Twin Falls, ID - Memorial Day Road Trip

May 27, 2019

For Memorial Day, I and three friends drove 3.5 hours north to Twin Falls, Idaho. One big reason was because I believed that one or more of my grandfather's photos was taken of the Perrine Bridge and Snake River, which are big attractions in Twin Falls.

Despite the similarities in the bridge and river shots, none of us could find the exact spots where any of these photos were taken. This could be because the bridge and river has changed significantly since the photos were taken (the bridge has gone through extensive renovation since the middle 70s, some parts near the bridge have been fenced off, and 30 years of climate change may have changed the river's width and path). It could also just simply be the wrong location.

So disappointingly, back to square one for another recreation, but Twin Falls was beautiful nonetheless; it did have base jumpers and Jack in the Box.

Oh yeah, Evel Knievel attempted a jump across the river that one time too.

First ATV ride!

May 25, 2019

Today was my first ride on an ATV. After another rainy week, I and my partner for the day, Kolby, rode up to Dock Flat in Box Elder county, near Mantua (pronounced /man'-oo-ay/) to build a couple seasonal closure signs on one of the motorized trails.

Many of the shots I took were blind because I took them while we were on the ATV, and it thankfully didn't get too muddy.

To stick the posts into the ground, we first had to dig 18" down using an iron rock bar tool,
then cover the post with a lasagna of dirt and rocks to discourage anyone from just removing them.

There was a cool, recently-made beaver dam next to the trail.

I start my ATV driving training later this week, so I can't wait to use them on these motorized trails.

Since some people came up on the trail as we were putting the closure signs in, this was also a demonstration of the kind of public interaction that the Forest Service encourages: people should know why the USFS does what it does, and we should encourage responsible and sustainable use of the trail systems, so that everyone can get the chance to enjoy what the national forests offer.

First Week of US Forest Service, Trail Crew

May 20, 2019

This was my first week after starting a new summer job with the US Forest Service, as a member of the Trails and Recreation crew, based in Ogden, UT. The mission of the job is to maintain the trails all around the Ogden and Logan districts (principally the Wasatch-Cache National Forest) so that they're not only safe and accessible to the public as often as possible, but also minimizes the human impact on the forest itself.

I'm especially happy that I get the chance to use my camera on the job, which offers a ton of great opportunities to not only show off the forest's beauty, but also share how the people in the Forest Service actually work to preserve the landscapes that the public is entitled to use.

We spent some time reorganizing this tool shed; we ended up having to build
a new shelf for it, which was my first experience with a power saw.

I'm super excited to get at least somewhat familiar with the best places around the Wasatch-Cache Forest to enjoy, like this trail in Logan Canyon that runs up to Jardean Juniper Peak.

Here, they were showing us new people how they begin to make new trails in the forest.
It starts with using flagging tape as waypoints, and a tool that measures slope,
to demarcate how a new trail should be cultivated over time.