Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Ohh The Forest Service

So sidenote: I can't get the slideshow feature to work...so the pictures are a little delayed.

So my first few weeks in Idaho have been... interesting. The sight of a woman in the Forest Service, working on Fish Crew has been a surprise to a few good ol' boys out here, I think. Overall, people are nice, the town is small, and money is short, so there is little to do. I have gone up to the hot springs in the mountains with a few fellow bunkhouse dwellers, which was gorgeous and really fun... sitting nestled in the mountains in nature's hot tub…beautiful! My two fellow crew members Dan, Desmond and I went up to the nearby (1.5 hrs away!) town of Ketchum one evening for thrifting, and I fell in love with that city. It is a gorgeous ski/mountain bike town with log cabins, coffee shops, gear shops, fly fishing shops, and friendly people, and a house with skis as a fence! So Ketchum seems to be the place to visit when we don't have to work.

Work is slow. It has rained everyday save two that I have been here, so the rivers are all blown. It is unsafe to electroshock (send electricity through the water to temporarily paralyze fish so we can make a population estimate) and unsafe to wade... so no fish! We have gone through training for First Aid, defensive driving, and dealing with the public.... what a first week. We were also informed by the Forest Service Law Enforcement Officer to look out for Mexican's hiding out where "they shouldn't be." What does that even mean?!? The mentality out here is a little different than I’m used to, so that is something to deal with.

1 comment:

  1. A few good ole boys haha! I laughed very hard at that! That nearby town sounds pretty cool! Keep up the stories :D Love and miss u tons! Say hi to Andrew when he gets up there!
    <3 mrs. hood :P

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