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.