End of an Era

I certainly did not do a great job keeping up with the blogs this summer. I guess I just didn’t feel like writing. Overall it was a great summer. I only ran into a few glitches with uncooperative field assistants, and the other downside was that the WIFL did not do well. This was sad—and it makes it difficult to write a thesis on fledgling survival. But I did get to know some wonderful people and was a bit more laid back for me than it usually is. I usually work every day and wear myself out, but I took my days off like I’m supposed to. My hard working crew made that possible.

Birds aside, the summer was fun of good times. Crew dinners were frequent (and delicious!) and followed by drinking and entertaining conversation. For the 4th of July we went to Tahoe with a bunch of other people to an awesome little area off the rocks just next door to the nudie beach. We floated around in little blow up rafts with beer and then had a BBQ back at the house. We also rafted the Truckee River towards the end of the season which was a lot of fun. It started out very tame, moving along at a nice relaxing pace. I was in a raft that I bought in 2007 and it seemed to be leaking air slowly. After it (we) took a hit from a large rock I had to stop and blow it up again. At the end we hit some rather large rapids and I ended up sitting in a foot of water in a half blown up boat (kinda like a bath tub). I also got to hike to a beautiful lake (what else does one find in Tahoe?), go to some hot springs near Mammoth Lakes and finally visit Webber Falls. A good end to my stint as WIFL queen in the Sierras.

Yup. Season number 5 complete. That’s a long time for me to stick with something. I will miss the Sierras and WIFL—so I’m sure I’ll be back someday (probably even briefly next year to train new folks). Each season was unique and fun, and was the beginning of several life-long friendships. So many great memories. Although the birds were adorable and the field sites were beautiful, it’s the people that will stay with me forever.

A few photos...

This is my favorite broken down old barn on the way to the field sites. I've probably driven past it 800 times. Every year I expect it to have fallen down from the snow. But alas, it still stands. And I intend to see it again in 10 years.


This is Kristen. I grew quite fond of her over the season.

After finding naked old men in a tub and a spring that was going to burn our skin off, we found this nice little hot spring to hang out in. Of course it was 80 degrees outside and I thought for a minute I might pass out.

Webber Falls--great swimming hole at the top of the 60ft waterfalls just south of our main field site (Perazzo). I'm not sure why it took me so long to check it out.

What's next? Who knows...