they would go first on the raft and then see if I still wanted to do it. They ended up making it through the shoot just fine and dandy but they were a little bit wet. They land just a few yards downstream and Stuart asked me again. Well of course I can't say no once I already said I would do it. It's like working your way towards and finally getting to the the black slope with your friends and then chickening, no way Jose! Tim decided that he wouldn't take this one however. Well I end up putting my helmet, PFV and skirt on, and take one deep breath. My dad always wanted me to do some kind of rodeoing, I know this because he used to put me on the back of steers and let them buck me off, but I oddly felt like a bullrider. If any of you have seen "8 Seconds" then you know what I am talking about. Where the guy goes through the motions to prepare himself for an almost certain but goes for it anyway just for the glory. Okay, so I wasn't that dramatic but I did tell myself to "cowboy up." Its kind of funny how calm the water is before the rapids but you can just hear the powerful water up head, its like hearing a heard of elephants coming towards you but you can't see them. Anyway, I paddle hard and to the keep my kayak to the left, just as Stuart had instructed, I got caught in an eddy just for a second or two but I kept my bow downstream and paddled right out of it. It all really just involved me getting bucked around by the water and getting really wet, my skirt actually popped off. After all of the excitement we floated down the river for about another 20 min, where there was another rapid at Eaglehoff. These rapids were a class III and were a piece of cake after Rocky Ford. Tim even took them.
I ended up working out tonight. I knew that kayaking is a really great workout for the abs, since you are supposed to use your torso more than your arms, but after today my torso was especially sore. I then talked to Eric on the phone for a bit, he is making Jello shots and going to the Red Fox, I'm super freaking jealous, I really wanted to do some karaoke the last time I was there but they didn't have my song, bastards! Anyway my running time got pushed back just a bit. I ended up hitting the road at 9 and got back at 10. I went to the fish hatchery where I chased some geese and their goslings. One of them hissed at me but I just jumped at him and he jumped in the water, coward. It was a cold run today and I had to run just a bit in the dark. I ran all the way around the Minnecadooza lake and ran out of the canyon, I am guessing that everyone driving thought I was a freak. Right now I am thinking that I want to buy a crossbike for $800, a kayak for $400, and find someone that will go back-country backpacking with me in the Badlands later this summer. Also, what the hell am I going to do this weekend?!
My thought of the day is this, "I actually got paid to do all of this."
5.31
River Flow - 1120 CFS
Weather - Sunny in the AM! 43, got up to around 70 mid PM
Today was a pretty standard day for us. There really wasn't anything too exciting, no class IV rapids or anything like that. I didn't even get wet today so that was a mild let down. We started in the morning with Peter, the guy from HQ, showing us how his water measurement instruments work and how they compare to our little dinky one. Basically the morning was spent with us calibrating our instruments, then comparing them to one another. The difference between what he had and what we have was a good $7,000. His was the Troll 9500 ours was the MD 85, the two extra zeros mean on the model number of course means a few extra numbers for the MSRP as well. Anyway it was all very boring but it was interesting to anyone who cares about hydrology. The funny thing about it all is that I just barely got B in that Water Science but I have probably learned more in the past two days about water than I have in that whole have in that damn course. I do however like to drop some lingo that makes me look like I know what I am talking about.
The afternoon was spent going down the first half of the river, yesterday we did the last half. We got in at Cornell landing and landed at Nickols landing which is just a little past Smith Falls. I went down on a kayak again and today I tried working on my eddy skills and surfing. Eddys are the currents that are caused by an obstruction in the stream which causes an up current towards the object downstream. I don't any of that makes sense, but just google it. Surfing on waves is kind of fun, basically you maneuver the kayak just on top of a big sloping wave and you sit and ride the crest. The surfing part isn't too hard but positioning your kayak just right on the wave is the tricky part.
Later in the day we got back into town around 1600 hrs and we started cleaning out all of the vehicles since we have been taking them down muddy roads in the past few days. Stuart told Tim to go fill up the Jeep and give it a car wash he 1) didn't know where the car wash was at 2) he didn't know where it was at because he didn't know what a car wash was! Sometimes he frustrates me, I will keep it at that.
Around 1830 we all got together at the Bunkhouse to have dinner before Peter and Barry took off for Colorado tomorrow morning. The food wasn't bad, I had my first beer in, three days which I think is the record for me since summer has began. It was pretty good food, I am a sucker for roadside diners. During dinner I was bitching that I have to go run after the meal that I just had, which I am pretty sure was more than I have ate in the past three days combined. But Stuart talked me into going on a walk and letting it all digest. I am still burping it up, but whatever. Oh, I ran into a guy I knew back from my Acacia days, it is always awkward when that happens but he's a nice guy.
I am not quite for sure what we will be doing tomorrow. It was supposed to be an office clean up day but we already kind of accomplished that.
Random Thoughts
I am looking up for some places to do some back-country camping later this summer. I first need to find someone that would want to go with me. There are a lot of places up here that are within 2 hours. Wilderness camping is something that I have always wanted to do so I figure now would be the time to do it.
This weekend I plan on going up to the refuge and doing some hiking. I really need to get some sun. I figure I will just find myself a sandbar on the river and take a book with me.
Bush is starting to intervene in Darfur and has called for $30 billion to go towards the fight against AIDS/HIV in Africa. If my memory serves me right, that pretty much doubles what we are giving them now. I am guessing that he is just trying to gain some karma back from being such a total jackass, that or he is storing up on karma because he plans on doing something really really bad.
The mayor of LA, a rising star in California politics, has given his endorsement to Clinton. How many times do I need to say this, Bill Richardson is the man! For peeps sake people why can't we see that 1) senators don't get elected, in fact JFK was the last Senator to ever be elected 2) we want our next President to have foreign relations experience, hello? Gov. Bill negotiated peace talks with North Korea, Iraq, and Sudan, he was also the UNI ambassador, oh and he was a congressman and the Secretary of Energy under the Clinton admin. 3) Democratic frontrunners usually loose their fizzle when the primary dates get closer, Dems are more likely to vote for a dark horse candidate than the Repubs are, Gov. Bill in '07 is in the same position as Gov. Bill was in '91
Peanut butter is good.
6.1
1020 CFS
Overcast clouds, high was around 70
So today was pretty boring. Tim and I went out for some water quality testing in the morning I was the first to get in the water and get the samples, the water was so high that it went over my waders and I ended up swimming to the bank. So as you can imagine I was cranky for a good bit of the morning because I was wet and cold. The weather really didn't help matters, the rain was intermittent, it would go from sprinkle, to sunny, to hard pour, it was incredibly annoying. Today was the first day that I got to meet Steve Knispel, he is the nephew of Ron Knispel who was my Junior HIgh Social Studies teacher, Ron was a total asshole, Steve on the other hand is the complete opposite, he's a great guy. He seems to be a lifelong federal employee, he has worked for 5 other agencies, but he decided Valentine was the place to be so he could be near home which is up in Whitewater, South Dakota.
Anyway the afternoon was spent farting around the ranger station. I really don't think I got any significant accomplished.
A friend did call me late in the afternoon and wanted to know if my room in my apartment was still open. I was pretty much elated to hear that news that she wanted to move in. I actually think that she might move in this weekend, yay! One less worry.
I did get off work early today so I decided to go to the public library and use the internet so I could get on Facebook. The office here has a block on it so I can't use it here, so instead I opted for using a PC with a 5 year old playing some Magic School Bus game right beside me. It has been since Monday that I have been able to check Facebook, but I found it to be actually kind of depressing. It reminded me of how much I miss my friends back in Lincoln and that I actually don't have anyone here in Valentine to share the same experiences with that I could with them. That and they are all having fun without me, jerks :-P
My run tonight was something of an expedition, I set out to find the other lake on the Minnecadooza Creek. It is called Mill Pond and it actually has a hydro power dam on it. I eventually found it but the grass and weeds were a bit too tall to my liking. I actually ran through a patch of neddles, which for those of you that don't know they are a weed that "sting" you with sharp hairs and actually inject some kind of allergen into your skin it hurts like the dickens.
After the run Tim and I decided to go grab some beers and see what Valentine has to offer for nightlife. Oh sure boring is a word that could be used to describe the experience, but it was good to do some talking with Tim. When we work together he seems to annoy me a good part of the time, he doesn't take a lot of initiative which really bugs me. Anyway, there are four bars in Valentine. The first one we went to is called the Derby, which is a "natives" bar. Basically the natives from the refuge come to this one bar to drink. It was a bit awkward but we were there early enough as to not make a big difference. The next two bars that we went to were strip joints of a sort. They have women come in and get naked. That's really all I know about the whole situation. All I know is that one costs a $1 to go see it and the same place and the skunkiest Miller Hight Life I have ever had. The final bar we went to is called the Bunkhouse, it kind of seems like our kind of place. There were at least some people there wearing A&F.
I need to decide what I am going to do this weekend. I called my old man to see if he needed help on the ranch. He never called back so I will just take that as a "no". I think I am going to do some hiking up on the wildlife refuge. There is also some community events going on that I might check out. Who knows, I am pretty good at entertaining myself.
6.2.
Pretty normal day, I went down to the Minnecaduza Park to see the turtle races, which is where they float plastic turtles that people bought down the creek, the first place winner gets some cash prize or something like that.
After that I went for a bike ride on a trail along the creek. During the ride I came upon a fawn that was about 5 ft. away from me, it was pretty neat to see. I also came upon some orange mushrooms that were really tiny. Both times I wish I had a camera with me so I could of taken pictures. The trail started pretty heavy but then it soon turned into a game trail. I am never the kind of person that likes to backtrack so I just kept going down the trail or lack there of. Eventually I ran out of trail and found myself meandering through the trees. I do believe that the number one rule to mountain biking is to stay on the trail, one of the punishments for breaking that rule is to get a flat tire, which I got. I ended up throwing my bike into the trees and walking back to the ranger station. Along the way I stopped at a garage sale, there were two nice old ladies running the show there they gave me a martini strainer and a VHS Pulp Fiction for $0.50.
Anyway I got back to the station, loaded up a kayak, and took my Explorer down to the hatchery reservoir, my bike was just about 30 yards from shore. I kayaked for a while then set anchor, ate some sunflower seeds, and started to read "Old Jules" which is written my Maria Sandoz.
Tonight I didn't do much, Tim & I watched Pulp Fiction, which is a damn good movie. Then I talked to Eric for a while, there is currently a 90% chance that I will be going to Lincoln this weekend.
6.4
So today we drove to O'Neill for a staff meeting. I met everyone that makes up the whole park which includes the administration and the Missouri National Recreational River. I met Paul Hedren who is the superintendent for both scenic rivers. He is a pretty stern guy but he seems to be the type that gets the job done. I actually gained a lot from the discussion that was being had today at the meeting. It was a a never before seen insight of how a National Park is ran. I will just say that there is a lot involved, and usually the public gets pissed about it.
I drove both to and from O'Neill with Stuart. We had some great conversations on the road, I am a bit jealous of his younger years. He worked at a ski resort for 7 seasons and then would work other odd jobs in the Colorado outdoors.
Stuart has a big sweet tooth so he requested that we stop in Atkinson to have some ice cream at the Goekes there. I have never been there so it was kind of cool to see the difference between that one and the one in Bassett. I had a clown, it was deeeelicous.
When we got back to the station I had a lot of energy for some odd reason so I my workout was pretty short. I then went for an amazing run to the old railroad bridge on the Cowboy Trail that crosses the Niobrara. I actually can not remember a run that I enjoyed so much. I am pretty sure that it was just about 7 miles and I could've went for another 7 more if it meant I could enjoy the same ride. The nighthawks were out at dusk and I don't think there is any one single symbol that makes me think of a summer night than a nighthawk squawking in the sky. I am honestly afraid that if I run that trail too much I will start to find it a bore and that I wouldn't want to return to it. I will have to see if I can find another trail just as long and as beautiful so I can split my runs between them.
I read some more of Old Jules the other day. The thing about this old man is that he has a total disregard for societies norms, other people, and he is just plain selfish. He is however a tough mofo, he is bound and determined to plant corn in the Sand Hills of Cherry County even when he could move eastward and find much more hospitable land. I don't know if I want to hate him or look up to him. We will see how the story unfolds for him before I make my judgement, so far he annoys the crap out of me with his rudeness.
I made a movie that I sent to Erin, it's a really rough cut of what the ranger station looks like and what we all have here. It was just a last minute thought of mine and I was sure that she would enjoy it.
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