Back to Bear River!

This weekend's move to Bear River went really well! My little brothers came up and helped me finish packing and then drove up with me to our cabin and helped me unpack. I was really surprised how nice the cabin is! It's a little small, but still bigger than anything I've ever lived in before. It has two bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, living room, and basement. It is also completely furnished. All of the floors are hardwood which I think gives it a really nice touch. The style is a little outdated, I think the cabin was built in the 80s, but it's still nice. The best part of all is that Peter and I don't have to share it with anyone. It's all ours for the entire summer!

I took a few pictures of the place just to give you an idea of what I'm living in.


As you can see it's a rather humble looking place, but I love it! The exterior paint needs a little help though...that will probably be one of our projects this summer. The forest around is still looking a little dead because spring is always about a month behind up here. By the end of June all the trees will be green and there will be wildflowers all over the place.

We also found out that we have an unexpected neighbor that moved in. Here is a picture of its home.

That hole is nearly as wide as my shoulders and is the entrance to a badger's burrow. I haven't seen him yet, but hopefully it won't decide to jump out at me one of these mornings as I head to work.

After my brothers helped me unpack, and I had a chance to reunite with Peter who I hadn't seen for about five days, we drove back down to Evanston to grab a bite to eat. On our way out of the forest, a yellow-bellied marmot jumped out into the road. I screamed thinking we'd hit the poor thing, but it managed to stop itself just before the front passenger-side tire rolled over. It then tried to jump out in front the truck my brothers were driving, only to narrowly escape death once again. Apparently my youngest brother, Jacob, nearly had a heart attack and he screamed when the marmot jumped out in front of them.

After eating some hamburgers we said goodbye to my brothers and then headed back home. The next day we spent cleaning the cabin and waxing the woods floors. Holy crap that is a pain in the butt! Actually, more like a pain in the knees and back! That is some hard labor! The floors look much prettier now, though. :) We then had to chase some guys on ATVs off the property because they thought it would be cool to drive around on government land. They somehow failed to notice the no trespassing sign.


Idiots. They tore up the lawn around the ranger station too. I have to say, I hate ATVs and the people who drive them. ATVs are loud and destructive. There's no getting around it. They tear up trails and anything else they drive on, and people who drive ATVs tend to think they are entitled to drive anywhere they want. They really piss me off. I know there are responsible people out there who actually respect the rules and regulations and are conscious where they drive, but they are few and far between.

In other news, it turns out that Peter is going to fire school the first week of June. I guess it's a good thing we decided to buy him a pair of smoke jumper boots this year. Friday he has to take his pack test. He has to walk/run 3 miles in under 45 minutes while wearing a 40 pound vest. I don't think he'll have a problem completing it, but I bet he'll be really tired afterwards.

It also turns out that the timber crew this year consists of Peter and...Peter. He is the only person on the timber crew this year due to budget issues. Normally they have about 8 people on the crew. I think he's going to have his work cut out for him.

Today I drove back down to Logan to grab a few things I forgot (like the boots to my uniform). It's kind of a long drive, about four hours round trip. I also had to turn in the keys to our apartment since we're putting it on storage for the summer. So I'm snagging the Wi-Fi from a little cafe here in town.

I love being back at Bear River. It's so beautiful and peaceful. At night I can hear the rushing of the river and the frogs that sing on its banks. Occasionally I can hear the Sand Hill cranes that are migrating through. They have a very distinct call. Not like anything I've heard before.

Wednesday I start work and I'm excited to be working for the F.S. again. I'm really excited about this summer and all of its prospects and I'm happy to be in one of the prettiest places in the world. I feel like I'm home.