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!
