I'm sitting in a coffee shop in Estes Park, drinking coffee and taking advantage of free wireless internet! Woo hoo!
I started work on my birthday, and my hazard tree partner Cisco was nice enough to take me out... and I ran into a bunch of people that I had worked with in 2003. People either never leave this place, or they leave and come back! I think Cisco and I are going to have too much fun running around the Park with chainsaws and minimal supervision!
Looks like I'll be staying on the West side of the park (a 3-4 hour drive while Trail Ridge Road is closed) for 4-5 days a week on and off for a couple months. The folks over there are great and I guess it's tradition (8 years and going!) to hit up trivia night at some bar every Wednesday. Of course our team, "The People By the Back Door", won - free drinks! I'm gonna have to watch it around those crazy kids... did I mention they're all probably 40 yrs+??
What are we doing on the West side? Here's some dorky science and forestry stuff: There is this insect called the Mountain Pine Beetle, and it does its little life cycle thing inside Ponderosa and Lodgepole pines, as well as a few other evergreens. It's a natural occurrence and usually isn't a problem; however, due to the continuing drought (and I think also in part to fire suppression, so the forest is too thick in some places), the trees are overly stressed and the MPB (beetle) is wreaking havoc on the trees. If you ever go over there, you'll see miles of dead, red pines - all due to the beetle.
What that translates to is that the trees are screwed. Part of our job is to find "high value trees" and mark them to be sprayed with insecticide to protect them from the beetle. This is proving to be harder than we thought - the beetles have hit most of the trees 8" and up and we can't do anything about it. So we run around places in the park and put tape around trees. Another part of our job is to remove hazardous trees - which there are plenty of, because of the beetle. Later on, I will be on rotation to fight fires and hopefully get to see some action!!
It's great to be back here! The sun shines even when it's nasty out, and I forgot how bizarre the weather can be living in themountains - sunny and warm one minute, a blizzard the next... repeat 5-6x in a day, and that's how Tuesday was. :) Today is looking to be fantastic and I am either going to go hiking, trail running, or find some mountain biking trails that won't kill me!
I've got my work cut out for me this summer, but these 3 day weekends are always fantastic for enjoying my new home!
Here's a photo of a moose on the West side. Hope to have lots more photos, especially since I have a digital camera this time around.
... And I can't wait to either get my motorcycle out here, or get a HARLEY!
