A Tribute to Elmer Crow

Some of you may know, that during this two week field course, we had the privilege to meet Elmer Crow, a Nez Perce elder as well as environmentalist. Some of you may know, Elmer passed away earlier this week. Elmer passed in the process of rescuing his grandsons from drowning in the Snake River.

I only knew Elmer for a short time, but in that time, he was able to teach us so much about the importance of maintaining our ecosystem, as well as the importance of respect. Through his stores, it was clear to me that Elmer's life was spent constantly working to better the environment, himself, and those around him. There are not many people in this world who can completely command the attention of 10 high school students, 7 college students, and 6 chaperons, but with his grace and humor, Elmer was able to keep our group completely entranced in his story.

If any are interested in learning more about Elmer Crow, there has been a Facebook page created to remember him. The link is :

https://www.facebook.com/ElmerCrowMemorial

My most heartfelt sympathy goes out to the family and friends of Elmer. I am so glad to have had the change to meet and learn from him, and I will cherish that time forever. Elmer is an inspiration to any young environmentalist, and I plan to pull the knowledge gleaned from him in my future.

Thank You

This has been a trip of a lifetime for me and will provide me invaluable information that will be helpful to me in my future career, as well as in my life.

I want to say thank you to all of the people who helped make this trip possible. Thank you to the Tribes, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Natural Resources, and Forest Service for allowing us to come onto your land, and thank you for teaching us. Thank you to Wenix Red Elk and her family for being so generous. Thank you to all of the people at Heritage University who helped make this trip possible, as well as whoever gives out the grants. Thank you to the parents who allowed their children to take part in the amazing experience. Thank you to my boss for being so patient and allowing me to take almost a month off of work. Thank you to my family for being my support system through all of this. Thank you Haver, Cia, Michelle, Monet, Francisco, Destiny, (My Heritage Family), as well as Chance, Chrissy, Brandy, Morelia, Sheryl, Christian (Spaghetti Straps, Cheese Straps, Spaghetti Cheese, etc), Geo, Calista, Eric, and Ari. At first I was a little bit worried to spend two weeks with high school kids, but you guys proved you are eager to learn and embrace the knowledge that was bestowed upon us. Thank you also to Clinton and Chrissy for keeping your kids in line ;)  BIG BIG BIG thank you to Charlie Fiander, and Jayla Krause. Without you two, I know I wouldn't have been able to make the most of this experience, and to be honest, I probably would have been miserable. Also, another huge thank you to Jessica Black for allowing me to be part of this experience.

Day 13: Dry Falls and HOME!!!

Well, today was the last day of our trip. YAY! I was definitely ready to go home. In the morning, we woke up many of us who slept outside were sleeping on deflated mattresses. After I looked around, I noticed that there were only a few people, from Band Wagon, who were sleeping on fully inflated mattresses. Smells like a prank to me. Turns out they let the air out of our mattresses and put shaving cream on our vans. It was a harmless prank and I still slept great so I wasn't too upset. After we ate breakfast, we needed to do an inventory on ALL of our gear. We had to turn in our headlamps, backpacks, water pouches, laundry bags, air mattresses, sleeping bags, and tents. Jessica recruited Fransicso, Sheryl and I to take tent inventory, which involved making sure each tent had all the pieces (stakes, rods, covers, footprints, straps, etc). Ugh! That took a while, but it was better than sitting around doing nothing. Jessica announced for us to make sandwiches for lunch. I did NOT want to eat another sandwich, so I didn't make one. Once we finally left, we had to stop in Grand Coulee for gas, and everybody loaded up on snacks. I got a pizza pocket and a bean and cheese burrito. Much better than a sandwich. After our pit stop, we headed to Dry Falls to see exactly how powerful the Missoula Flood was. We investigated the visitor center and watched the short film, and then some of the high school kids were finishing up their blogs. It felt like we were there forever and all I wanted to do was go home. We finally headed home and once we hit Fort Road in Toppenish, I was happy to be home, but a little sad that I would have to say goodbye to people I had created relationships with. Overall, I am so grateful to have had this opportunity, but I am extremely happy to be home and see my family.

Day 12: Barbara Frielander Arida, Pacific Aquaculture, Animal Furs, and Wolf Howling

It's our last full day of our trip! We woke up around 7:00 am and got ready for the day. We had a tribal elder named Barbara Frielander Arida come and speak to us about the importance of protecting our earth. She has been working with different agencies and departments for 45 years to help protect and conserve our earth. She spoke about problems such as radiation poisoning from Hanford, as well as uranium pollution in the Spokane area. We only had a short time with Barbara, but it was clear to our entire group that she possesses a wealth of knowledge when it comes to protecting our environment, and unlike some who sit back and watch horrible things happen, she fights for what she thinks is right, and will continue to fight for our earth, because if people like her don't, who will?

After Barbara's lecture, Rick Desautal met us at the Community Center and took us to Pacific Aquaculture, a steel head farm located in Nespelem. Once we arrived there, we heard from some of the employees about the process. Bill Clark (Pacific Aquaculture Site Manager) told us that at his two sites, they are able to raise 7-8 million pounds of steel head annually. The steel head are used for commercial use and will eventually end up being sold at places like Costco or Safeway. We were able to actually see the fish in the pens. They are separated into size. While looking at the larger fish, I noticed that many of them had deformities and all of them were injured from rubbing on the nets. I didn't want to be rude and as Bill, but I was wondering exactly what types of chemicals and antibiotics they give these fish to keep them "healthy" and how those chemicals and antibiotics are effecting the river. 

After the fish farm tour, we made our way back to the Community Center where Rick gave us a presentation of different animal furs that have been collected in the area. He had a large collection that included weasels, beaver, bobcats, lynx, cougars, bear, wolves, deer, elk, and many more. His presentation was extremely interesting  He went animal by animal and spoke a little bit of each. I will admit, I was extremely tired and found my eyelids drooping several times through his presentation, and apparently I wasn't the only one. I never fell asleep though. After his presentation concluded, we were supposed to do a GPS activity, but even Jessica was exhausted and some of the students wanted to do laundry, so we had about 4 hours of free time. Charlie, Jayla, Monet and I used it to take a nap. I just put my blanket in the shaded area of the grass and passed out. When I woke up I felt great. Charlie, Jayla, Monet and I were on dinner duty. We cooked up some Sloppy Jo's and mac'n'cheese. The water for the mac'n'cheese took way to long to boil and I barley had enough time to mix everything together before it was time to go. Some of us grabbed a bowl of mac'n'cheese to take on the road with us, and apparently it wad delicious. 

Rick took us up into the surrounding mountains to howl at the wolves in the area. I was a little bit afraid to be so near wolves. Rick assured us that the wolves were harmless and we should be more worried about the bears and cougars. Thanks Rick. Anyway, we stopped at a small campsite called Gold Lake, where Rick told us what to do once we got the howling site. When we finally arrived at the site, Rick informed us that he accidentally took us to the "Kill Site" instead of the "Rendezvous Site" but we could give it a try anyway. After Rick howled, he started giving some of us the chance to howl as well. First, he picked Jayla. She howled, with no reply. Then he asked me to howl. I didn't want to at first, because I wasn't feeling great but then I though, "How often to you get the chance to howl at wolves?" so I went for it. Unfortunately  I didn't get a reply either. A few more people attempted to get a response, but were unsuccessful. It would have been really cool to hear wolves howl back at us, but oh well. After the wolf howling experience, we headed back to camp. I was finally able to shower, eat some mac'n'cheese, and then headed to bed. 

Day 11: Wellpinit/Nespelem

This morning, we were allowed to shower and blog at the Wellpinit High School, and it was great. It was a very relaxing morning. We weren't in a huge hurry to leave, so we took our time packing up camp and loading the vans. For this leg of the trip, we are making our way to Nespelem, WA. On our way to Nespelem, we stopped in Republic, WA to search for fossils! On the way to Republic, most of us fell asleep, and when we woke up, we weren't exactly thrilled to go out in the heat and pound rocks, but it actually turned out to be really cool. In Republic, there is a place called Stonerose, that allows the public to rent tools and search an ancient lake bed for fossils. The fossils in this lake bed date from 48-50 million years old. Charlie was my partner for the fossil search, and we found one fossil, of wood. After the fossil hunt, everybody was dying for something cool to drink, and we begged Jessica to let us stop, we all loaded up on drinks and snacks at a local gas station, and then made our way to Nespelem. We finally arrived at the Nespelem Community Center (which is super nice!) and Charlie, Jayla, Monet and I decided we were sick and tired of setting up our tent, and instead wanted to just sleep under the stars, so while others were setting up tents, we were just relaxing. Thanks to a $5000 grant, we were able to go out to dinner! We headed out to Grand Coulee City and made our way to a local pizza place. Yummy :) After our delicious dinner, we headed to the largest dam in the Northwest, Coulee Dam. We we able to see the light show, which we really interesting and educational. One thing I liked about the dam show, was that it considered both benefits and damages the occurred once the construction of  Coulee began. Many tribes lost their fishing grounds and were forced to move to higher elevations to provide families with food, but on the other side of things, the dam provided power to thousands of homes, and industries. After the dam show was complete, we headed back to the community center and hit the hay.

Day 3: Horseback Riding, and Museum at Warm Springs

Day 3 was one of my favorite days so far on this trip. To start off our day, we traveled from Warm Springs towards Kah-Nee-Tah resort and we got to ride horses! If you know me at all, then you know I love horseback riding, but I don't have the chance to do it very often. The Heritage Group took the second trip, and while we were waiting for the White Swan group to return, we made a silly video. If you are interested, it has been posted on Jayla's instagram. When it was finally our turn to ride, everybody else was using a stump to get up on their horse, and I just put my foot through the stirrup and hopped on up like a pro. When we started our trial ride, I discovered i had a slow poke horse. Eventually, the guide gave me advice to make my horse, Deschutes, actually trot. I was a little sad the the ride was so short, but I was happy that I got the chance to do it in such a beautiful area.

After our horse ride, we headed towards the Museum at Warm Springs. We toured the museum and later had a lunch cooked by Arelene Stryer. She later told us stores about her past, and a story about a time when she struggled to fight for her life, and that being persevering and humble allowed her to survive.

After our museum tour and talk from Arelene, we made our way towards Deschutes National Forest to set up camp for a few days.

Day 10: Wellpinit (Spokane Reservation)

We are staying at the Wellpinit fair grounds for this leg of the trip. We arrived  around 9:30pm and started to set up camp. Our hosts were very generous and offered to buy us all Arbys for dinner. We had one van pick up all of the food so the rest of us could meet Warren Seyler (BPA Coordinator) at our campsite.  He let us in, showed us around. It was really dark and there were quite a few mosquitos, so I wanted to get my tent set up quickly. When the van with the food arrived I was still setting up and while they were passing out food,  I decided to wait to eat until I was done. Well, once I had finished setting up my tent and went to find my food,  my meal was missing :( I don't know if someone ended up eating mine or if it  was lost,  but for some reason, it really upset me. It was probably the combination of stress and homesickness that sent me over the edge. I didn't blow up at anyone, but I really wanted to go home.

The next morning I was feeling better. We headed to the fair grounds' stadium seating and met Billy Joe Kieffer (Director for Spokane Tribe Department of Natural Resources),  Warren Seyler (BPA Coordinator), John Matt (Heritage Coordinator), Bill Matt (Environmental Officer), Brian Crossley (DNR for Spokane Tribe Program Manager), Casey Flannigan (DNR for Spokane Tribes Project Manager), and Brent Nichols (Program Manager for Lake Roosevelt Fisheries). They spoke to us about invasive species, salmon restoration,  and wildlife projects around the area.

After that we drove to meet Candice Bennett (Wildlife Biologist for Spokane Tribes). She took us out into the field and showed ud a techniqie called "Track Platting". Track platting is a way for her to determine what small carnivores are in the area. To do this,  she baits one end with chicken and on the bottom plate, there is a layer of soot followed by a piece of lightweight track paper. This allows her to see the foot prints of the animals and from there she can identify the species.

There was a crew of photographers from Heritage University that had instructions to take pictures of the environmental science and environmental studies majors. Thats me. I had paparazzi!! It felt odd to be constantly photographed and I sometimes found myself posing.

After we saw the track plate demonstration,  we headed to a small picnic site next to Shimican Creek. The tribal members provided us an excellent lunch of hamburgers,  chips, and salads.

Once we finished eating,  we got to shock fish to monitor the species in the stream!! SO. MUCH. FUN!!!

Later we went down to  a section of Lake Roosevelt, where we were provided a delicious meal of salmon, chicken, corn, and potato salad. We got to go swimming and also heard stories from some tribal members.

Overall, it was definitely my favorite day so far. The Spokane Tribe offers many internships,  and I plan to look into them in the future. 

Day 9

This morning we actually got to sleep in until 7:45!!!  We have been just hanging out at Wenix's house making paint out of milk and pigmented rocks and plants. Later we will be makinh our way to Spokane. YAY FOR BEING BACK IN MY HOME STATE!!! For now we are just taking our time getting ready to head out.

I can not express how thankful I am for the hospitality shown to our troup by Wenix and her family. It is amazing to me that she allowed us to completely overtake her home. I will never forget the compassion shown to me here in Umatilla and I hope in the future I will be able to extend the same kindness to others.

Wenix's mothers Glass Art

Painted Hills Near John Day, OR

Day 8: Tough Trails

This morning we packed up camp in Wallowa and headed towards Umatilla, OR. We headed straight to the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservtion  (CTUIR) and met Wenix Redelk (Departmemt of Natural Resources Education and Outreach Coordinator for CTUIR). She showed us a Power Point of First Foods Management  (traditional foods used by the tribes). It was pretty educational.

Later, Wenix took is to the Meacham Creek Restoration Project. In order to get to the project, we had to travel quite a ways on a sketchy gravel rode. On the way there,  Wenix rode with Band Wagon and they ended up stopping in the middle of the road. Turns out, they had a flat tire. It also turns out MY van, Flaming Eagle, also had a flat tire. Geo, a White Swan student came to the rescue and helped change the tires and we made it to the project.  The project itself was really interesting. When the railroad was built, they changed the course of the Meacham Creek by pinning it against the foot hills to prevent flooding the tracks.  Now they are reversing the effects of the railroad builders by restoring the natural pattern of the stream.  This restoration is allowing for native salmon species to return and spawn successfully.

We left the project and made our way back, BUT, surprise surprise,  War Poney got not one, but TWO flat tires!!!! Ughhhhh. If you're keeping track for this trip, thats one flat for White Fox before our trip even started,  one flat for War Poney near Madras, OR, one flat for Band Wagon, One flat for Flaming Eagle, and TWO more flats for War Poney. Thats SIX flats!!! The most unfortunate part about the tire situation is that War Pony only had one spare and they had to wait, stranded in the heat, until there second spare arrived.

Wenix allowd our exhausted crew to set up camp in her back yard and made us feel right at home. She and her sister opened up their homes to 25 strangers. We were able to play volleyball and finally sit and relax. For the first time this trip, I didn't feel homesick at all, at least not until I called home and talked with my family. Later, Wenix and her sister made us Indian Tacos for dinner (YUMMM!). After dinner,  while some of us were waiting to shower, Wenix allowed us to sit in her house and watch Pitch Perfect. It was a perfect end to a rough day.

Day 7: Fisheries, Elmer Crow, and Powwoww

Today we went to the Nez Perce Tribe's fishery. We woke up at 6:30 and Jim Harbeck (Field Officer Super for Nez Perce Fishery). He led us a few miles down the road to Lostine River, near the town of Wallowa, OR, to the Nez Perce Weir at Lostine River. When we arrived at the fishery, Jim gave us some information about the salmon population here in Wallowa.I learned a lot about the conditions salmon prefer to live in. For example, the love  cold, clean water. Jim also told us that the salmon had to cross 8 dams to reach the weir we were at. The weir expanded the entire width of Lostine River in order to capture all of the salmon coming through the river. The salmon we were able to view today were "Spring Chinook". At this specific site, the salmon captured are measured for length, sex, age. They are also checked for internal identification tags, and injected with an antibiotic. Jacks are young (3 year old) male salmon that have, for some reason or another, decided to return to the stream to spawn, even though they are still juviniles. The jacks are tossed into a tank that will eventually be used for the tribe, as well as for research for the fisherie. The older adults are tossed into tanks at random that will be transeferred to neighboring hatcheries. Some of the salmon, chosen at random, are embedded with a tracker that monitors their movement over their entire lives. In 1997 when they began tracking the Spring Chinook, there were only 13 in the entire river.  In 2007 there were over 3000! This increase is due to the work being done by the Nez Perce fisheries and hatcheries.

After the fishery tour, we went to Chief Joseph's grave right on the tip od Wallowa Lake. We got to swim in the day park area and it was amazing! When we were done swimming,  we headed back to the powwow grounds  for a "Friendship Feast". I tried elk and buffalo for the first time and it was actually pretty good. Once the friendship feast was over we headed back to our camp and had a talk from Nez Perce tribal elder, Elmer Crow.  He spoke about his history and how abundant native species such as the lamprey and salmon used to be. He spoke about the cultural and scientific importance of these animals in our world. 

Once Elmer left, we went back to the powwow and enjoyed the rest of our evening there.

Evening of day 6

Today we made our way from Deschutes National Forest to the Nez Perce Powwow grounds in Wallowa, OR. We left DNF at 8:30 am and didn't arrive to the powwow grounds until 8:30pm. UGH! If you do the math, that's 12 hours of travel. The car ride itself wasn't that bad. We were able to stop at a Safeway and I had my first coffee in two weeks, an iced white chocolate mocha from Starbucks. Charlie, Monet, and I also visited the Safeway deli and I got chow mien, pot stickers, and two Pepsi's :D

While we were at Safeway,  Michelle George rented Pitch Perfect and we watched in the car ride. It was grand. For dinner we stopped at Burger King. I'm getting pretty tired of fast food. When we got back in the car, we had a HU Crew sing-along. Yay for bonding! 

When we finally reached the Powwow grounds, it was late, and we still had to set up our tents and sleeping arrangements.Once we finally got settled, we all were able to go check out the Powwow for a little while. It was my very first Powwow.  I had a lot of questions about the dancing, but Monet answered all of them for me. One of the things I've really enjoyed about this trip, is that  I am learning so much about a culture that has always been in my life, but I've never taken the time to learn about. So far, I've enjoyed everything i have learned, and am so happy to finally learn about such an ancient culture.

I'm excited to continue on the journey, but i am really ready to go home. 

Morning of day 6

This morning we are packing up camp and headed to Joseph, OR. I've discovered that I really dislike packing up camp so often. I haven't had a Pepsi in 5 days...which I'm pretty sure is my record...but you can bet the first time we stop I'm getting a 32 ounce.

I'm excited to be moving to a new area but I do have to say that I'm in love with the Deschutes National Forest Area.  Everyone we've met have been extremely friendly, outgoing,  and genuinely interested in our groups journey.  I'm a little bummed out that I wasn't able to spend much time in Bend. What I saw of the town was really impressive. I've been contemplating starting my career in Oregon for a while now and I think Bend would be a nice place to live. Who knows, maybe after I finish school I will make the move across the Columbia.

Day 5: Deschutes National Forest Work Day

Today we had to wake up at 7:30 am, and after a long night bonding at the fire, it was a little tough to get moving. We had pancakes and eggs for brrakfast and it was delicious.  Two of the workers from Deschutes National Forsest met us at our camp and lead us to the Blue Lagoon Trailhead for  trail cleanup day. We put on our hard hats and gloves, grabbed some tools and set to work. My group started by putting up a new sign at the beginning of the trail head. We had to dig holes, place the sign, and paint it. After that we headed up the trail and started clearing out trees and shrubs that were covering the trail. The trail itself is only about a mile long and wit leads to a beautiful lake called "Blue Lagoon". We had lunch there and later were able to go swimming there. It wad wonderful being able to swim in such a beautif place and I will definitely try to come back. Now I'm at the fire fighter station doing my laundry, of which there is a lot. Tomorrow we are heading to Wallowa and I'm excited to see what's next in store for this traveling band of budding scientists. 

Cleaning up!

Tonight we finally got to take a shower after two hot sweaty days! Thank you such much to the Benton Fort Rock fire fighters for allowing 25 smelly campers invade! I just got back from our first bonfire and it was definitely a fun time. Tomorrow we are scheduled to have a work day with the forestry guys and I'm a little nervous what's in store but I do know we get pancakes for breakfast :)

I just wanted to mention that I am blogging from my phone and I'm not really proofreading or following any sort of structue. My main focus is getting what I need to say posted as quickly as possible and I apologize for any difficulties reading my blog.

Goodnight everyone!

Day 4: Deschutes National Forest

Hello again everybody,

Today we spent the day in Deschutes National Forest leaning about the different departments in the Forestry Industry. In my previous blog, I told you about our morning in the Lava Rock Caves. After that we headed to met Amy Tinderholt (Recreation Team Leader of Bend Fort Rock). We headed up a butte to Newberry Fire Lookout. Once there we met Doug Johnson (Fire Management Officer of the Bend Fort Rock area) and he spoke about the 140 fires that occur annually in the area, mainly due to humans and lightning.The Deschutes National Forest is composed vastly of Ponderosa Pine. An interesting feature of the Deschutes National Forest landscape are the large areas of cooled lava flow basalt rock. It takes up vast amounts of the area and Doug told us that his department works with the Oregon Transport of Transportation and they use the basalt as an component of roadways. 

Aftet Doug finished speaking, we actually headed into the lookout tower and met Stuart Smith-Blockley who was on fire lookout duty. No lie, he was pretty cute ;) One aspect of the lookout that I enjoyed was being able to see all the major ridges and mountains including Mount Adams in the vast distance. It made me feel a little bit closer to home.

After the fire lookout, we headed down the mountain and had a DELICIOUS meal of bbq'd hamburger, chips,  and brownies provided by the forest service. At lunch my group met up with Erin Woodard (Deschutes National Forest Archaeologis) and heard about her story and her job protecting cultural artifacts.

Later we walked around the deschutes river with Shane Jefferies (Deputy Forest Supervisor for Deschutes National Forest), Kevin Larkin (District Ranger for Bend Fort Rock) and Amh Tinderholt.

Well that's all I have time for now but more to come!

Lava Rock Caves Day 4

We just visited Lava Rock Caves outside of Bend, OR. We split into a HU Crew group and a White Swan group.  My group got to go into the caves first.  Our guide, Bart Wills (Geologist for Deschutes National Forest) guided us towards the entrance and we could feel the temperature drop extremely quickly.  The cave stays about 42 degrees Fahrenheit year round. As we walked through the cave, we learned about the lava flow through the area and the geology behind the cave formation. This was my first time being in a cave and it wad amazing! I learned so much and want to continue to visit more in the future.

Since my group went through the cave first,  when the second group was ready, my group had a talk from Barbara Webb (Wildlife Biologist for Deschutes National Forest) about a disease called "White Nose Syndrome" that is decimating bat populations across the eastern side and mid-western parts of the U.S as well as Canada.

Night of day 3/Morning of day 4

Well, last night was our first night in a tent. We rolled into Deschutes Bridge  campground (just outside of Bend, OR) around 9 pm. Everybody got straight to work setting up tents and such. Having camped before, I knew I needed a flat spot to set up a tent. The campground itself has been abandoned so all the spots were free. I finally found one to fit the tent Charlie, Jayla and I would be sleeping in, as well as spots for Monet and Francisco's tents. Jessica let my tent mates use one of her personal tents, and let me tell you, it's not like any tent I've ever seen before. I was the only one in my group that knew how to set up a tent so I got to work and was quickly confronted with an issue. I didn't know how to set up this style of tent! A simple way to describe the tent is "Sydney Opera House" style.  Eventually,  Jessica came over and helped us out. After that we threw all of our stuff in the tent and went back to the main sight and had dinner. After we ate leftovet chilli dogs, sang Brandy happy birthday, and did dishes, Jayla, Charlie and I decided to go to bed. I'm used to having my Dad around when I'm camping and that always makes me feel safe, so this time I was a little bit scared. It didn't help that some people were making references to "The Blair With Project", and for those of you who know me know that I'm a big baby when it comes to those kinds of things.

The night itself was pretty miserable. I forgot my extra blanket in the van and I was in no mood to walk back and get it so i just had my sleeping bag and I got cold Also, only 2 twin sized air mattresses would fit in the tent so we just pushed them together and all piled on. The only problem; the air mattresses kept splitting in the center where our butts went. Jayla was sleep talking again, saying things like "Don't comr after me" and "You're so funny", so that woke me up also.

People have been complaining about the lack of a flushing toilet and running water.  Frankly,  I'm kinda used to it. I'm not afrad to "go" in the woods and I have my baby wipes so its all good.

This morning when I woke up I hurried to put some warm clothes on. Then as everybody else was taking their time getting out of bed, I ate an english muffin,  and some eggs and washed it down with hot chocolate. When we were cleaning up we saw a deer come pretty close to camp. That was prettt cool. Now were on our way to a cave somewhere around Bend. I hope everyone is doing good.

That's all for now but more to come!

Our blogging frustration :(

Day One: Satus Pass, Ceilo Falls Outlook, and Horse Theif Lake State Park

Today was day one of our journey and we got off to a little big of a late start. Between loading up supplies and gathering gear, we didn't leave Heritage until about 11:30 am. While we were waiting at Heritage, Steve Rigdon (Yakama Power) and Paul Ward (Yakama Nation Fisheries) came and talked to us about the human implications on the Yakima Valley and surrounding area. They spoke about salmon populations in the Yakima River, as well as the Wetland restoration project on the reservation. After their talk, we loaded up and headed out. , Literally, five minutes after we left, Monet Becenti forgot her phone and we had to turn around. We FINALLY hit the road and traveled along Satus pass towards Oregon. Along the pass, each van counted the number of wild horses we saw. My van counted about 260 just along the roadside.

We continued through Goldendale and made our way to the Celilo Falls Overlook. While there, we spoke about the dramatic changes made to the Columbia River during World War II. These changes have had a devastating affect on the Wasco, Warm Springs, and Paiute Indian Tribes that relied on the Celilo region for trade and commerce. Not only has the Columbia River Dam system created problems for the Indian Tribes of the region, but also the landscape itself. What used to be a region of a magnitude of majestic falls is now a wide, flat river. Today, the river at the Celilo area has become a more suited to wind surfing and sturgeon fishing rather than the salmon fishing and fur trade of the old days.

After the somber experience at Celilo, we traveled down the Columbia to Horse Thief Lake State park. We had lunch there, and passed out backpacks, water packs, and headlamps. A little while later, we went on an extremely hot hike to view the petroglyphs surrounding the area. The petroglyphs were created by the people of the area thousands of years ago and have stood the test of time and are still in amazing condition. Each set tells the story of an individual family.

After our hike, we made our way to Warm Springs, OR. In Warm Springs, we stayed in the Agency Long House. We set up our sleeping bags and went to sleep. Personally, it was difficult for me to sleep because I'm not used to hearing other people sleep and snore throughout the night, but it turned out okay.

Overall, it was a very hectic day, but was a great learning experience. 

Hello Everyone!

Hello Everyone,

If you don't know me, my  name is Briana Rhode, and i am a sophomore at Heritage University, studying Environmental Science. Throughout this blog I will be posting my experiences of a fourteen day trek along the northwest studying the culture and environment of the native people's of the Columbia River area. Along the way I will have very spotty Wi-Fi and wont be able to post every day, so please bear with me.

Thank you to everyone for your support through this amazing experience and take care!

Shitike Creek Restoration/ Mule Deer Monitoring/ Mill Creek Restoration

Petroglyphs at Horse Thief Lake State Park

Columbia River at Celilo Outlook