Last Hitch

It’s been a while since I last updated this blog, and, as usual, a lot has happened!  I guess I will try to break it down and not be too wordy.  J

The Last Hitch

The Guide and I hiked to Center Basin on Saturday, and I was able to keep up with her, for the most part – she is in fantastic shape and could probably hike with the best of them in the Sierras!  Sunday we pulled gill nets, repaired a few of them, and set the winter gill nets before going back to camp and organizing the field gear into what was being flown out and what was staying in the Greenlee at camp over winter.  We finished organizing the gear on Monday and were right on time for the helicopter to fly in at 10:00 am.  Let me tell you, the Guide and I were one efficiency machine, and we worked very well together (again!) especially for a flawless demobilization.  We then hiked out, beginning around noon and made it out in five hours – fifteen miles in five hours!  It was my best hike all season, and I felt great after – an excellent way to end the season.  We had dinner in Independence and then drove a few hours before finding a random place on BLM land to camp for the night.  Luckily, the Guide had an extra tent, because it was very windy that night, and it would have been very difficult to sleep without a tent.

We got back to the west side (Ash Mountain) around noon, at which time we learned that we had the rest of the day off, as well as the next, which was awesome.  We had rooms in the dorm and basically sat around and watched movies for 1 ½ days, which was also awesome. 

The other demobe team came in on Wednesday, and most of us worked in the office on Thursday and Friday: drying out the gear that had been flown in, checking back in the back packs, sleeping bags, and other gear we had borrowed from the Park all summer, and putting things away in the office.  On Friday we also had our exit interviews, where we could provide comments, suggestions, etc. about the summer and got our performance review results.  I got a very good performance review (I think we all did) and we all also got a National Park Service Safety Award coin, with the NPS logo on one side, and a sequoia tree design on the other – it is very cool, and very unexpected!  I think (if my memory serves me right) it’s the first official Park Service award that I’ve received in my short 5.5 year career.  Graced out, once again!

We all had an end of the year party at a local pizza joint in Three Rivers, with both our bosses  attending (and treating!).  We girls really didn’t drink that much, and only downed two large pizzas, making us think that it could have been the least expensive end of the year party in the history of the Lake Restoration program.  J  Flannel ended up showing up at the party too, having driven 5 hours from UC Davis (where she goes to school)!  We were all super thrilled that she was able to come!

We all parted ways on Saturday.  My Partner drove me to Visalia to a car rental place and then we had lunch before saying goodbye – it was sad to part ways, but we will definitely keep in touch/visit each other in the years to come.   

With a rental car came new found freedom, and Sunday I drove to Mineral King and went on a hike that ended in the snow (over a foot deep!).  It was pretty surreal - it could be my last snow until next summer.  Monday I met up with my boss again, and we went to Yucca Creek in the Park to snorkel for western pond turtles to collect data for his master’s thesis.  The water was cold, even with two layers of wetsuit.  My boss found two turtles, and I found one!  It was pretty awesome to be in a stream and snorkel, and even more awesome to actually find a turtle in the midst of the rocks and roots. 

Tuesday I drove back to Tucson – 11 numbing hours.  My sister had dinner waiting when I got home (stuffed salmon, yum!) and my Siameser recognized me – what more is there to ask for?