wool sox and suntans

A few days ago, a bunch of staff participated in the annual Russian River StreamWatch fencing.  It was a great way to see how the local forestry service works.  Essentially, we moved a ton of rhibar and plastic fencing further towards the bank in hopes of warding off overenthusiastic fishermen.  The fishing season opens in 3 days and I am a little anxious to see the mayhem.  Words like "combat fishing" don't bring warm fuzzy feelings about nature to my heart.  Major bank erosion is the result as the eager beavers throw themselves down the slopes to make it to the bank as fast as possible in hopes of catching "the one".  After seeing the intensity of our own fish guides as well as hearing stories about Alaskans just shooting things without even getting out of their cars, I believe anything is possible during open season.  Though this fence will probably just rope in the bears and fishermen together and some of the plastic and zip ties will inevitably be ingested by some curious moose or porcupine, apparently the good outweighs the bad...

After that invigorating morning, a group of day off-ers headed to the Juneau Falls trailhead for an 8-mile hike.  The pic of the falls just can't convey the feel of the spray and drop in temperature as we approached.  After sitting down to snack on some granola and grapes, it was time to head out as rain clouds were moving in.  I'm hearing that last year was soggy and grey the whole time.  Though the temp has been hovering around 55 degrees (yesterday it was 80!) and I'm still wearing many layers, I have managed to score some sun on my body and restored the fish belly look I took on while out on the Bering Sea.

A weekend camping trip out to a public use cabin was a  nice treat, as was the float down the river to get there.  One of the best things about this job is the perk of access to equipment and the locality of hot spots.  Places I've read about for years are suddenly extremely accessible.  The staff here does a fabulous job of ensuring employee satisfaction which the guests can almost certainly perceive.  

In other news, I was offered a position through Ameri-corps.  Come September, I will be working with the Nevada Conservation Corps on trail building among other things.  It's a year long position, 6 months around Vegas, 6 months around Reno.  This may make it necessary to get a vehicle...not too sure how I feel about this but I want to be able to see as much as possible while out there.  

Next up, tomorrow starts at 4am as I'm going out King Salmon fishing with some folks around here.  I've never caught many fish in my life and certainly not anything bigger than the little sunfish who frequent the Grand River.  More pics to come!