Summer in Stehekin: Day 15

*Well here we are. Part Two of the craziness. The first part might not have been that exciting, but for me and my fellow rescuers, we were on edge for about a half hour. And Monday was just as exciting. And terrifying. So wild the day gets its own post! So here we go!

Monday June 29, 2015

BOOM!

It's 5:15AM when my eyes shoot open. My house is shaking. Trembling. My breath catches in my throat as I sit up. Diane rushes into my room, talking about a rock slide. Rock slide? Did I just hear her correctly?

"What are you talking about?" I ask, scared to know the answer.

"Our house sits on an old rock slide. I thought the rumble was a rock slide." Well that would explain the brand new houses next door…

Again, my breath escapes me. We creep to the small second story window and gaze out on the lake. There's no rain. There's no more thunder.  All is quiet.

CRACK!

My eyes grow as wide as saucers as I watch a bolt of lightning slam into the side of the mountain. Across the lake. One mile from my current location.

Think about the last time you've seen lightning. The spindly crackles of white light that crisscross  up from the ground like think fibers of silk. That's what most of us think of when we think about lightning.

Well, let me tell you something. When it's within a mile from your position and you see it slam into the ground, it's not delicate. Not whatsoever. This bolt of lightning was sent by Thor himself, as if he was hammering a nail into a board. Did I mention the bolt was thicker than the surrounding trees. Yeah.

I'm dressed and downstairs sitting on the porch faster than any human in history. Diane trotted out after, much more immune to the perils of living with fires. We start a casual conversation, but I'm hardly listening. My eyes are fixated on the trees on the other side of the lake.

How long does it take for lightning to start a fire? One minute? One hour? Depends on the level of dryness, the type of trees, the contents of the underbrush. But it comes of no surprise to me that ten minutes later, I see a small wisp of smoke begin to spiral its way out of the canopy.

"Diane," I tug at her shirt sleeve and point across the lake. "What do we do? Who do we tell?"

"Oh, the guys probably saw it."

"Are you sure?" My worry is growing with the amount of smoke. "Should we go tell them?"

"If you want to. I could use the bike ride."

I'm hauling ass up to fire cache, while Diane trails behind at a leisurely pace. Damn that hill though… Burning legs aside, I'm relieved to see one of the fire fighters walking around outside. We tell him about the fire. And he doesn't know. Thank the gods I decided to bike up there.

"Breakfast?" I'm still reeling from the excitement of the last half hour and Diane's thinking about food. Although truth be told, I am hungry…

We quickly the two miles to the bakery. They don't open until 7am. But not for locals. There's always pastries and coffee for the locals. And seasonal workers pretty much are locals. At least I'm starting to feel like it. Two cups of coffee and a vegan muffin and I'm starting to feel more relaxed. Mostly because it's raining.  Pretty hard too. Maybe it'll keep the fire at bay longer enough for the crew to respond.

Rain pretty much means I get a day off, but I end up handing out at the kiosk anyway, before I have to wander up to the store at 4pm. What did I do for lunch? The Bakery again. But only because the soup of the day was gazpacho. The best. Did I mention that I got a free vegan muffin? Yesterday, Robbie (the bakery owner) came in and only had enough money for one bag of ice so I bought her the other on. She gave me a free vegan muffin next time I was up at the bakery. Which just happened to be today. It will make an amazing breakfast tomorrow, for sure.

So I guess you're wondering what became of the fire. Well, that evening, the fire crew (all three of them) wander in, filthy and exhausted, and thanked me for telling them about the fire. It probably would've burned for a few hours before anyone notified them, being that it started so early in the morning. I gave them an employee discount on their purchase and thanked them for stopping the fire. Such great guys. Any because of them (and I guess my persistence) I slept soundly that night.

Lesson Learned: Fire is scary. Obey fire bans and all rules about open flames. Now who to notify if you see a fire start in your area. Don't mess with the flame. It will burn you and most of the forest around you. No joke.

Summer in Stehekin: Day 11 - 14

Enter = The Most Action Packed Week of My Life! From Thursday June 25 through yesterday, July 6, has been day after day of exciting-don't know which way is up and down-non-stop crazy! So let's get started with Part One!

Believe It Or Not: This is a Reflection

Thursday June 25, 2015

I've been doing this thing. So the other two retail workers, Rachel and Collin, have their two days off Monday-Thursday. Since I'm the only other main retail person, this has required me to work 7am-ish til 3pm at the kiosk and 4-8pm in the store. Now I understand it's my own doing. I want to be at the kiosk, so I'm sacrificing my sanity doing something I love. But still it's starting to wear on me. Anyway…

Today was another of those days. But it made it all the better because I guided a group of four friends who were just tremendous people. Luanne, Jim, Michelle, and Dion. Jim was scared of the water, but I helped him through it and we made it across to see the pictographs just fine.  I recommended that they rent bikes and take them up to High Bridge and then bike back. They loved it. They started calling me their tour guide. It makes me feel so good that I can help make someone's experience here in Stehekin that amazing. I love that part of my job.

Michelle, Luanne, Dion, and Jim

I forgot to mention it! Robbie made me a vegan muffin! Cranberry Nut Spice! Yummy!

Friday June 26, 2015

Another busy day. Full day on the water before noon, then beat the heat with Luanne, Michelle, Jim, and Dion. Met Priscilla from Leavenworth and hung out with her a lot too. Highs of 100 seem to be a constant… Stayed inside tonight and watched a movie. First TV since I got here!

Saturday June27, 2015

Today was a great day! Another morning with a lot of paddlers super early and with highs in the 100s again, I went swimming in the afternoon. I honestly never thought I'd be swimming every day, but I'm very happy I have a job where I can wear my swimsuit.

Everyone is super excited about tonight. Apparently it had been a very long time since the Lodge has had live music on the deck. A group called Folias, composed of a flute and guitar, played a wonderful concert for the restaurant.  Playing the flute myself, I was particularly interested. They were fantastic. They had moved inside the restaurant to escape the heat and I listened for a few minutes before I decided to get up and help the wait staff. The ice cream was melting too quickly and there were too many people in the restaurant for the staff to handle. So I jumped in; at least for a little bit, before I got 'yelled' at. Mary and Diane told me to sit down and relax. Although they appreciate my helpfulness.

Afterwards, I went outside to listen to Folias some more and even got to talk to Cameron about her flutes (she had a piccolo and an alto!). I even bought a CD! So excited to download it and get it on my phone to listen to.

Cameron, the flutist for Folias

Sunday June 28, 2015

Now we get into the two days of pure insanity. Day One: The day started out like any other. I had paddlers out early in the morning and it was hot. I decided to clean the boats which was a good excuse to get wet. By 9am I was sweating and it was already miserable.

[Side note: I seem to wake up every morning with a new bruise… That's what I get for tossing around kayaks all day!]

Around 1pm a family of four came down and they hoped into two sea kayaks and the canoe and were off. At 2pm I put Margaret, George, Norma, and Mike into kayaks and sent them off to the pictographs. Shortly after, Jonathan decided he wanted to go out for a little bit. So I sent him out. Just as he reached the wake barrier, things went south. Fast. Within seconds the winds had gone from 0-20+ MPH. Jonathan turned around immediately and came back in.

[Keep in mind, that during my safety talk prior to putting people in the water, I emphasize the valley's unique weather systems. This includes forceful down-lake winds in the afternoon. I remind them to avoid open water and to hug the coastline around the top of the lake. Take the extra time by taking the long way round. So my boaters are aware of the risks by going out in the afternoon.]

As soon as Jonathan is safe on shore, I grab my binoculars and start finding my boats. I easily find the two couples by the pictographs and then I notice someone else with binoculars looking out at them too. It's Maria: a ranger with the Park Service. I yell out to her and ask if she sees them. She says they're struggling and she's going out to help. I acknowledge her and she runs off to notify Sonja, the EMT who hops on the boat and they head out.

Knowing that the NPS is helping those four, I start looking for the family who I know are up-lake. Finally I find the dark green canoe and orange kayak. But I can't find the yellow one. I hear Phil over the walkie-talkie say that there's a capsized yellow kayak near Weaver Point campground. Instantly I'm worried, but the canoe and other kayak are no one near Weaver Point, paddling in the opposite direction with no additional passenger, and with no intention of turning around. So whatever Phil saw in the water was not one of ours. I handed the binoculars to Corey, one of the Lodge's admins and he finally found our yellow kayak close to the right shore. With the extent of down-lake wind, I knew the family would eventually make it back to the docks, safely and I left my co-workers to help them in.

By this time the two couples had gotten separated, with two of them managing to make it towards the boat docks and the other two were being helped by the NPS. I discovered during this whole ordeal that my walkie-talkie picks up the NPS channel and I was able to communicate with them, helping to facilitate the rescue. I ran down the docks and blew my whistle alerting the two boaters to allow themselves to drift back towards me. They were initially trying to get to my kayak dock, but I didn't want them working any harder than necessary. So they came up to the boat dock and I got them off the lake there.

The NPS boat picked up Margaret and then provided support for Mike as he made for the boat ramp. I met him there and we both walked over the docking NPS boat. Everyone congregated back at the kayak dock, wearing huge smiles. It might have been an intense experience, but everyone was in good spirits. Bee, the 12-year-old daughter, who was in the canoe, said she barely paddled on the way up, making her dad do most of the work, but on the way back she never stopped. She said her paddle barely made it into the water half the time, the waves were so big. Her brother Zak, said he wanted to hold onto his lifejacket because he wasn't sure what other crazy adventures his parents had in store for them on that trip. They made me laugh.

Afterward I sat with the two couples and we spent an hour talking about the event. It's funny how when something happens, you feel the need to talk about it into the ground. We found ourselves repeating the events from everybody's perspective, laughing, knowing the stress of it was all done.

When I had informed Mary that everyone was safe on shore, she responded by telling me that I did a wonderful job and that I earned my pay for the day. Later on, she told me that today was why she hired me and everything else I do this summer is superfluous. Completely made it worth it.

Took it easy tonight; watched the Producers with Klis and then bedtime at 10pm. Wow.

Stay tuned for Part Two!

Summer in Stehekin: Day 6-10

Welcome Back! The past week or so has been crazy hectic! And super exciting! So without further ado, Days 6 - 10

Saturday, June 20, 2015 = Welcome Home
Today was my first official day in my new position. Kayak Girl! Sounds like a superhero name (Looking back on it now, I guess that's pretty accurate). So what does a kayak girl do? Well, let me explain. I'm still working for the lodge. Actually this is the job I was initially hired to do. So I'm still in retail, periodically working in the store to cover days off and the such, but the rest of the time I'm done at the kiosk, renting kayaks. I guess hiring someone to run the kiosk stemmed from some safety issues from last year. So here I am!

The kiosk is a little shack that was originally located closer to the landing but was moved down here to be able to lock up the kayaking gear. So it's an understatement to say that it needed to be cleaned out and organized. So, day one at the kiosk = cleaning, inventory, maintenance, and reorganizing. I hung all the PFDs from a line I hung on the wall. I collected all the old light fixtures since there isn't electricity into the building anymore. I cleaned the cobwebs, washed the windows, and swept the floors. Now it actually looks acceptable for business.

Part of my job entailed rewriting (or writing, for the first time) safety and standard operating protocols. As I assisted eight paddlers today, I started mentally putting together a list of rules and methods that we would need to post in the kiosk and have ready in case of an emergency. This process is going to be more work than the cleaning.

My New Office

Sunday, June 21, 2015 = Black Caps and Making Rules

Another exciting day at the kiosk! It was a bit windy and slow for the rentals, but it enabled me to type up all the documents we would need for the kiosk. So I brought my computer down to the hut with me, settle into a comfy kayak and set to work, the mountains as my screensaver. Perfection.

Part way through the day, I had a young woman come to kayak. Emily Lester is a photographer from Seattle and is an amazing artist. We connected later on Instagram and it will be exciting to follow her in her pursuits.

Stephanie swung by the store today. In case I haven't introduced this new character, she is a bakery worker who is about the most wonderful human being ever. She's kind, compassionate, and friendly. We became instant friends and its always a joy to see her smiling face around Stehekin. Strolling into the store bearing the battle scars of a lengthy day bush-whacking for black cap raspberries, she offered me some of the fruit to my delight. They truly are delicious! Hope we can go on an adventure together...

Mary approved all of my documents and she will print and laminate them for me to hang tomorrow. Very important, because tomorrow is our inspection by the NPS (I think its NPS…)

Working Hard...

Black Caps!

Monday, June 22, 2015 = New Waters

Boy, today was busy! Eleven kayakers and two guided trips. That's right folks. I lead trips! How exciting! While Mary was stressing out about the inspection and running around like crazy, I was on the water helping two families. The first was Jun and her son, Shuyang and her mother, Guiyiang. They had never kayaked before, so I offered to go with them. They were overjoyed. And while I assumed Jun and Shuyang would be the gung-ho ones, 70 year old Guiyiang was the one eager to go faster and out paddle her daughter and grandson. It was wonderfully amusing and amazing. She was so confident for someone who'd never paddled before. They were so grateful I went with them, they tipped my $10. My first guide tips!

The second trip I did was with another family. Filipina, her daughter Yeline, and her husband James. It was originally just going to be mother and daughter, but once they got on the water, the father couldn't be left out. I put him in a boat and we went to see the pictographs (I'll explain in just a bit). When we got back and I took them up to the store to pay, they really wanted to tip me, but didn't have any cash. Bummer! But then again, I love my job, so the smiles are worth more than any amount of money. Renting kayaks is one thing. But when I'm actually with the people I'm putting on the lake, there's a sense of accomplishment that doesn't come from anything else. This must be what it feels like to be a teacher.

I met Emily, the inspector, who told me that the kayak kiosk looked amazing. Mary had wanted me to be around in case she had any questions, but she had none! She said everything looked great and organized and that every requirement she'd set had been met and outdone! I think Mary's happy with me ;)

Trip One: Couldn't ask for a better day!

Cascade Magic

 Tuesday, June 23, 2015 = First Day Off!

Wow is it windy. I guess I should mention the weather here. For the most part it's beautiful. Most days we have no clouds in the skies, which is amazing. It's warm, sometimes hot, but not unbearable. The mornings are my favorite time. There is no wind and the water is like glass. The sunlight streams over the mountains, lighting up the water like little jewels. Not to mention illuminating the deep blue of the lake. The one downfall to my job is the afternoon winds. Sometimes as early as 10am, but most days around 2-4pm, we get very high down-lake winds that sweep through the valley. Like today. Early winds preventing any kayaking. But actually I'm okay with that. That means I get a day off. My very first!

So what's a girl to do on her day off? Go slacklining in the park (though I'm having trouble finding good trees). Meet up with coworkers and go swimming. My first time in Lake Chelan was shocking. Literally. With temperatures barely entering the 60's in late August, the glacially fed waters of Chelan are a great way to cool off and instill a thrill in your heart. So Chloe, Else, Carly, Amanda (bakery) and I jumped into the lake. Chloe is an amateur documentary filmmaker and she filmed the plunge. And apparently she wants to interview me this summer about slacklining and being vegan in a remote location. She's doing a film about alternate lifestyles. Very cool!

After our swimming adventures, we changed and headed up to the local baseball game. Most nights there is something going on somewhere on the 'island.' Tuesday's is baseball night. There were a lot of people there, most of them I didn't know, obviously. Mostly locals, the seasonal workers, and the WCC (Washington Conservation Corps).

I met Ron, who is the owner of Discovery Bike Rentals. He's also the local school teacher, principal, superintendent, ect. Let me clarify. Stehekin has a year-round population of 83 people. Some of them have children, so naturally there is a school here. The school teaches children from kindergarten through eighth grade. This fall's attendance is four children (which is the minimum they can have to keep the school open). So what happens after eighth grade (or if there are less than four kids)? They have to go to school in Chelan or elsewhere, staying with friends or family. But here's the cool thing. Every kid that has left the Stehekin school has gone on to place in the top five of their graduating class. Many of them end up as valedictorian. Wow! With a personalized schooling system like Stehekin, you really do get an amazing education.

Breezy Morning!

Valley B-Ball



Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Not much to say on Wednesday. Guided a young woman, Rachel from London, across the lake. Her boyfriend wasn't feeling well and she didn't want to go by herself. So I took her to see the pictographs. I guess since I don't have much to say about the day, I'll tell you about the pictographs.

Across the lake are a series of paintings, called pictographs (petro glyphs are carvings), that we call the Painted Rocks. Original, right? They have been examined by archaeologists and have been dated around 5,000-8,000 years old. They lie right about the water line, a mile from the landing. Here's the puzzle. Two hundred years ago when white settlers first came up-lake, Lake Chelan was 22 feet lower than it is today (due to the Chelan Dam construction that raised the lake level). So how did the paintings get onto the rock, 22 feet about the water line? To answer that, we have to remember that the mountains and gorge here were carved by glaciers. So thousands of years ago, there was still receding glacial ice on the lake. So the current theory is that the people, who used the Cascade Pass as a trade corridor (Stehekin actually means 'the way through') walked across the glacial ice and documented their passing. Pretty cool huh? I'll put some photos below.
 

Ignore the 1946 graffiti

So amazing!