and the world spins madly on...

spontaneous blog.

Yesterday I woke up in a sleeping bag, in a tent, in a grove of giant pines, in Yosemite National Park. The sun dappled the forest floor, and the massive granite face of Half Dome loomed overhead.

Today I found myself on the corner of Haight and Fillmore in the middle of San Francisco drinking a coffee and eating a bagel on the curb. Foggy, breezy, and cool, I was on a city street but the air felt alive. I shuffled around in my birkenstocks waiting for Allie to get out of the store. Standing there, trolley lines waving overhead, punk rockers, hippies, homeless people, joggers, crunchy couples with thier children filing past me-- I laughed about what a ridiculous life I lead. Ridiculous in the best way possible.

Grand Canyon, to LA, to Yosemite Valley, to San Fransisco, and through Nevada to the mountains of Wyoming in a few days. and the world spins madly on...


(Yosemite blog-- soon.)

The Big Ditch

As of today I will have been living and working in Grand Canyon National Park for 1 month!

I’m an intern with the Vegetation Department of the Science and Natural Resource Division—Vegetation, Geology, Wildlife, etc, etc. The Veg. Department deals with revegetation projects, invasive species control/removal, and native plant propagation. Essentially, the goal is to kill non-native plants, and keep native populations alive and well. The department is full of outdoorsy, nature-loving, 20-30 somethings. I am one of 4 interns here for a 3 month stint, helping the Veg dept do what they do best.

We’re housed in a group of cabins called the Labor Cabins. (I share Labor Cabin #64 with fellow intern Steph). Now, it may sound like I live in some sort of communist work camp… but they are actually quite nice! No life of luxury, but warm, livable, and conveniently located. We’re just a 2 minute walk from the rim and the lodges, and the ranger ponies live next door!

Working at a National Park has felt a bit like getting a behind the scenes tour of Disneyland. It’s not that it’s disenchanting. I just now know how it all works now. I am no longer a visitor, I’m part of the process. It’s cool.

It has made me start to think that my dream job may actually exist in the world. So many NPS jobs are a beautiful mix of science and outdoor work within an awesome community of like-minded people. The kind of job that would keep me constantly learning and constantly doing. Manual labor…. with thinking! It may lead to a life of seasonal jobs with the National Park Service. Horsepacker in Yosemite? Trail Crew in Grand Teton? Biological Technician in the Rocky Mountains? Who knows… All I’m sure of is that I can get PAID to be OUTSIDE. And that’s all that matters.

This job will be a great jumping off point for all of that… and perhaps even more than a “jumping off point.” Somehow in the last week and a half…. (after 2 ½ weeks of regular intern duties: sharpening tools, shoveling snow, inventorying the camping supplies, etc, etc) I became the manager of the entire Grand Canyon Native Plant Nursery……..

Yeah, it sounded ridiculous to me too.

Thanks to a glitch in the NPS hiring process, my supervisor’s contract ran out at the start of March, and he can’t come back until April 12th. Leaving intern Kathleen to run the show for a little while. And as long as I don’t kill the plants in the next 5 weeks…. I’m good to go.

To sum: life is great with the Grand Canyon as a backyard. I even got an “employee” sticker for my car, so I can drive in and out of the park with just a wave to the ranger at the gate, snickering at all the tourists lined up to pay the entrance fee.

Wanderlust.

So…what have I been doing since I left the ranch?? The answer: quite a lot.

I’m going to try to keep this blog short and sweet. An overview of what I’ve been up to, just to catch up to present day. Or else…. It will be a novel.

Left the ranch, and drove to Salt Lake City where I picked up my dad for a whirlwind southern Utah road trip. Highlight: Arches National Park.

Drove to Las Vegas for a weekend with the family. Entertaining. Glad to get out of Vegas by the end though. Not my favorite place in the world….

Stayed with my sister in LA for a few weeks. Expected to WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms…. work in exchange for room & board) at an organic farm in Malibu, CA for the month of November and December……. but the farm ended up being owned by a drug addict, sexual predator of a man…. with homeless men inhabiting the trailer I was supposed to live in. Needless to say, I spent one day there only to drive away as fast as possible and never look back.

After a night of “what the hell am I going to do now?!?!” and few days of frantic job searching I found a volunteer position with a non-profit conservation corps called the American Conservation Experience (ACE, for short) based out of Flagstaff, Arizona. They had an opening for their November 7th start date, and I jumped at the chance. I applied, and essentially hounded them about the position for a few days. I got the job on November 2nd, packed up, and drove to Flagstaff that weekend.

The next two months working as part of a trail crew, on an 8 days on, 6 days off cycle. They housed me in an apartment in Flag that I shared with other ACE members from all over the world (England, Australia, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, New Zealand, and the list goes on…). My first hitch was a 9 day backcountry project in Dixie National Forest in southern Utah. I was with a crew of 9 other Americans rebuilding a trail that had been destroyed in a forest fire this past summer.

Knowing we would be out on a trail project over Thanksgiving, a bunch of the Americans in ACE got together for a pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving potluck in the ACE apartments. Very cute! And surprisingly tasty! I made the mashed potatoes.

The Group:

The Feast:

My second hitch was also in Dixie National Forest, but in a section farther east in Utah—close to Bryce Canyon National Park. I worked with many of the same Americans as my first crew, plus a few new ones. This time, we were continuing work done by previous ACE crews on a particularly lovely section of trail through Dixie. It was really snowy and cold that whole week, but fun none-the-less. We got one “snow day” off work, so we went to Bryce Canyon to explore.

My final hitch was a 6 day Desert Tortoise Survey in the desert of southern California. We walked transect lines looking for burrows (tortoises were all hibernating for winter), and any other signs of tortoise (shells, scat, etc). We were collecting data for the Sierra Club, who was opposing the construction of a solar power plant in that particular part of the Primm Valley because it would disturb vital tortoise habitat. They were proposing a different site, closer to the road, which would have less of an impact.

.

During my time with ACE, I met a whole bunch of incredible people! I got to camp and work with them in some beautiful places! (Spend 9+ days living and working in the backcountry with a group of people, and you’ve got to become close friends! …sometimes it even felt more like family.) So… in retrospect, the farm in Malibu being a complete nightmare was actually the best thing that could’ve happened!

Once I finished up with ACE, I flew home for the holidays. I got to see a whole bunch family and friends I hadn’t seen in a loooong time! (I miss you all!) Spent some time in what I still think in the best city in the world… New York! And even got to play polo up in Saratoga like old times!

.

During my time at home, I was actually offered an internship through ACE. The executive director of ACE told me that they had an internship at the Grand Canyon they thought I would be perfect for. It was a 3 month internship with the Science/Natural Resource division of the National Park Service doing invasive species control work, and revegetation/restoration work all along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon starting Feb 7th. One thing led to another, and now I’m writing this blog from a cabin in the middle of Grand Canyon National Park! (I'll write a blog this week about my first two weeks at the canyon).

.

I flew back out west with my mom at end of January, and we went on a 10 day road trip from LA to Phoenix…. via San Fransisco. We went to the Getty in LA, drove up the PCH to San Luis Obispo, went to Montana De Oro State Park, toured Hearst Castle, saw baby elephant seals, walked around Monterey, CA while my car was getting new breaks…, spent a few great days in San Fran, drove back down to Riverside, CA, explored Joshua Tree National Park, and then finally ended up in Phoenix where we saw a very cool Ansel Adams exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum. A fantastic trip!!! I dropped her off at the Phoenix Airport, and drove back up to Flagstaff for my orientation.

.

I feel like I’ve lived a few years in just these few months because of all the flip flopping between seasons I’ve done. Summer, fall, winter in Wyoming. Back to summer in LA. Fall to Winter in Flagstaff. Back to summer in LA. Flew to winter in New Jersey. Back to Spring-like weather on the California coast. Back to winter in the Grand Canyon. I’ve experienced every season a few times over… and it’s messed with my sense of time.

.

It's definitely been a wild ride... but a wild ride I hope will continue for a long, long time! I've got a laundry list of things I want to do, and I don't plan on stoping any time soon.

"The grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never dried all at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.” -John Muir

Long Time No Blog....

I just couldn’t let this damn thing die.

I tried, during one of my last days at the ranch, to write a big “final blog” that would highlight some major events of the summer. Of course, just after I had made a list of things I wanted to cover, my boss knocked on my door and asked me if I could help break open the stallions’ water troughs with a shovel (it was winter in October… more to come on that). Needless to say, I didn’t finish that entry then… but I will now! While I’m sitting on a couch in southern California.... similar locations….

Alright so I’m not on a couch in southern California anymore…. I’m in a cabin at the Grand Canyon in Arizona in FEBRUARY (I was in CA in November)…. and I am STILL trying to write this blog. I’ve tried in Flagstaff, AZ. Back in southern California. On a plane someplace over the Midwest. Back in Leonia, NJ. In San Luis Obispo, CA. In Joshua Tree, CA. …..and now in Grand Canyon Village, AZ.

….and DAMMIT I AM GOING TO WRITE IT!!!!

I’ll start with an abbreviated version of my final ranch blog… and then fill you in about the 3 ½ months since in another blog.

First of all, I want to state the obvious: this past summer was one of the best of my entire life thus far. Hands down. Spectacular. I spent my days riding horses through one of those most beautiful places on earth, with some of the greatest people on earth.

Over the course of the summer there were many moments that I would’ve really liked to blog about, but when it came around to it I was either too busy, or too tired (or still rehashing the events of the day with the rest of the staff). Those were the moments that made me think “is this really my life right now??” Sometimes because the situation was so unbelievably incredible, and other times because the situation was so unbelievably ridiculous or dangerous.

Some of the most memorable: (perhaps I’ll write down the full stories later on…. Think of the odds)

-Walking a lame horse 10 miles out of the Washakie Wilderness on the 4th day of a 6 day pack trip… on my own. Getting to a campsite still 30+ miles from town and having no cell reception. Borrowing a phone from a homeless painter who lived in a van near the river. Waiting until well after dark for the horse trailer to pick me up and bring me back to the ranch.

-That time I got struck by lightning…. And then rode on top of a flatbed truck full of hay across the bench in the middle of a herd of 100+ galloping horses during the same thunderstorm.

-The day I did a 3 hour ride (cow camp) in an hour and a half, because I was showing 2 french guys and their father what going fast was really like. Similarly the day I took an extra hour and a half taking one women on buffalo draw, just because the conversation was so good.

-The day I got to lead my favorite ride, on one of my favorite horses, and I got the directions “just go as fast as you can and don’t look back.”

-Leading Hoodoo on Booker. Leading Diddie’s on DeWashoe.

-Any time I got to take guests on Buffalo Draw, or the Ridge Ride. Those never got old.

-All of the week long cattle roundup in the blizzard. Specifically after the guests left, riding Laredo—my boss’s horse—along the ridge above the bench in a full-on Wyoming blizzard… trying to bring down 6 cows. At that moment I decided I had finally earned enough cowgirl points to be considered a true cowgirl. Hell, I was cantering up a steep slope, chasing cows, in a blizzard, on my own, in the middle of Wyoming!! And I got the cows!



There were also those moments that were just so “Bitterroot” that they stick out in my head.

-The image of Lonesome Josh (maintenance man) walking away from me carrying his coffee cup in one hand and a dead chicken in the other.

-Riding through the sage on the back of a 4 wheeler with a bottle of wine.

–Playing scattegories or trivial pursuit in front of the fire in the lodge (once all the guests had left).

-Any time Mel got a group of staff to help her try to herd the poultry in for the night

-Any time I rode a young Arabian (4 to 6) at the back of a Bayard ride… and had my life flash before my eyes.

–Making a pbm cutback, or the now automatic motion of checked if a western saddle is pinching a horse’s shoulder.

-and so many more…



Over the course of the summer I learned how to knit, how to drive stick, how to start a young horse, and how to pack a pack horse. I fell off 5 times (Wajir, Seville, Sabaki, Danta, Acacia) the last of which caused a cattle stampede….. I came to love 100+ horses like family… (with my favorites being Booker, Talek, Commiphora , Alicante, Lullabye, Acacia, Charlie, and Buster. )

Driving up the switchbacks and away from the ranch for the last time, I looked in my rear view mirror… back at that remote little valley on the east fork wind river, surrounded by the snowy peaks of the Absaroka mountains… and it felt like I was driving away from home.

….but I get to go back and do it all again this summer!!!!!! and I couldn’t be more excited!

Fast Rides, Mountain Storms, Young Horses, and Shifty Cows

Okay.... so I haven't written a blog in over a month.... who is suprised?? I'm not...

The date is now July 3rd..... the date on this entry is the day I tried to write it......

I built up a list of all the things I wanted to mention in all those blogs I never actually wrote though... Each is its own seperate and awesome story, and now I know I'll never really be able to write them all here.... just out of pure lazyness... sorry! So.... here is a list.

-The week before last (during which I wrote my last blog) was the Anna Twinney clinic. She trained with Monty Roberts (THE Horse Whisperer)... and now has her own program called "Reach Out To Horses." It was a pretty cool clinic... a bit crunchy for my taste (I may be crunchy in most aspects of my life, but not as much when it comes to horses). For example... they spoke to "the higher self" of a few of the horses, and performed reiki healing... very cool to learn about and watch done... but not something I could really practice in real life.

-We had just two regular riding guests--very awesome! Both were extremely competent riders, so all the rides were fast and fun.

-One of the more exiting moments of that week was when Kate and I were haying in rain, and we drove the big blue monster of a truck into the duck pond. Its breaks are completely shot..... luckily we got it out before anyone saw. :)

-The last day of that week was also exciting. Mel, Richard, and I spent the entire morning walking yearlings down to the big field where they will spend the next 2 years of their lives just living and being horses. It was a difficult task because they are all just broke to halter. After a good 2 hours to move 4 yearlings (it was a long walk... with many frightening trees, rocks, and sagebrush along the way) we got them all in safely. Later on that day we were watching Anna work a young horse in the round pen as a HUGE thunderstorm rolled in... all of a sudden i hear a crash behind me, and its ALL the yearlings we had spent the morning moving. They had broken out and ran back to where they used to live.... and all looked too pleased about it. Kate and Kristen rushed to make sure all the colts (2 & 3 year olds haddn't gotten out).... unfortunately they all had, and were roaming free across the property. A bolt of lightening quickly spoiled our plans to herd them all back. A massive wyoming thunderstorm was upon us. We ran into the shed near the round pen (Anna, wranglers, guests and all) we thought we'd wait it out. Mel then stuck her head in and said something along the lines of "this thing is going to stick around..." and then took off like a shot across the sage towards the lodge (5 minute run?) We (being the wranglers) shared a look and made an instantaneous decision to follow. We took off across the field.... and ended our week in the way most probably should at the Bitterroot.... chasing Mel across an open field in the rain, hail, thunder and lightening of a full blown thunderstorm. We laughed and laughed, and were all completely soaked by the time we reached the river. We scampered over the bridge and to our cabins. Exhilarating.

-Sunday=day off as usual. Drove into Dubois. Picked up groceries for the ranch, and supplies we needed.

-I LEARNED HOW TO KNIT!! (I'm in the middle of knitting a simple black scarf... so far so good. Expect homemade Christmas gifts!!)

-The next week was the team (Linda Tellington Jones TTouch Method) clinic. We started 5 unbroken 4 year olds-- LuLu, Tsodillo, Witu, Lucy, and one unamed bay colt. It was unbelievably awesome! I learned so so much, and really feel like I could take a horse who has essentially never been worked with, start it... and start it well.

-The weather was absolutely beautiful... which we attribute to a dutch woman who drew a turtle in the sand every day (some old legend). I believe in turtle power.

-Over this period of time we also brought up 70 more horses and a bunch of cattle (the roads were finally dry enough).... which meant a lot more pony faces to recognize, and names to learn..... and also meant the wranglers got to go on a few mini cattle drives to get the cows from where the semi dropped them to the pasture they'd live in until the BIG cattle drive in July (which was this week... more on that later). The little drives were always during dinner... but worth it because we got to ride across the bench at sunset..... absolutely stunning.

-The next week was a centered riding clinic we had essentially no part in-- 19 guests kept us quite busy. It was run by a relatively famous horse woman named Donna Snyder Smith. She apparently trains the worlds top endurance riders. At the beginning of the week I got to help Mandy (former staff member, and TTeam trainer) continue work with all the young horses. We eventually backed all of them.... such a feeling of accomplishment. I love them all. They're all very good tempered, and will make excellent riding horses. The arabs they breed here are so unlike any I have ever experienced.... they are fantastic.

-Oh! I forgot to mention another horse in that clinic was a 3yo named Ganges. He is what we call a Quatro (they have 4 parts-- Arabian, Percheron, Andalusian, and Thoroughbred).... an interesting combo.... most are spectacular LOOKING, but incredibly nutty. Ganges is the opposite. He is.... awkward. Endearingly so. He is almost 17hh already, and STILL growing. His ears make him look like a mule. But he has SUCH a great personality... I love him. I'd come back next year just to see him through his REAL team clinic starting.

-I've ridden a lot of horses I haven't yet mentioned.... A quick overview:

Booker: roan paint, 4yo, new to the ranch, I've been the only one to ride him. He's fantastic. A month ago he was deathly afraid of water, hated being ridden in a line, and was not adjustable at all at the trot or canter....I rode him yesterday on a fast ride and he was an absolute ANGEL. He'll be a dude horse for sure. I'll put 1 or 2 more rides on him... and he'll be good to go.

Acacia: grey arabian (we've got lots), 7yo mare, bred here, learning to neckrein. I've ridden her a few times, including our huge cattle drive. She's fantastic. Very smooth, a bit quick, but lovely. I like her a lot, but I know she'll be duded soon too, so it's better to not get fully attached.

Mariah: 6yo grey Andalusian/Perch/Appy cross, bought last year, a ton of issues. I worked her with Donna (centered riding lady) in the round pen one time after work. I almost died a few times, but she made really nice progress. I'm hoping to lead more rides on her soon. (She had a head tossing problem, and a bit of a stopping problem before.... but with luck, my work has paid off a bit)

Singida: HOW COULD I FORGET! 6yo bay arabian gelding, also bred here. Tall, tall, tall... and handsome as HELL. I've never lead a ride on him, but I've followed 2 fast rides this week. They have me on him because he is actually a sale prospect. Some big endurance riders are coming up here in 2 weeks looking for new horses.... and he needs more rides before they try him. He is UNBELIEVABLE. HUGE floaty trot, and SO FAST at the canter. I just rode him this morning and am still realing from one of our canters through the sage. He needs more work because he is still quite spooky, and could potentially be a runaway (at the back of a ride.. he's just fine). Love him.

Shakka: chesnut arab gelding 4/5yo. still learning, but very good for a baby. I lead an intermediate ride on him this afternoon... apart from a few small spooks, and a refusal to cross the bridge (which we later corrected) he was great.

There are probably more.... but I know I've bored most of you by now.

-The BIG cattle drive was this week. We drove 200 head of cattle way up into the forrest. It was a LONG day... but quite the experience. One I wont soon forget.

-The past week has been quite the exciting one (and not just because of the drive). We've had a lot of "incidents" with guests falling, or wranglers falling, or just general insanity. Cows escaping. Elaina (cabin girl) and I spent a long evening chasing cows along the river with Kate and Kristen on the other side. They were Highland cows (that we don't drive because they are too smart and shifty) and they needed to be trailered up to the forest, but escaped. We felt like we were in army bootcamp... scaling stallion fencing (tall and hard), diving under buck and pole fencing, running through mud, scraping ourselves up on underbrush. We got them eventually, and now they are all in the forest.

-This has lost any sense of structure now...... to sum: I'm alive. I'm tired and sore... but I absolutely love my job and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I still find this place incredibly beautiful, and the people are some of the best I've met.

Which reminds me... we have frequented the local Dubois bar--Wiskey Creek Saloon, for 2 of the cabin girls 21st birthdays. Talk about local character. Fantastic. We also atteneded the Dubois rodeo..... which I have promised myself I am barrel racing in before the summer ends (lots of local cowboys ready to lead me a horse.... it'll be GREAT).

Oh... and I happily ate a Highland cow steak for dinner today.. with potatoes and gravy. After spending a week dealing with the tricky bastards... I happily chowed down.

Now I'm going to go play frisbee on the lawn, and then head off to bed.

GOODNIGHT.

This hopefully means I will update more because I wont be so extremely overwhelmed by the thought of writing all this.

OH.... and I lost my cell phone in the middle of the national forest on last weeks picnic ride..... soooo, if you have tried to call me.... its not that im dead, or that i hate you.... it's because a bear has probably eaten it.

Speaking of BEAR.... i saw LOTS last week!! A GRIZZLY and TWO CUBS. unreal. and perhaps too close.... but still, another thing I will never forget.

Ok... no more tangents.

love you all.


....okay so more tangents: I went hammock camping last weekend with Kristen. Beautiful. A bit too cold. worth it. spend my day off lounging in a hammock knitting and reading On The Road.

Converted

I floated across the sage today on an arabian mare named Lullabye. Literally floated. I'm not sure if her hooves even touch the ground when she canters. It's magical. Officially the best trail horses ever. I have no shame... Arabians are great. (well... not the creepy halter arabians.. but Mel's arabians) I may never own one myself... but if I ever needed to canter up a cliff face.... I would pick an Arabian....

Lullabye is also the dam of my favorite yearling colt. This might mean I need to come back next year and the year after to see that little guy through training. If he turns out anything like his mommy.... it will be a great experience.

So yeah... judge me if you will... but these horses rock.

Also, the sun came out today... and the clouds finally lifted to reveal the full view of the now even snowier Wind River Range and Absarokas... just beautiful.

Quick Update

The rest of last week went very well... despite some more not-so-perfect weather.

I went on the picnic ride on Saturday... absolutely BEAUTIFUL! We climbed 1500ft in elevation to a spot atop one of the Absarokas.... with stunning 360 views of both the Wind Rivers and the Absarokas.


SNOW (....in June) on Sunday meant I couldn't drive into Dubois for my day off... but I made the most of it. I baked cookies with Doc, the cook. Read a lot. Went on a nice snowy walk.


I woke up this morning at 5:45am to wrangle the horses (we've been getting up earlier and earlier... because the herd is getting more and more stubborn). I knew it was colder than usual in my unheated cabin... but I was shocked to open my door and find 2 inches of snow on the ground. Most of the snow melted by the morning ride however, and unlike last week... we got two rides in today WITHOUT getting rained (or snowed) on.


I lead the afternoon ride on a palomino gelding named Charlie. He is a complete ass on the ground, but a rockstar leading rides! I had a great time with our two guests (there is also a 7 person clinic going on, but they dont ride), and 2 other wranglers. I'm not sure this job and this place will ever get old. There is a spot on the ride we took today (called "Behind the Bench") where you canter up this massive hill, and as you reach the top the snowy peaks of the Absarokas appear. It is one of the best views I've seen so far... and the fact that it's the reward at the end of an already exhilarating canter makes it that much better!


Now I'm just hanging out in the staff kitchen, waiting for my laundry. Most people have already gone off to bed (9pm... we're really exciting). The air is getting colder by the second, and I wouldn't be shocked if I woke up to snow again tomorrow.


Anyway... that's all I've got for now. Here are some pictures of Sunday's snow (today's was FAR worse).