Week 10: Crazy invasive species intern with a hammer

View of the Alaskan range from Alpine Ridge Trail

Sunrise: 4:10am
Sunset: 11:52pm

Well, we've reached the point in the summer where we're starting to lose about a half hour of daylight a week.  And July already feels like it's starting to cool off.  My field day today hovered around 41F most of the morning.  South Carolina heat is going to kill me! 

Week 10 was a good one.  It also marks only 3 weeks left in the Last Frontier, which is actually okay with me.  I've been here since November of 2011 doing work that, let's face it, I'm not crazy about.  My hearts not in it the way it has been with other jobs.  So about week 10 (because there was some fun stuff.  :]  )

Surfbird I saw on the tundra :)

 My week started and ended awesome.  Monday was my bus day and though I planned on not hiking that day, when we got out to the EVC, I couldn't help myself.  Denali was out with almost no trace of clouds on it, the temperatures were warm, and I could feel the sun smiling.  :)  It was the same hike I did a couple weeks ago, but it somehow felt completely different.  Instead of getting to the end of the social trail and turning around, I decided to keep hiking the ridge line, off trail, along the tundra. 




It felt really good and reminded me a lot of how I felt while in Idaho: Free, independent, and capable.  It was a strong feeling. 

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were painfully long days in the office.  Data, data, data.  I love research, don't get me wrong.  But I do not love researching bus sound.  Ugh.  3 more weeks until I'm finally researching something relevant again, something I'm deeply passionate about.  I cannot wait. <3

Friday was a long, but good field day.  I had a co-worker help me out, who turned out to be great company.  I was glad for the companionship.  The day overall went smoothly, and to my surprise, I was able to recover 2 weeks of data that I thought had been lost.  The field portion of the day only lasted 8 and a half hours, but I spent another 2 hours downloading data to see if we actually successfully got all the data -- Which has yet to happen this field season. 

Riley Creek

From the looks of it, I have 3 stations with 2 full weeks of data each downloaded to my work computer!   Whether I enjoy the research or not, I'm glad that successful and useful data was collected for analysis.  :)

To add to my good mood, my long work week was followed my hiking and camping.  Front country camping, but camping nonetheless.  After setting up camp, me and a friend walked down to Riley Creek and then decided to hike a bit along the triple lakes trail.  Such a fantastic hike.  For the first time since being in Denali, I actually felt like I was away from the people, the buses, and felt the "escape" I had been searching for since I got here.

Henry and Riley Creek

The trail followed Riley Creek for most of the way.  We came across a hidden beach and lounged there for a long time, soaking in the sites and sounds.  It reminded me of the road trip I did in Idaho where we sat along the Salmon river for a while, just listening and watching the power of crystal clear mountain water carve it's way through the canyon.  Beautiful. <3

The trail eventually climbed the mountain side to an amazing overlook.  And for once, it was a view that didn't include C-camp, the canyon, or a single road.  I couldn't have been happier.  Back at our campsite, we cooked dinner on the fire, drank box wine, and thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Overall?  A really great week.  :)

"I may not have gone where I intended to go,

but I think I've ended up where I needed to be."