Hello again,

Wow! A lot has happened in the last few weeks since I wrote last. I’ve gotten to see so many different places around the Eagle Lake Field Office. It’s been awesome! Last week, I went with my mentor Valda to the desert to check out some sites she’s thinking of seeding winterfat (Ceratoides lanata) later on. The desert is such a breathtaking experience which many people don’t take the time to appreciate.  The amount of nothingness out there just takes your breath away. Then, this week I spent my workday on the other side of the field office on top of a mountain.  My fellow intern and I went up Fredonyer Mountain to scout out potential Mountain Mahogany seed collection spots. Wow! The view from there was awesome. We stopped to have lunch overlooking Eagle Lake and seeing Mt. Shasta and Mt. Lassen in the background. We went up to the peak and met the couple who live in the lookout. The view from the lookout was even better. They pointed out all the major landforms to us and said even people who have lived in the area for a long time get turned around up there.   They have been up there for 31 years. We couldn’t believe it.

This is our lunchtime view from Fredonyer Mt.

Yesterday we spent the day in the Skedaddle Mountains. They’re such beautiful mountains. We took the UTV and drove to look at the recovering aspen stands which got burnt in the 2012 Rush Fire.  It was interesting to see the regrowth in the reseeded areas. Some things have come back and others are yet to be seen.  We hiked up on of the peaks to see the great view down below.

Experiences and places like these make the long and sometime early workdays worth every moment. I can’t believe it’s my job to check these places out. I’ve only been here for a little over two months and I’ve learned and seen so much. It’s all great!