Time to Ramble on

Well my summer work is coming to an end and even though I am suffering through horrible internet connections, I would like to give you one last summer post!

To celebrate the summer coming to an end, I made the cake in the picture below in honour of our work this summer:

It is a Brook Trout, one of the species of fish found on our rivers this summer! The picture below is of a small brook trout we caught electrofishing

Leaves are fallin' all around, time I was on my way
Thanks to you, I'm much obliged for such a pleasant stay
but now it's time for me to go, the autumn moon lights my way
for now I smell the rain, and with it, pain
and it's headed my way
Aw, sometimes I grow so tired
but I know I've got one thing I got to do
A-ramble on...

~Ramble On, Led Zeppelin

 There are places I'll remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all~ In My Life, The Beatles

This has been an absolutely amazing experience! I will never forget all the wonderful people I have met, skills i've learned, and places i've seen. I am walking away from this summer not only with more knowledge of the aquatic ecosystem, but more physically fit/healthy, and I am really in touch with who I am and what I want out of life. I am in my final year of University, with so many opportunities now open to me. It is the time to take action, follow my dreams, and see where life takes me.

So this is not goodbye, more like talk to soon...who knows when my next field adventure will take place :D

Goodbye for now,

your Field Biologist
xoxo

There's no place like (a summer) Home

So it just occurred to me that I have yet to post any photos of my home in Searchmont this summer!
We are staying at the Searchmont Ski Resort. I would talk about the amazing-ness of this place, but I think I will just let the pictures speak for themselves :D

My Cabin!!

View from my window. Lovely way to wake up!

Having fun on a chairlift

Two of the Techs built this Lean-to so they could sleep outside...good plan in theory, but the black flies, and horse flies, and deer flies, and mosquitoes would drive me back inside after only a couple hours

View from the Mountain! Looking down on the Ski Resort. Isn't it Beautiful!

Sincerely,

your built-in-photographer Field Biologist

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

I am so sorry I have been so tardy in posting but between moving up to Wawa and back within 5 days, finishing up work on the Batchawana and the extreme heat I have been too exhausted to type!

For your patience, here are some long awaited photos from this last month

"There is something strange; in your riverbed; who ya gonna call? HYDRONET!"

Me in my Electrofishing Backpack. Just call me Ray :)

I feel like a superhero in my wetsuit!

Baby Moose!! wandered into our snorkeling site...awww its sooo cute!!! Just last week we also saw a Momma and her baby walking along the shore of the Batchawana while we were less than 200 meters away! Absolutely amazing!

 

I saw this and had to take a picture! This is how I feel when I drive Jolly Jumper. I used to be one of those drivers refused to go more than 5km/hr over the speed limit. I am now the person who goes 105km/hr on a 90km/hr highway! I have also become the person who PASSES other cars!

What has happened?!

Salmon with baked goat cheese. That's right folks, I ate fish! Shocker I know. And it wasn't half bad...

Canada Day Fireworks in the Soo (slang for Sault Ste. Marie). I was so proud to be Canadian I felt the need to dance and take-up tree hugging...I wasn't drinking I swear!

Sooooo much time so little jokes to be made...wait, scratch that, reverse it!

Did he walk with the animals? Talk with the animals? Grunt and squeak and squawk with the animals? and could they squeak and squawk and speak and talk with him?

As promised, the photos of the place I stayed at (briefly!) in Wawa....

 

 The creepiest thing though had to be the bust of the deer...THE THING WASN'T EVEN REAL!!! While it didn't work, there are buttons on the side that I am assuming are for making it move...I had to name him "Bambi" just to invoke some sort of hopeless innocence and remove the shuddersome feelings I was having and allow me to sleep lol

Exploring access points for the Black River. Wow what a juxtaposition that place was... ominous fogs, and fields of beautifully innocent flowers

Got stuck in the mud exploring the access points for the Black River...

 ...CLEARLY we didn't see the sign...

Jolly Jumper's flat tire on the Batchawana trail. Good thing they had me to change the tire...

...well maybe not change the tire completely on my own. But i did get to put back on and tighten all the bolts :P now that is impressive!

Until next time!

Sincerely,

Your throughoughly exhausted-can't believe the summer is almost over Field Biologist

What do flat tires, getting stuck in the mud, and Alfred Hitchcock have in common?

Hello Everyone, I am so sorry for the long delay between my posts but between long hours in the water with leaky waders and preparing for a move to Wawa, I haven't had the energy or time to write. But now I'm back with some very exciting and freaky updates.
On July 9th our team moved up to Wawa, ON for a month in order to study the Magpie River. And in answer to the question I posted last time, it was the hardly visible dirt road that is what we have to take to get to the river. Let me tell you it is NOT a fun drive lol. I play the Jurassic Park theme song in my head as we drive along. and watch out for Velociraptors hanging around the next bend.

I am already missing Searchmont. I miss the other team we are working with, and I most especially miss our accommodations! Now I most definitely did not expect luxury (though searchmont came close), but I did not expect to be living in the setting from a Hitchcock movie...

Unfortunately due to my very limited Internet access I cannot post any pictures but just imagine it:

Its a grey, gloomy day. You pull off Highway 101 to a lone little house in the middle of nowhere. When you open the door you are greeted by wood paneling, sloped floors, appliances that must be from the 60s (or earlier), pealing wallpaper, and velour cushioned wood furniture! My bedroom has pink carpet that has got to be 50 years old, old musty blanket on the bed, and a ceiling that looks like it is about to cave in. Right outside my bedroom door there is a bust of a deer hanging on the wall (the creepiest thing about it is it is completely fake!).

You would have a hard time sleeping too if you were in my shoes (the thunderstorm didn't help matters lol). I kept hearing strange noises and was just waiting for the moment when Norman Bates was going to jump out of my closet...

Enough about the creepy cabin...on a positive note I can add two new automotive skills to my expanding credentials. In the last 3 days I have had to get Jolly Jumper out of the mud, and change a tire. The tire happened when we were on the trail to the Batchawana (fortunately not while I was driving). Granted the other techs who had done it before did most of the work but i did learn a lot AND i got to tighten the bolts on the spare tire, all by myself :D.
Today we went to explore the Black River (sounds very ominous especially when you add the fact that there was a constant halo of fog surrounding us most of the day). On the way through one of the trails poor Jolly Jumper got stuck in the mud. Should have followed the sign that said to use trail at our own risk...oops! So we laid sticks and grass behind the wheels to help give more traction. After two tries my boss still couldn't get the car out. So then I got behind the steering wheel while the others were out front to push. On my FIRST attempt, I got our beloved car out of the mud!!! I am so proud of myself! So for anyone out there who thinks that I can't HANDLE my own truck (cough...you know who you are...COUGH) you are soooooo wrong! I am a rough-n-tough woodsgirl now, so take that!

That is it for me tonight! I don't have internet at the Bates Motel but I will be sure to update as soon as I can.

Sincerely,
your overly-heightened-sense-of-imagination-rough-n-tough Field Biologist