5:50 AM – Snooze
6:00 AM – The screeching sound of my alarm clock says, “HEY GIRL, GET UP!”
6:10 AM – Roll out of bed onto the floor and make my way to the bathroom to brush my teeth.
6:20 AM – Make breakfast, pack lunch, get dressed, and make sure my bag is packed for the day ahead.
6:40 AM – Start walking to the office building.
7:00 AM – Arrive at work, clock in on time to not mess up ADP hours, and avoid struggling with the Notes app on CLM Time Reporting.
7:10 AM – Crack open the first can of MTN Dew to wake up and be energized for the day.

Today, we are native plant scouting for species to collect seeds. We are hitting up Toad Meadow in our rental rig named Yappers. Yappers got his name from his strong object sensing noise if there’s a tree a mile within sight. Our loud boy is a grey Nissan Titan, which allows us to get from point A to B, as well as C, D, E, and F, depending on the day.

7:20 AM – Try to beat the heat and get a head start on the day by taking off early. I get in the driver’s seat because my coworker got their license stolen from a car break-in, and my other coworker drove yesterday.
7:25 AM – Get on one of the most dangerous roads in Oregon, being much more confident than I was the first time driving the truck. Then turn the radio on to Charli XCX’s new album to stay awake for the drive.
7:30-8:00 AM – “IT’S SO CONFUSING SOMETIMES TO BE A GIRL, GIRL!” (x15)
8:01 AM – Work it out on the remix.
8:02-8:20 AM – Hop out of Yappers and work our way to the meadows that we marked on Field Maps the previous day. Walk through trees, bushes, and puddles until we get to our destination, the glorious Toad Meadow.
8:20-11:40 AM – Scout around the meadow and find the native plant species.

Toad Meadow consisted of a few plants that were on our seed collection list and surprisingly very few toads. We found Penstemon serrulatus, Achillea millefolium, and Spirea Douglisii. All of these species are still in flower in this area so we mark it on our field maps so we can return in a few weeks once the plants are fruiting. We then make our way back to the truck.

12:00 PM – Lunch time! Crack open a nice warm MTN Dew #2 that’s been sitting in the truck all day, chow down on a sandwich, and eat all the veggie straws I can in 30 minutes.
12:30 PM – Drive to the next location, Big Meadows!
1:05 PM – Arrive at Big Meadows trailhead and begin trudging through the forest.
1:06-3:00 PM – Scout and ID plants at Big Meadow.

In Big Meadows we found Symphyotrichum foliaceum, Mimulus Guttatus, and Lupinus latifolius. We again mark up species that we are collecting on our tablets, and collect a few plants we are unsure about so our mentor Heidi can double-check them once we return to the main office. Then start our journey to the truck.

At this point in the day, we are tired, sweaty, bug-bitten, but feeling incredibly fortunate when we take a look around us and see miles and miles of beautiful trees. It is surreal to be in such a scenic place that I am fully expecting fairies to start dancing around me. In fact, I think I see one! Yes, over there by that bush! She dances in her little pink tutu and is throwing pixie dust around in the air, blessing every flower it lands on. (Wait, is this a sign of heat exhaustion? The back of my mind tries to warn me, “Nah,” and I skip along like a fairy princess with my new friend). Seriously though, it’s hot out and the heat is getting to all of us so we make our way back to the truck and decide it’s better to scout from the truck for the rest of the day.

3:00-4:00 PM – Scout on 2257 Road by Marion Forks.
4:00-4:26 PM – Drive to the gas station and fill Yappers up with gas.

4:40 PM – Arrive back at Detroit Ranger Station.
4:40-5:29 PM – Ask Heidi about specimens collected, check email to see if there are any new messages from CBG, and work on the native seed slideshow we created to better recognize the plants we are collecting in our forest.
5:30 PM – Clock out and walk back to the bunkhouse.

This concludes an average Tuesday as a CLM intern stationed at Willamette National Forest.

The journey started when I left my sweet college town of Manhattan, Kansas. I packed up my Ford Fusion, filled a bucket of ice to supplement my broken AC, and set off west to Willamette National Forest. As I looked through my rearview mirror, the cornfields faded away behind me, and the forest area that I would call home for the next six months appeared through my window.

Once I got to the town of Detroit, Oregon, I was amazed by how beautiful the forest looked. Driving through the valley, I had an amazing view of Mount Jefferson and the neighboring mountains. When I arrived at the Bunkhouse, I arranged my things, said hi to my roommate Ash, and made a list of things to get from the store the next day with my other roommate, Katie. I realized things were about to be a lot different. The town was an hour away, which required planning for meals and other necessities, something I was not used to. On the way into town, we stopped at the gas station, where we were approached by a man who came up to the car. Katie screamed in fright, as one does, at the man, and that’s how we found out you don’t pump your own gas in Oregon—another thing we both were not familiar with.

Our mentor Heidi took us to the area they call “the black,” where the forest was burnt down. This was an intense sight to see because so much of the forest burned down in 2020. Heidi showed us all the things the fire impacted, such as invasive species that started to grow in the burned areas and take over the once diverse forest landscape. Throughout the week, we did more training and hiking through the forest. We saw many cool sights, including waterfalls, snow on the mountains, and even a bear. Since starting work, we have done lots of reading and learning about the native species in the area so we can be prepared for when we go out and start collecting seed. Oregon has many more different plants and insects than I am familiar with, but it has been fun to learn about all the new species out here!

On our off time Katie, Ash, and I have visited Portland, hiked more around the Willamette, went to Silver Falls, played board games, visited some lakes, and went to the Oregon coast. It’s been an awesome first month getting to travel around with Ash, and Katie and can’t wait for our next adventures!