Monday, June 28, 2010

The Day of the Sad Bagle- June 27 and 28

I went to the grocery 2 days ago and got 6 delicious sliced bagels. Today I am about to eat one and I see it is covered in mold! Noooooooooooo! My brand new bagels- sad sad sad. Other sad news- somebody is not coming to visit me this weekend... stinks. Understandable though- I have to work and it would suck to drive for 8 hours and me not be able to hang out the whole time. I ate lunch with Caleb and Aaron today at Cueva and then Caleb and I went to the dog park and played with his dog for a few hours. It was a very nice, relaxed day. I've been jamming my days with so much stuff its nice take it easy.

On Saturday I ran all the way up skyline drive- yeah! Also I went to see the community theatre of alpine's production of damn yankeys with Patrick and Aaron. I love live theatre! I miss hanging out with my girls!! All my friends here are guys or are over 60 and its just a different type of interaction. I think I might go shoot some guns soon- never thought I would want to do that, but considering I'm probably the only one within a hundred mile radius who doesn't own a gun, its kinda making me want to at least give it a go.

I should be constructing a program right now- on Thursday nights I am going to be giving a presentation on the local insects and other invertebrates that can be found in the Davis Mountains. I have not started making this program yet. Tomorrow is the day! Today I am just going to relax. Still mad about the bagels.

17, 18, 19, 20 Dramatic Job Change

As of Wednesday lunch time I was told I would no longer be working in the field but instead would be in the office- learning the system and checking people in to their campsites and all that fun stuff. It really is fun too. The computer system is tricky to operate, but i caught on quickly and I have had so much fun talking to all the people who come in- recommending trails and talking about the local wildlife and where people are from- its been really enjoyable. I've made a lot of friends here- I'm finding that I'm not having all the time to do puzzles and write poetry and read books that I thought I would have. Lots more happened, but its been a few days and it honestly wasn't that exciting, so I'm skipping it.

Big Bend Ranch 15 & 16

Phenomenal! One of the most beautiful places I've ever been, and completely empty. I was the only one in the 300,000 acre park. Didn't make it all the way to Big Bend, actually I took an extra turn, ended up at Big Bend Ranch State Park, learned I could camp there for free and was sold.

Desert. Everywhere desert. Never have I been anywhere more wild, untamed, unaltered in my life. There wasn't anyone within a 7 mile radius of me. Its not a place sane people go in the summer time. It was 108 degrees in the shade- and there was not shade except maybe a solitary cotton wood or overhanging canyon wall every half mile or so. The first day I hiked in about 4 or 5 miles down a creek bed- this was not an actual trail, just a creek bed the rangers said would be really nice- so I went. And guess what?!? Water! A tiny stream about a foot wide would gurgle up intermittently from the ground and pour down over smooth rock and form tiny waterfalls and clear pools. The canyon walls were beautiful, red and jagged- close together where the water was so at points I could almost touch both sides at once. I don't know how to describe the rugged beauty of the area or the miraculous appearance of water in this barren land. The hike was a scramble the whole way- over boulders and silty creek beds- at several points I sunk up to my knee in silt. Luckily- my hiking boots are awesome and were up for the challenge. I got to my turn around point by 5pm- it was a wax factory from the 1920's-they used the candelilla plant to make wax that was very important for water proofing military equipment. It was only 5 o'clock- so hot and still five hours of blazing sun to go- thank you summer solstice. there was no shade- so i set up camp and hung out in my tent- sweating profusely. It was the darkest night sky I think i've ever seen. Thousands of brilliant stars that came together in shapes in my head. Desert sounds at night, starry skies over head and it was finally cool enough to really enjoy- the hours from 3am to 6am were my favorites from the whole trip.

That day was so very very hot, I wanted to avoid hiking that late again the next day, so at the first sign of light I was up and getting ready for my journey. It was so nice outside, pleasantly warm, the outline of the mountains on the horizon slowly coming into focus. My pack was probably 10 pounds lighter from all the water I drank the day before and I made good time at the beginning of my hike- I stopped by an abandoned quicksilver mine- mercury. It was eerie, very eerie. Abandoned dilapidated buildings and dangerous looking, rusting machinery with lots of places for snakes to hide. I was very careful, but still- I was in rattle snake country big time- they are very common out there. I climbed up some run down stairs to where the actual mine shaft was- a few widely spaced bars covered a gigantic, cavernous pit to which there was no bottom to be seen. It was exhilarating and scary to peer over the edge into that chasm and think about the brave workers who would have gone down into those depths in search of treasure. Quicksilver was extremely prized and expensive- yet the workers all suffered mercury poisoning looking for this liquid gold- their teeth feel out and they died early deaths.

By 9:30 am there was no shade at it was 100 degrees out. For a while the trail winded its way between small mountains and threw canyons. I saw more lizards than I could count and like 7 giant yellow and brown millipedes. I watch some aoudad climb up a very steep mountain- audad are rams imported from the deserts of northern africa . Even the babies climbed stright up bare cliff faces like it was nothing. By 11:30 it was very hot and my pack was rubbing raw bruises on my hips. The trail became less like a trail and more like scattered stacks of rock every 100m or so across flat desert. I knew approximately where I was and in what direction I needed to be going. A few times I lost the trail, but kept going in the right direction and eventually met up with it again. Also at the end of my journey I didn't see the turn off to the road and kept going down a creek bed. Eventually I realized this and just decided to keep going and run into the road some where else. I was on my last nalgeen bottle after a while and was sore and hot so I hiked straight up the side of a mountain in order to get a good view of my surroundings and find the way to the car. I didn't find the car, but I found the road and took it up for about a mile to the car. Talk about an adventure- I had accidentally turned my 5 mile hike into a 9 mile hike. There are no words for how thankful I was to see my car and sit in the cool air-conditioning. I had survived 24 hours of desert.

Friday, June 25, 2010

???

I love my family and my friends. Thanks for your love and support!

So many things have happened, so many things... but I'm sleepy so I'm not gonna recall them all tonight- I want to give the full play-by-play and thats gonna take a while. For now, I'm just going to NOT go to a concert in Alpine (I really want to go but I've been stayin up late and am tired of being tired at work) but I'm staying home and watching a bad sci-fi flick and going to bed at a reasonable hour. Tomorrow I am going to a play in Alpine - community theatre of Damn Yankeys. Fun Fun. Peace Out!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Day 13 and 14

TOMORROW MORNING I LEAVE TO BIG BEND!!!

I am sooo excited! Gonna backpack all around that place. Today there was a rain storm in the desert. It was awesome and made my job super easy. Yesterday I went to Fiesta del Sol with a guy I met named Aaron. Its a fun, small town festival in Alpine where artists display their work and there is food and music. I had a really good time and the atmosphere was really pleasant. Today is my friday! Friday woo hoo!! I've been here 2 weeks, its gone by so fast, I'm not going to have time to do all the things I want to out here.

I really like driving big trucks. This disturbs me. Everyday I drive a big truck around and it just feels good... but also the gas mileage is really bad.

I killed a striped bark scorpion that was in my sink today and then I felt bad about it all day long. I've just been lazy lately and have been killing stuff instead of catching and releasing it as I should.

Happy Fathers Day Dad! Love you!

Friday, June 18, 2010

Day 12

I drove up the mountain, no one else was up there- it was very windy and dark and wild looking out. I was listening to my radio- and then I got out and danced alone on top of the mountain. Wild.

Excitement [almost]. Today there was a fire started by some dry lightening on the other side of the mountain from the primitive camping area hiking trails. There was a guy hiking on that trail. A couple guys got in their 4 wheelers and drove up the mountain to find him and bring him down- I thought I was going to get to go up and maybe beat down some fire or something- but that didn't happen. We got the dude and the fire went out by itself before it got to us. It was pretty exciting. There is A LOT of dry lightening out here. 2 days a go I saw the biggest rainbow ever- it stretched all the way across the sky between 2 mountains- totally awesome- I went in to get my camera but the middle part had faded by the time I got back outside.

Last night I saw a giant desert milipede outside my duplex- it was like 8 inches long and really fat and it was orange and green colored- funkey! I haven't been recording all the wildlife I've seen out here. Saw a few cottontails today on my run and some more scorpions, there was a tarantula in my mop bucket the other day- it was kinda small and cute.

Today I painted a door and helped sand down parts of a bench we're making and only weedeated for like an hour- thank you lightening!Tomorrow there is a festival in a nearby town called Alpine that I'm going to go to after work- should be fun! There is also a play I want to see that is down there tomorrow night also. Fun fun fun.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Days 10 & 11

I sat down to write this post outside so I could watch the bats and the fireflies and see the stars... but then I also saw a huge striped bark scorpion right next to me and decided it was prettier inside the lodge. Today was a day of listening to old timers tell their stories. Thats seriously the best part about this job, listening to all the old ranch tales and whatnot. An older man named Bounce talked to Jason and I for a long while today, telling us his bobcat and mountainlion and bear and rattlesnake stories. Weedeated some more today- I'm getting pretty good at it. Talked with Jason all day long as we worked. I was helping Sandy and Jeff finish up at the front desk and they sent me to tell Park Host 1 (Virginia and Mr. Gill) something- I didn't come out of their r.v. for 4 hours til nearly 9 o'clock at night. We just got to talkin' (They are an older couple in their late 60's maybe) and lost track of time. They really are a fun couple of people- they've traveled alot and have a lot more traveling they're still going to do. Its fun to hang out with people of a different group than I'm used to...usually its just me chillin with other college aged folks- but now days I hang out with are older couples like the Gills or my co-workers who are all young men raising families. I just went outside again to try to make a phone call... battled a raccoon and lost and had to retreat back inside.
Yesterday they sprayed my house with chemicals to kill all the bugs. I may die five years early from a pesticide induced cancer but at least I won't have bugs flying on my face while I'm sleeping or wind scorpions on my pillow. Peace Out- gonna go for a late night swim.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

8 & 9

Days off! WooHoo!! Explored Alpine yesterday and today I unpacked all my stuff and organized and slept alot because I wasn't feeling great. It took forever to get to sleep last night- the bugs in the house are just too much- there were 2 wind scorpions right by my bed last night and huge ants and tiny ants and longhorn beetles ant shield bugs that would fly on my face everytime I turned off the lights to try to sleep. I don't ever kill anything if I can help it- I always go out of my way to catch and release anything- but last night I was so fed up around 3am I just starting squashing things. I felt really bad about it- but I could finally get to sleep. Work again tomorrow and I think I'm going to start planning for a backpacking trip to Cloudcroft New Mexico for next weekend!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Day 7

Work today was much like yesterday. Spent the firs 2 hours cleaning bathrooms at the park then drove out to Balmorhea to park cars for 5 hours- yay! Balmorhea isn't in the mountains like the park, its straight up desert and it was 109 degrees yesterday and about the same again today. Hot HOt HOT! I got to swim this time tho after work- Balmorhea is the largest spring feed swimming pool in the world. I worked with two men we are probably in their later 50's and they weren't complaining- even though they've both been working in the park for over 15 years and probably had better things to do than park cars. My mural idea is no good- apparently they are going to re-do the entire visitor center in a year so any work I did wouldn't last very long. II have off- HURRAY!! I rented a movie for tonight, tomorrow I'll run errands- I need to buy some sunglasses, some work pants and shorts, some more veggies, some storage bins maybe and a few other things I can't remember right now. I also need to do laundry, unpack everything, and do some paperwork. Tuesday I'm going exploring- maybe to the Chihuahua Desert Research Institute, visit Alpine or Marfa or go on some hikes up hear or visit Fort Davis. Maybe I'll go over to the observatory- we'll see. Tonight its movie and cake night- during which exciting event I will watch a movie and eat cake.

Day 6

Today did not stink- that’s what I’m telling myself anyway. I spent 9 hours at work straight with a 10 minute break to shove down a sandwich under a shady tree. Most of the day I spent in direct sun, 100+ degree weather doing everyone’s dream job- parking cars. Exactly what I’d hoped I’d be doing! Blah! And I’ve got to do the same thing again tomorrow only without the help I had today. Yay! Workin’ on my farmers tan AND my watch tan.

Day 5

Best day so far! I learned how to drive a tractor and I spent all day with Pete driving the tractor down the creek bed picking up large flat rocks for a path we’re going to build. 4 wheeling it out there was scary and exhilarating. I kinda scratched up the truck a little bit- I hope its not a big deal.

Animals: Last night I saw a pack of maybe 10 javalinas while I was taking a run through the camp sites. I also saw a grey fox run across the road. Today I saw 2 brown widows and a black widow.

I’m exhausted. Its 8:40 and I’m too tired to go up to the lodge and check my email like I should. I’m in my p.j.s and just going to lay back and read my book til I pass out. Fun Friday huh? I didn’t even know it was Friday til I got off work. If I were back in Austin right now I would probably be sleeping, but only to wake up at like 10 or 11 and go out and party.

I’m ready for my days off. I thought I was going to get to come in to work at 10 tomorrow and Sunday but that doesn’t look to be the case. 8 it is- blah! Each night I have woken up to bugs crawling on my body, and I’ve just brushed them off and gone back to sleep- now that I’ve seen the black widow I’m a bit more worried.

I thought of a project I’m going to ask and see if I can do. In the interpretative center is a stuffed animal display with just a white wall behind it… I think it would be so cool to paint a mural behind all the animals of one of the mountains up here, and paint some of the cactus in the area and all that.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Day 4

Yes, women can use chainsaws.

I'm off on Mondays and Tuesdays for when people plan their visits to come visit me .

Day 3

Saw a javalina today. The fireflies out here glow green not yellow. I got a radio and a hat today- like a real ranger badass! Did about 45 minutes of work in my 8 hour day. Did learn how to use and re-string a weed wacker today and helped fix a grasshopper. Spent the morning cleaning restrooms and walking the trails picking up trash. Spent the afternoon watching the clouds come in over the mountain… stopping work to wait for it to rain so we could stop working. After work I hung out with J.J. and Pete at J.J.’s house. It was really fun. J.J. lives in town, he’s got a wife (Jennifer) and a 17 month old baby girl who is adorable. They’ve got chickens and a goose and ducks and a horse and cats- I like their house. Everyone was very friendly. We just sat outside and talked, I watched that little angle run around, other people slowly gathered too- Stetson and Gabriel and Tony and John and some other dude. Country people, wearing blue jeans covered in dirt with the explanation that “they’ve been on the mountain all day”.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Day 2

Really Day 1 I guess, it was my first day of paid work as a ranger. For the next few weeks I am going to be doing trail and maintenance work and after a few weeks i'll switch over to office and education program work. I'm going to learn some badass skillz!!! Chainsaw skillz... tractor drivin' skillz... fixin stuff skillz... trail building skillz who knows what else!

I spent the morning goofin' around with the park rangers and park hosts- I was supposed to be doing paperwork but Maria was busy so I just chatted up the other rangers for a few hours. Jeff brought in some damn good pound cake. The hosts and all the rangers are very nice, knowledgeable people who like to laugh and talk trash about the new computer system which will (apparently) bring doom to us all. I spent the rest of the day drivin around the park in a truck with a Park Ranger II named Pete who I am going to be helping out. He's a cool, younger guy and he showed me all the sites and all the day to day activities that are done around the park- patrolling, checking water sanitation, checking camp sites building trails and things. We looked for arrow heads out in the creek bed across from the park- found some cool pieces of flint but no arrow heads yet.

Shout out to the public library system! Holla! Went to town today to use the wireless at a coffee shop I saw coming in, but it closed at 3pm, apparently everything closes at 3pm in Ft. Davis- except the library which is open until 6. I went in at 5:50 and they were so nice, they let me in and set me up with a library card and helped me check out a dvd- really really nice people there.

Animals I saw today:
Mule deer, tarantula, squirrels.

I guess thats it for now.

Day 1

Texas Weather: I got a note on my door that said to use today to get to know the park and move in and what not. Dad and I went on a 4 mile-ish hike around a smaller peak- it was cloudless and in the upper 90’s, around noon. Dad left around 3:00pm and at 4 o’clock there was a real gullywasher hailstorm. Crazy. Hail!


Food: I went into town, (Ft. Davis- its about 5 miles down the road) searching for groceries. There are about 1,200 people in this town and 2 tiny grocery stores. One had more local/ environmentally conscious/ expensive stuff (and tofu thank god!). And, they’ve also got Fireman’s out here so I’m a happy camper. I got a ton of food, shoved it into my tiny mini fridge, and then prepared a feast! I don’t have a stove or an oven- I cook everything outside on the picnic table on my camping stove. I made migas and a baked potato and a n awesome salad with local tomatoes.


Stuff: Tomorrow I start my job at 8 am. I am nervous and excited. I met my boss today, she lives in the other side of the duplex. I went for a run along the park road somewhere in the day as well and meet a really spunky older lady who works at park headquarters names Jeannie B- I think she and I will have a lot of fun together. There are a billion other tings I want to say, but this is it for now- I’ve got to do dishes and unpack and try to get to sleep a little earlier tonight. Its been one day and a really enjoy living along. I hope I continue to love it.

Day 0

Blog blog blog blog!

Hurray! My first time ever bloggin it up! Whasup y’all? You must be extremely bored if you are reading my blog- awesome! I am super excited about this, and about everything!


The low down: If you don’t already know…. I am serving a 10 week Park Ranger internship at DavisMountains State Park (which is about 8 hours west of Austin). Honestly don’t know what I’m supposed to do here- I’ll find out I suppose. I have to hike a mile to the top of a mountain or drive into town in order to get cell phone reception out here- so sorry if I don’t buzz you all that often- I’m really roughin’ it here- haha.


Got in last night as the sun was setting, soooo beautiful! (pictures to come!) West Texas some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen, jagged red rock formations jutting out along winding roads, all varieties of cactus blooming in the flat expanses. It was 104˚ while we were driving up I10. My house is freakin huge! It’s a 2 bedroom duplex at the park itself. Its got a tiny window a.c. unit that air conditions the whole place. Its nice, totally empty though- I didn’t bring hardly anything- I would love some company to help me fill up the empty space. There are a lot of bugs in here right now- large bugs- I’ve been scoopin ‘em out the door every time I find em but I’m pretty sure I’m just letting more in.