First Week

Last week I finally started work, and it was everything I'd hoped. Up until today (when it started to rain) we were up on the rooftops of a couple of fish laboratories replacing the roofs. They used to have cedar shakes, but we ripped those off and have started to put a new metal roofing on that won't moss up like the old one did. I've used a billion different tools, from your basic hammers and drills, to your more advanced reciprocating and circular saws.

I'm also learning all sorts of lingo. For instance, when I was told we were going to rip the shakes of the roof, I had zero clue what was being said to me. Now I know that a shake is a wooden shingle. I also now know what a country mile is. Apparently its a very very long way. A Sawzall is a brand of reciprocating saw (used in the same way as Kleenex, or Bandaid), a Come-Along is a ratchet lever winch, and a winch is a mechanical device used to wind a rope or cable. You can imagine that now I throw these words and phrases around like I've known what they mean for twenty-two years. Its all very exciting.



The rig. This is the truck that carries all of our gear, and takes us wherever we need to go around the park. Lucky for us, its brand new and is likely to get out of any unfortunate incident, like getting stuck in the mud, for instance. I found out my crew today (there are ten of us total, we are being split in to two different crews of 5... most of the time we'll be apart, but for now, we're together), and not that the names will mean anything to you, but its me, Kylan from Washington, Rebecca from Georgia, Rebecca from Oregon, and Luke from Minnesota. So we represent the entire United States, which I think is kind of the point.



A picture of the garage to the laboratory. See the bracket on the peak of the roof? That's to hold the ropes that are attached to our harnesses... what I'm wearing in the first picture. One guess as to who hopped on a ladder and screwed that bad boy in.



The cedar shakes were in terrible condition, and its not in this picture, but it was so bad on one of the roofs that a tree started to grow on it.



We had to tarp up each roof at the end of the day because now that we ripped off the shakes, there's no more water protection.



Our scaffolding. I helped build the one in the front. Oh, yea.






So the roof to the garage was so rotten that one of our crew members, Joe, almost fell through. Once that happened we decided that the whole roof, plywood and all, needed to come down. So we tarped it all up on the inside, and had to eventually take this boat out.






This man is Don Farmer. Quite a character. He is the head carpenter at the park, and loves to joke around and generally be friendly. He is originally from Ohio, but moved to Washington about 35 years ago. Don, Kylan, and I went golfing last Friday at the end of the week at one of the local courses. He said that he loves golf, but doesn't have anybody to play with. He was overjoyed when Kylan and I said we would play whenever he wanted. So we've got a threesome now... looking for a fourth if anybody is interested. Anyway, Don likes to say funny sayings (that I don't think he thinks are funny). When anybody completes a task, he'll say, "now we're cookin'". And when Kylan or I hit our drives on the course, he would say, "boy, you hit that a country mile." I guess we'll be working with him a lot, and that makes me very happy.



OK so this was my favorite part of work so far... I was told by my supervisor, "destroy that chimney..."



Done.



At lunch time. I finally broke it to the gang that I would be taking a bunch of pictures this year. Nobody seemed to mind, and I think secretly they like the idea, because they get to benefit later on.

You see, I never used to like pictures. I didn't like to be in them, and I surely didn't like to take them. Enter Jennifer Ross. Something rubbed off, and now I have her love of taking pictures. Honestly, I can't get enough of it. I don't really know the technical side of photography, but I like to pretend that my composition is spot on.



These crazies thought they'd jump in the lake during break. Oh yea, I forgot to tell you that these buildings are next to a beautiful water body named Crescent Lake. I'll explain more when you see the better pictures.



That's what a stripped roof looks like.



Nice shot of the dock. This is all owned by the park, by the way. Except for some of the houses on the opposite side and around it. They were owned privately long before the park came around to snatching up this part of the forest, and some people still hold on to the land, despite enticing government incentives.



OK, so do you notice how the lake looks super crazy clear? Well it is. And there are two stories to explain that phenomenon. The first is a little boring, but has more truth to it. It says that there is a lack of nitrogen in the water that prevents algae from growing. The second is a little more interesting, and has become a local legend. It says that a beautiful young woman was murdered in 1940 and thrown in the lake, after which her body was turned to soap because of the amazing amount of minerals. She has kept the lake crystal clean ever since. Kinda weird, kinda cool. Actually, the first part of the story is true.






This is Luke from Minnesota. Full beard, full badass.












You can clearly see where the park boundary ends on the top of that hill. Logging is still a big thing around here.






This is inside the laboratory. A nice ecologist showed us around inside. They do all sorts of experiments that deal with the alpine lakes in the mountains and the coastal waters to the west.












A final look at the dock. All in all it was a wonderful week and I really like everybody that I work with. They're super nice and have lots to share. This week we actually did some trail work, and got to head in to the park, which looked incredible. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. We're going to be painting in the next few days (we're leaving the roofs until it stops raining), but we'll definitely be back, so I'll be sure to take some pictures then.

I also went camping this weekend at the Elwah River natural hot springs. I have some pictures from that, and once I sort through them, I'll be sure to put 'em on here.