Charming Man

I've been listening to the Smith's a lot; hence the subject of this post. How the heck have I been?  Well the short answer is pretty freaking good.

Noteworthy updates:

1)  I have my fishing license

2) I know how to catch and gut fish

3) I've been to Yosemite valley and I've seen Half Dome

4) I have a really bad farmers tan and I've added three new scars to my huge muscular legs

5) I finally beat my mom at a round of mini golf

6) I'm starting my own business www.trekkingforlove.com; It's an adventure touring company for singles. Stand by for updates. Willa, my sister, if willing is going to provide the graphic design work

7) I'm taking my GRE's in about a month

8) Meet an awesome guy; unfortunately he doesn't live in Mammoth; however I feel good about this one :)  Enough to even mention that I'm smitten. I swear if he reads this I might die. Also stand by for updates, if there are even any to update. (I might be going to San Diego to visit him) 

9) Things I say about 25 thousands times a day: Rainbow falls is 2.5 miles from the trailhead at Devils Postpile. If you want to make your hike shorter take the shuttle bus to stop number 9 and walk 1.3 miles to the falls one way. 

For a less traveled hike go to Minaret falls; 2.7 miles round trip. 

No, you can't have your dog off leash. 

No you can't bring your bicycle on the trail. 

No, I'm not a ranger in training. 

I work for SCA and I am essentially a ranger in the sense I do all the same work, I just don't get paid as much and I have a less cool uniform. 

Bathrooms are too the left of the ranger station. 

No, a bottle of water is not enough for a 7 mile hike you idiot. 

I can't tell you about the geophysical composition about basalt because I don't know what that even means. 

It's called Devils Postpile because of basque sheephearders. "Devils Woodpile" 

I have no idea what I am going to do in winter curious junior rangers. Don't question me, just go with "I'm going back to New York for a while until I figure out the next move." 

It's a black bear, yea, I know it's brown in color. But I swear it's a black bear, why well because it's the same species as the bears back east. Yes, I know it's brown, but it's a black bear. No, it's not a grizzly, no it's not a brown bear, it's a black bear. Why do we have the skin, well because of people like you. You are curious about petting it right and learning about it? Well there you go. Why does it have a gunshot wound, well it was a problem bear. Did I kill it, no I didn't kill it. 

My all time favorite: "Where are those big rocks," Sir they are about a half a mile along the trail and they are actually basalt lava, "Right, so the rocks are this way?" 

Adjusting to Life Here

Aloha! 
How is everyone doing? I wish people would leave encouraging posts, I feel like I am taking to the abyss out there. Anyway it's been officially two weeks since I've been here and it has been awesome so far. I won't deny that I've had bouts of feeling lonely and homesickness, but all and all it's been an adventure. Yesterday was one of my friends birthday's here and we went for a 4 dollar hamburg and free wings. Nothing like living for happy hour prices. I drank way too much pbr and ate too many chips, but honestly it was worth it. Kings cup has been a weekly tradition so far. I learned that in California if you pick a 5 it means drive which if your curious is a cool way of playing and keeping the game interesting. 


You probably want to know about my work. Well, I've been prepping for my program. I have to give an hour walk to the Devils Postpile two times a week. My theme:  Just as the natural environment has shaped the valley and Devils Postpile, so have the people who have come before us. I'll be talking about John Muir, Jedeiah Smith, the Piutes and President Taft who officially signed the declaration in 1911 to establish the land as a national monument. Most of my friends are taking a more natural science, geology route, but I like to make my life more difficult. No, in all seriousness I like talking about the history of people in the resource.


Next week some of the other SCA's and I are going to Manzanar, (the Japanese internment camp in WWII) for an archeological dig of some sort. I'm super pumped about getting out of Mammoth Lakes for a few days. It's a nice town here but it's super small and you run into the same people all the time. I work and live with the same people. They are awesome, but it can get a bit too much when you spend literally ever waking hour with them. 


I miss back East a lot. I've been working on some graduate school stuff. I decided that I want to go back to school for Fish and Wildlife Management. Right now I've been looking into Syracuse, Colorado State University and Oregon State University. I'm hoping to take my GRE's by the end of the summer, but that might be difficult. I don't want to sacrifice having a blast here. We will see if I can feel ready to take the test in two months or so. I've been pretty diligent about fitting in time here and there. Hope everyone is good. 


Till next time folks!

Don't wear this outfit in public if you are trolling for dudes

Day Four!

Things are going good! Really good. Flowing right into the mix of things here. I had my first real day of work today. I missed most of training last week so I had to follow up with my boss on orientation stuff. I learned about the pillars of interpretation as well as facts about the NPS and it's role with the federal government.

Facts I know now. Devils Postpile National Monument was established in 1911. Originally it was part of Yosemite National Park but soon got broken up. It became a national monument because of it's unique geological significance. Lava flowed over the area in a large pool and when the lava cooled it formed large basalt columns that have hexagonal shapes. These columns were further carved out but glaciers that passed by the Sierra mountains. I also re-learned about Aldo Leopold as well as Rachel Carson. Interpretation is not about information; its about how the audience connects with the information that you provide. It's necessary to provide both a intellectual as well as emotional connection.

Horseshoe Lake 

Yesterday I spent the day in Bishop, CA, which is a bigger town then Mammoth Lakes. We went to a few stores to pick up essential items that everyone needed in bulk. Grocery stories here are expensive! Toward the end of the day I went on a drive with one of my groovy roommates and actually checked out some of the lakes here at Mammoth. There is this lake called Horseshoe lake that is incredible. Around this area there are a ton of C02 vents that have caused the trees to die off. A few people have actually died here from the fumes. It was crazy though. It looked like something out of a movie!

Horseshoe Lake

Saturday I went to Yosemite. So beautiful!! There was snow!!

So I have to explain the title of this post. Currently I'm sitting in a coffee shop, the California version of Kind Coffee and I am wearing toe shoes, capri shorts, and an underarm tee shirt with a baseball cap. Do I look silly, absolutely. Am I trying to scope out men, yes. Do they think I'm straight? Nope. Is my roommate meeting me here, yes. Is she wearing makeup, no. Does she look like my lesbian partner? You bet ya!


*Note to self: Don't wear this outfit in public if you are trolling for dudes.

Till next time peoples!!

Welcome to the mountains; Indian cuisine

Hey everyone, So I'm finally here! My flight got in around 5:30 yesterday. My boss Maureen picked me up and rigt from the start she seemed really nice and really awesome. She used "awesome" and "sweet" about 5 or 6 times. We went straight to where I live now. I thought I would be living in the park, but I actually live in the town of mammoth lakes. Apparently the town subsidizes housing here, so interns are allowed to use their facilities. I live pretty close to the grocery store and some local bars. There I also a polo outlet store here in case I need to get my preppy fix in! I live in a cabin like house. There are 6 girls who live with me md they all are sca interns. I share a room with Alex who is from southern California. She seems really chill. The other girls are all super nice. Everyone was just welcoming! After chatting for a bit we went to the towns hotel and had Indian food. It was, subpar to say the least but I was happy to be in a group of 11 people. I can't even remember everyone's names as of yet. It's going to take me a few days to get them all straight. Some people are from Cali and others are from all over. Another intern is from tennesse and she has the best accent! Everyone came and hung out at my apartment after dinner, but literally passed out. Today I'm up and it's only 7:20am. Might try to explore the town before anyone gets up. They call my neighboorhood the "ghetto". Which it isn't. But they are some townies here on this block. Lots of ski bros out here. Some interesting Hawaiian looking dudes stared at our bright eyed pack yesterday. It be town of mammoth seems a bit different then Estes park. Maybe because it's a ski town and it's off season. I also learned that there has been some pretty heavy wind storms up here and they've had to cut a lot of trees down. People get really nervous when my wind blows. Today should be fun! There was talk of exploring hot springs. I was like, YES!!!

California Bound

Hey Peoples,
It has been a very long time since I updated, but figured I should only update when I have some exciting news! AND I do. 
I am moving to California to work at Devils Postpile Monument. Check out the link for the park here. My new job location. The monument itself is surrounded by Inyo National Forest, check out that too. I'll be around 30 minutes from Yosemite. The town I'll be right near is Mammoth Lakes, which is a huge ski town. Check it out. 


The location itself is about 3 hours from Reno, 5 hours from LA, and 5 1/2 hours from San Fran. I'll be really close the the Nevada border in the Sierra Mountains. 
I'll be a visitor services and intepretation ranger. I'll provide support of daily operations to enhance visitor services and safety by staffing the ranger station, presenting interpretive walks and programs, and by performing trail patrols (roving). My work will support the park's efforts to become a Climate Friendly park by developing new programs, projects and outreach efforts that deal with the impact and mitigation of climate change in the Sierra Nevada mountains and throughout the world. In the fall I'll be doing some education outreach and data management. My boss has said that I will have the opportunity to shadow some natural resource people and hopefully pick their brain.


The ultimate goal after this is to get my MS in Natural Resource Management in fall 2013. Hopefully this will help me get there!


I'm super excited! And nervous, but this is a great opportunity, and I'm hoping it will lead to some pretty sweet experiences. 


I leave tomorrow (friday) at 11am. Wish me luck peoples!!!

Summer's End

Hey Y'all,

I figured I would write a quick post before I head out to lunch. Currently I am in CT at a friend's place and it is so beautiful. I am sitting on an chair outside a perfectly painted blue porch. I'm looking up at a dock and boats that meander in and out of the sound. I went for a run today around this cute little town, and it was incredible. This weekend was needed. A little R and R goes a long way! Today's festivities include eating a very large lobster roll, going into the water, and lounging around with some of the best people on the planet.

Life is pretty freaking good right now :)

Hey Peoples.

It's been a few weeks since I last posted. I've been apprehensive to post because to be honest I have been feeling pretty blue recently, and I didn't want to blog about how grim I was feeling. So, I have waited to a time where I am bit more uplifted.

I started my internship today with Outward Bound. I am in the New York Office and I am helping the development staff out. Not sure exactly what my tasks will be specifically, but today I worked on a map for a donor. I used my snazzy Paint knowledge to copy and past symbols on a U.S map. I am so AWESOME.

In other news, SUMMER is finally here. It actually feels warm in my room, which is a nice change from the typical frozen arctic. The rain keeps a coming though, I guess it's good for the RESERVOIRS, but bad for all the flooding out there :(  I don't know what I capitalized and bolded that. Don't question it, just roll with it.

On thursday I went to MD with a good friend of mine to visit some more friendly friends GRADUATE. I love UMD, such a great school, such a great campus, awesome professors! Super glad to have caught up with some great people, not to mention drinking in DC with some old coworkers who I hadn't seen since last summer. I must say that I love DC. It's no New York, but its pretty up there on my list of cities.

Saturday I came back on the AMTRAK which seriously rips people off. I had the chance of spending 20 bucks for a questionable, trafficy, hot/cold, stuffy bus, or apt for the $147 train ride. Being that I was super hungover, tired, and sick I chose the expensive choice. I look at the $147, and I hate that I calculated how many hours I had to slave over to make up for it. But, it was a good choice. I would have probably thrown up on the bus.

Attended a fun birthday party Saturday night. I was super hungover still, so I hung low and had a few beers. But, watching other people get drunk is almost as fun, almost.

Under the GW

Sunday I took a bike ride up on the Hudson Greenway. It is so beautiful on the hudson. I love being able to see nature and still be in the city. It's the best of both worlds. I rode all the way past the GW and up to Gorman Park. Here is a picture of right under the bridge. This is sort of ironic because there was this super steep hill right where this picture is taken. I did not want to continue up this hill, so I used this picture as an opportunity to take a much needed breather. I felt sort of silly when a barefooted runner sped past my lazy ass. (I caught up with him after that). Yes, he was barefoot, and no he was not wearing toe shoes.


I helped plant some petunias! Which was fun, and made me feel happy. I love flowers, they are just so cheery!! Gorman Park is a great park. Plenty of neighborhood people come out and help plant, weed, and pretty the park. Granted I live all the way downtown, but it still feels nice to be part of something tangeable, and real. The volunteer organizer is so nice. We went to go get a tasty chicken burrito from a taco truck, and then ate our feast looking over the Highbridge. Really it was the perfect way to spend a sunday!

 I now know how to play A Horse with No Name, Seven Nation Army, and the Minnow and Trout on the guitar. PROGRESS. 


Looking forward to more positive things to write about!

Here are some pictures of the garden.

Not Sure what these plants are. They looked pretty!

Petunia's and other unnamed plant!