Nothing Shocking (unless you're a cutthroat)

Last Monday Brian invited me to come out with some colleagues to electroshock fish to save them from impending muddy waters because we are replacing a bad culvert on Cottonwood Creek. It was a wonderful day full of stomping around in the creek, lots of laughs, and fresh air in the great outdoors. We ended up catching 341 fish including the exceedingly rare perchthroat, known only to exist in the upper reaches of Cottonwood.

End of a Summer

This weekend I said goodbye to summer in the company of best of friends at Stephen and Mary's annual Stupendous Selebration. For this year's party they put on an awesome scavenger hunt race. There were seven teams of four people, and to start each person on each team had to race mini bikes around the block before the team got the sheet of clues and the map. From there we had to run around the neighborhood, find clues and challenges, and attempt to earn extra points along the way by finding hidden teddy bears, playing ping pong, and horseshoes, and taking pictures for photo challenges where everyone judged the photos once the race was done. It was a smashing party and glorious race. Most of all it was soooooo great to spend time with kindred spirits in Seattle, without any doubt my ideal home.

Weekend of Moto and Rafting on the Tieton River

photo courtesy of Osprey Rafting Guides

This was a great weekend: Met up with Stephen and his coworkers in central-Washington for some rafting and camping along the gorgeous Tieton River. It was time spent with good company, lots of laughter, and in the great outdoors. The river was very exciting with lots of waves, big holes, rocks to bump, a diversion dam, and the opportunity to rescue people after they got thrown out of the raft.

Overall I put in over 900 miles of motorcycling to get out there and back, and Stephen and I finished up the weekend with a fun tour of the Yakima Canyon. Tight, twisty, and scenic - just how I like it... Otherwise I-90 is dreadfully boring except some stretches on the Idaho/Montana border.

The Waning Days of Summer

The temperature has gotten into the sweet zone, and this Saturday I had to get out even though I have a huge backlog of reading to do and I still feel a little sick. I rode my moto down to Kootenai Creek in the Bitterroot Mountains and hiked up to N Kootenai Lake, which ended up being over 20 miles round trip. Most of the hike was pretty but not that scenic. The lake made the trip well worth it though, as it was absolutely superb.

Otherwise the hike was time well spent pondering my feelings of being stuck away from the people and cultural stimulus that are important to me and my sense that my destiny is to work in podunk towns if I choose to stay where I'm at. Personal values are hanging in the balance, and I feel like I've made some bad moves to end up where I am now, despite its many heavenly aspects. I love the mountains, issues, coworkers, and the work itself (for the most part) but am dismayed at the bureaucracy and anachronism remaining in the agency.