2019 People of the Big River Field Class

Day 14: Friday, July 19. Today was a long morning, after eating breakfast we got ready to do inventory. We clean up our tents and organize everything. Everything is coming to an end; at the beginning I wasn’t sure if It was going to be fun. I was doubting myself whether I should’ve come to this trip. I’m happy I did; it was an amazing experience. I met a lot of people who work on keeping this world safe not only for us but for animals. I’m very glad for each and one of them I met. Hopefully someday I get to do what they do to keep this world safe. It’s going to be a long way back to Heritage University, but I will enjoy the scenery’s that this world has to offer. 

Day 13: Thursday, July 18.    It was a long morning for me today. We had to pack everything up to go the beach. Our group decided to go to the beach for our last trip in this amazing adventure. I didn’t appose to that since I have never been to the beach. I couldn’t wait to arrive. When we got there my expectations didn’t disappoint me. The beach is beautiful. After we ate dinner I couldn’t wait for the sunset. Just like in the movies the sundown was amazing. At night before going to sleep we did the circle. Everybody had the chance to talk about how they felt during the trip. I’m just happy to have had this amazing opportunity. Also, I’m very thankful for my classmate for making me feel part of the group.

Day 12: Wednesday, July 17.      Today was an interesting day. We met with Alex Gonyaw again to talk about The Klamath Tribes aquatics program. This programs specializes in fish and tribes habitat. The main tribes being Modoc, Klamath and Yahouskin. The main thing that caught my attention was the fish going extinct. The C-waam ( lost river sucker) and Koptu (short nose sucker). This fish have between 10 to 15 years until they go completely extinct if we don’t do nothing about it. Some of the causes of extinction are drowning of marches and water quality. Most of the fish that are alive now are the same ones of each year. Most new spawn fish don’t survive the water quality or are kill by their competition. Then we went to Hagelstein County Park. In that park there’s a little lake not that big but the only lake where short nose sucker fish are able to live without dying. The problem is that it’s a public park and people can fish and swim in the lake, that’s not good for the almost

Day 11: Tuesday, July 16.     Getting up at 5:15 was not my ideal way to start my day but a visit to Crater Lake made up for it. Crater Lake is one of the deepest lake in United States with a depth of 1949 feet (594m). It’s blue and clear water made look beautiful. After that, we hike the watchman trail. The watchman trail has a length of 1.6miles and an elevation of 420feet but badly I didn’t reach the top because of time. Our class was on a hurry to meet up with Alex an environmental science graduate. He showed us the importance of trees and plants where for the Native Americans. One of the most interesting things for me was when he told us that the aspen was the biggest living organisms in this planet.

Day 10: Monday, July 15.    Today l, We got up at 6:30am to go help Bend District of The Deachutes with some environmental projects. First, we help Thomas Walker a fish Biologist on taking out grass weeds from a lake. We wore waiders to protects us from the water. Grass weeds in lake prevents from others plants from growing and with no other species of plants it’s hard for fish and other habitats to live. Walking on mod and pulling weeds out was a hard job but putting on the waiders was the hardest for me. After 4 hours of so, we move to another job site where Peter Powers a forester who has been working on his profession for 16 years and Graduated from Washington State University invited us to work on his Aspen restoration project. We help him cut weeds and plants around Aspen trees to eliminate its competition so the aspen can grow. Powers calls it managing the habitat. Powers has not only work in Oregon but in Washington, Idaho and Montana. It was a busy and fun day for me so

Day 9: Sunday, July 14.    This morning we had breakfast duty, which wasn’t that bad. We only serve bagels with cream and coffee since we had to leave early to the Deachutes River Trail. The Deachutes River Trail was beautiful, walking next to a river felt peaceful. Then, we took off to jessica’s friend house, they were very kind to us. Jessica's friend cooked us some hamburgers, one of the best homemade hamburgers I have ever eaten. They even let us use the shower. The family really made us feel like home. After spending some days in the woods being in a house felt great. The family contribution really made this field trip much better.

Day 8: Saturday, July 13.    After eating breakfast we went to put the cam traps around our camp base. On our hitchhike We found some animals trails, that’s when we decided to put some cam trails. We are hoping to capture some wild animals. In the afternoon we went to little lava lake to swim, relax and just have a good time. Little lava lake has a beautiful scenery. But, everything can't always be good and today we experience a bad and sad moment. Not all people are good people.

Day 7: Friday, July 12.     Today it’s my birthday and wasn’t expecting for my classmates to visit my tent at midnight and sing-wish me a happy birthday. It made my night. In the morning after eating breakfast we headed to Lava Butte a 7000-year-old coder come volcano in the edge of New Berry Volcano. Lava Butte has an elevation of 5020. When Butte erupted it’s lava flow travel six miles down hill. The view from the top of Butte was stunning, you could see the landscape that surrounds, including the trail where the lava travel downhill it’s stunning. At the end of the night my classmates surprised me with some brownies with birthday candles on top that shaped the number twenty six. I really appreciate what they did for my birthday. I will cherish this moment as long as I life.

Day 6 : Thursday, July 11.     Today before heading to Bend we did a trip to Timber site East 2017-2019 in Warm Springs. Claude Smith a timber sales management showed us how to calculate the log sale and how much commission the tribe gets for its timber. Nothing of timber is lost, the bad timber is made into paper and the Bark is use in landscaping. Most of the people who work in timber are between 40 and 60. Some of the machinery use to cut down trees are timbro and skidder. One cuts the trees and the other gathers and put the timber in a pile. Yvette, another sales manager told us a very inspiring personal story. Her story inspired me to never give up no matter how low you are in life. After a day in the forest we headed to Twanat Museum. There, some Native American elders told us stories and struggles they still face on food gathering which is been damage by commercial sale, huckleberry for example.

Day 5: Wednesday, July 10.    After a long and confusing night we headed to The fire management department. There Bob Sjolund did a presentation of the importance of prescribed fire and how important it is to practice this technique in order to improve the environment and to also to help prevent wild fires. This technique was used way back by tribes in order to keep the environment and its sources in good condition. They also showed us how treating landscapes can help bring much richer environment and healthier trees. Fire - it’s not always bad. It helps us improve our natural resources and also help us prevent wild fires that can affect many people and animals.

Day 4: Tuesday, July 9.    Today was our last day at camp chaparral but before leaving we picked up the cam trails but sadly we didn’t capture any wild animals. Most of the day we spent it in the car. While heading to Warm Springs we passed through Portland and The Dalles next to the Columbia River. The sceneries made the trip interesting. 

Day 3: Monday July 8.     My day started with breakfast, having chocolate chip cookies pancakes really started my day on the right foot. After breakfast we took off to potato hill. From a distance hiking potato hill looks easy. I didn’t realize that I haven’t done much exercise in the past months and climbing potato hill was very difficult, but that didn’t stop me from reaching the top. Once I reached the top of potato hill it felt like a big accomplishment. Coming down from the hill was much easier. In our way up the mountain we were instructed to pick up different types of plants or flowers. I was surprised by how many different species of plants surround us, even in a small area. Everything was fun and challenging except for the mosquitos. They always bite me when I least expect it.