Why I Like Tuesdays

So I have a job. Did I mention I have a job? I have a job with the City of Salem until the end of October. I've been adjusting to my schedule. It turns out that jobs take a lot of time. Fortunately I love mine and here's one reason why. It's called Tuesday.

Every Tuesday Chris and I do sampling on Detroit Lake. Chris is my coworker who I do most of my work with. The watershed monitoring program only has two employees. One is me. The other is Chris. We work together quite well. I will not post a picture of him today because I have not asked him if he minds having his picture put up on the internet. I doubt he does, but it's best to ask. 

So, now that I've oh so briefly introduced Chris, here is some of what I saw last Tuesday. 

Proud mamma and baby ducks at the log boom, our first sample site of the day. (Chris took this picture for my as my hands were full of cable.)

Here's picture of me doing a water quality profile at our second site of the day, heater creek. (Chris also took this picture) 

Oh yeah, and by the way, I'M ON A BOAT!

...and look who's hanging out.

A guest joins us when we stop for a snack.

Awkward adolescent Mergansers! 

Proud mamma Merganser with her teenagers.

Baby duck and the last site of the day (Brietenbush Arm.)

The ducks and geese at Breitenbush arm of Detroit Lake are extremely bold. I'm told they will hope right up in your boat with you, and I believe it. 

Backpacking Adventures and Misadventures

4th of July weekend Andrew and I decided to take a backpacking adventure along the Pacific Crest Trail at the base of Three Fingered Jack. 

Andrew using his phone as a GPS.

Bear Grass in Bloom

More Bear Grass

Picture Perfect Camp Site

Andrew Scaling a Tree to Put Up The Hammock

The Hammock

The Three Sisters (I think)

Packing Up After Breakfast.  

Hey Mom, do you remember buying that cup for me. I've had it for over a decade now. It still has JH on the bottom in purple nail polish.

Andrew's Pack with the Little Solar Panel Charging on the Back

Exquisite and Peaceful.

Some kind of Phlox

The Road to Mordor

Three Fingered Jack Looking Ominous

A flower That I thought Was Pretty.

Me Looking AT Something

I'm On Top of The World!

But We're Actually Still Going Up

... And Up

The mosquitoes very much appreciated us hiking ourselves all the way up to the snow line to provide them with a snack.

Hmmm... Snow. I'm sure we'll get through it soon. 

If You Look Angle of My Feet, You'll Get A Better Idea of How Steep This Was. 

Three Fingered Jack 

Me-"Look at the tracks. This guy and his do did it, so we can too."

This is about the time we decided to reevaluate our course.

Going back the way we came would involve scaling the same scary snow covered slopes that we'd just traversed. Going forward was the same or maybe worse. Stuck between snow and more snow, we chose down, straight down.

Hiking or Sliding Down The Hill

This Marsh Provided a Break from the Snow

Marshes Are Nice. We Found Some Frogs in This One. 

 

Our path intersected the lower elevation trail that we were aiming for like a very tired charm. We found a nice spot to set up camp and I sat in a creek. Then we tore down camp and hiking out before we could get too stiff. Andrew's ankle was turned and my butt was sore from falling on it. We spent night two of our backpacking trip at home in our own bed, and it was very nice indeed.