I'm working as a Fish Culturist at Hidden Falls Salmon Hatchery in a remote spot near Sitka, Alaska! AM I CRAZY!? I'm starting to think so...

Saturday, April 28, 2007

The Week: ("Fun"-scapes in four parts with a camera)

Another fun-filled week.... and lots to talk about... lots of pictures to show also!

TAKATZ
So if you are really paying attention, you will notice that I am posting this on Saturday afternoon when I am normally heading back to Takatz. Well the weather hasn't been all that great so I got stuck down there an extra few days, which wasn't that bad. The weather on Wednesday (the day I normally come back) wasn't all that great but also, Chris, who is the new girl replacing Dean, was arriving that afternoon, so we were probably going to switch Thursday morning anyhow to let her get settled. Thursday the weather wasn't good either so I stayed and worked . Friday, which was supposed to be my day off, we managed to make it back around 4pm so I am taking off today and Sunday instead... Adam's orders. ;-)

Things are going really good down there. The fish are growing and eating alot... better than Dan's chum here at the hatchery. he he he We sampled every pen the other day and they are around .69 kg. That probably doesn't mean that much to you I guess... they're growing though. We switched some of the pens to a larger sized food... "0" food is very fine but not quite powder vs. "1" food which is like coffee grounds. And they sure are eating alot of food too. :-) Anyhow, on to some fun stuff...

NAKED IN THE WOODS
WHOA alright I swear this is a G-rated story so you can read on! On Wednesday after work, Adam and I decided to venture to the Baranof Hot Springs! That's maybe 6 miles south of Takatz... It was raining and the waves were kind of crazy for some of the drive but Adam said it was just because of the tides. It was nicer coming back. Anyhow, so we make it into the bay and Adam points out something that I thought was a bunch of snow from a distance. It ended up being a waterfall from the river there and it was awesome! Adam said he's never seen it like that before... RAGIN'!

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So it was actually like coming into some civilization... there were a few houses there though we didn't see any people. There was some kind of shop which was closed. There were 3 cabins there, but sadly, they were on a slant because the snow fell and pushed them down. Kind of crazy. Well there is a bath house with a few private tubs where you can sit in and fill it with the water from the hot springs. Only one of them was even working but the water was cold. We guessed that it was chilled as it came down the pipes because they still had ALOT of snow! So despite that snow, we decided to hike up to the pools.

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It was a funny hike up because some of the snow was soft so you'd hit a pocket and sink in. There's apparently a path but it was all snow-covered and like this picture shows, even if you COULD see where you needed to go, you had to pull a risky balancing act. No injuries though! Anyways, half way up I realized "humm... I sure hope there aren't any bears here!" Well finally we made it. Before we came, I had asked Adam if there was anywhere to change up there and he was like "ummmm the woods..." GREAT... thus the title! Ironically, there was a wooden sign hanging on some trees pointing one way and saying it was the changing area, yet there was nothing to change behind! Thankfully though, there was a downed pine tree which gave some privacy. So there I am, changing between a pine tree and a pile of snow into MY BATHING SUIT! A two-piece of course! :-) I was pretty warm from the hike up so I didn't immediately freeze but standing barefoot on mushy ground and trying not to fall onto the pile of snow was an adventure!

Finally I finish and walk to the pool and go to get in. Well Adam failed to mention it was slippery so I slipped and fell on my left knee, which felt GREAAAAAT! The water was warm though.

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See those rocks next to my towel... busted the knee on those. And those are my super-stylish Xtra-Tuf boots that I wear. You can see the downed pine tree on the left... aka "the changing area." To the very right of that tree you can just barely see that wooden sign pointing to "the changing area."

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I was sitting in the upper pool. At the bottom you can see a lower pool and that is the RAGIN river in the background. It added for some awesome sound. On to the interesting FACTOID about the hot springs...

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THAT!

There is alot of "interesting" algae growing in these pools. It was gross or creepy at first but as Adam said it "you sort of become one with it." There is algae pieces floating in the water, but along the sides you can pull off this SUPER slimy algae that you see in my hand. Once you accept the fact, it becomes kind of cool and fun to play with.

ANYHOW, so we hung out for a while then decided to leave. Lemme tell ya... getting changed back into all my clothes with a bum knee was ALOT harder! Especially when you are partially wet... trying to not get your clothes all dirty and wet... crazy. Hiking back wasn't all that fun though because of my knee. As we got closer to where we came in, we saw a few bear tracks! Yeah, makes ya feel safe right!? :-) The hot springs were cool though and I'd like to go back, but I guess I pictured it different in my mind. I figured the pools would be larger... CLEANER! I guess I just romanticized it in my head... pictured it like something you'd see in Hawaii or something! :-D

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That's nice right!? When I first took off my bathing suit IN THE WOODS, I had a nice layer of this dirty lookin stuff ON ME... and all over my suit.

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So here's my knee as it looks today. When I fell it actually broke the skin so it bled a little. Still a little swollen... turning some colors but I wish it would be more colorful! It sure feels more bruised than it looks. I'll survive though.

WADIN' AND WASHIN'

I said that I returned to the hatchery on Friday afternoon. Since it was only 4-ish, I asked Scott and Angie what I could help them with. They were out in the round ponds pushing the Early Entry Coho out... and I mean IN the ponds. There are 16 ponds I believe of Coho that go into the saltwater pens early and that's what they were doing. So Scott told me to go put on a pair of waders and help. HA I've never worn waders... I was a bit confused but I got it all figured out. But the second I jumped in, I felt water seepage in my right ankle area! That's a good feeling.

So what we did was... the round ponds are well... ROUND. Duh... so there is this screen thing that is basically two pieces but connected in the middle so it bends... they use this to crowd the fish around into one area. Think the hand on a clock... except you move the pieces toward each other so the fish are pushed to one area. They get sucked down a hole at the bottom of the pond and piped out to a saltwater pen. The interesting part is that the round ponds are also covered in algae and super slippery so it's like ice skating!!

Finally when we got done with that, I was able to take my long awaited shower. Usually I'm down in Takatz for only 4 days (5 nights) but this time it was 6 days! I figured it was about 6 and a 1/4 days without a shower... plus I went in that algae-filled pool of hot springs water! NICE... that's definately a personal (DISGUSTING) record! Not one to really be proud of... that's what I call "being flexible."

THE HIDDEN FALLS
Alright don't worry, this blog is winding down! It seems that when I returned to the hatchery yesterday, I discovered one of the special features of Hidden Falls that I knew was there but somehow hadn't seen it before. THE Hidden Falls! As in the waterfall! I knew it was back there somewhere but maybe snow was in the way... I have NO clue how I never saw it. The trees are in the way, but it's HUGE and you can see it through them.

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Make the picture bigger... it might help. But see behind the red box... Don't worry, it will be my mission to get a great shot of this waterfall! The waterfalls here amaze me... that's one thing I love.

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Here is the picture I promised you of throwing the fish food. Kinda cool, right?

Alright, ONE more crazy factoid and I'm done. This is a good factoid for Valerie, cause I know she's a stickler about this. When we first put in a food order for Takatz, we got 2 gallons of milk. This was... like the beginning of April. Both gallons were expiration dated April 7th. WE ARE STILL DRINKING IT! Can you believe that!? As of yesterday, there was about 1/4 of the 2nd gallon left... April 27th! 20 days later and it's still good. We were seriously amazed by this. And we keep it in a cooler outside... not a cold refrigerator... a cooler! :-) ok that's it.

SHOUT OUT OF THE DAY - I don't know anymore... How about I turn this into a game today! EVERYONE who reads this... write me a comment to say hi. You don't have to say anything... just say HI or something and your name so I can know who's reading! ;-)

P.S. I'll give a nickel to anyone who knows how I came up with my corny title.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

ohhhhhhhhhhh my gosh, gross. i don't know why i'm so weird about dates (maybe cuz i work at pizza hut and am now offically a pizza nazi when it come to use-by dates.....) but seriously when i see that its past the sell by date, i like find something wrong with it to convince myself that its bad. like the way it looks of if i even think for a second it smells funny, its gone. i'm a freak...seriosuly.

i like the picture of you throwing food. how much of it have you eaten yourself on a windy day? lol

ok, back to packing.... bleh!!

Anonymous said...

Don't have a clue about the answer, so can't claim the nickel! Sounds like you have to make your "fun" what ever way you can. Your "hottub" sort of sounds like the redneck kind in the back of a pickup truck. Sort of make you homesick doesn't it? Love to see more pictures of you in action! Love, DAD

Anonymous said...

OK...your corny title reminds me of that strange drum corp show...was it Blue Devils? I'm tired so I can't remember off-hand without looking it up. Beyond that, I don't know.

I laughed myself silly reading about your "changing room" and the algae. EWW, GROSS to the algae! I'll bet your knee was pretty darned sore the next day. Hope it's better by now.

Love all the pictures...keep 'em coming along with your stories. Loved the action shot of you at work. That raging river looks dangerous.

Love you...Mom

Anonymous said...

HEEEYYYY BECKY! Howdy!
Gerat stories!!! Sorry about your knee... I totally cringed when you said you slipped... I could feel your pain! Mike about died laughing at your "romanticized" hot springs idea!

I know the title of your blog came from a drum corps show... and not because I read mom's response... I actually thought that when I first saw the title.

As for pictures of the house... I'll work on it this week... but it will definitely look different when we get furniture in there and all our remodeling is complete! The contractor guy starts remodeling the bathroom this week!

I miss ya kid... but am so happy to hear you are doing great!!! Sorry I missed talking to you online this week!

Melissa

P.S. I about gagged at your 20 day old milk story!

Patty said...

Well...that would be from Cadets 2005 show

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