Well, I’m three weeks into my new temporary gig on the Tahoe National Forest…
…and I’m alive!
I’m also back in Arizona for the next few weeks.
I’m working remotely from Flagstaff until my longer-term rental in California is available, and I wanted to take a second to catch my breath and share a few highlights from my first few weeks on the Tahoe.
My first week was honestly a WHIRLWIND. I worked my normal Monday through Friday back on the Coconino, then took Saturday and Sunday to drive up to the Tahoe, and then arrived at the office first thing Monday morning… for a normal Monday through Friday.
It was basically 12 straight days of work, which was a LOT. I was supposed to attend a work event on day 13, but it ended up getting canceled due to weather. I was a little bummed because it was a white water rafting trip, but I was also a little relieved because I was just so exhausted at that point. I ended up having to work day 14, too, due to heavy rains and flash flooding, so my first few weeks here were really busy!
Luckily, 1. It’s fun work and an amazing job, and 2. It slowed down a bit after the first week here.
My first day was a blast. I ran into one of the district rangers, Lon, who asked if I had plans for the day. I did not.
So, he scooped me up and drove me around his district — the Yuba River Ranger District — narrating the drive, pointing out the landmarks and explaining to me his district’s history of gold mining.
We drove from the Nevada City office along Highway 49 through Camptonville, Downieville, Sierra City and Sierraville up to Yuba Pass.
Lon explained that later in the week, several members of the Tahoe would be leading a field trip through the forest to explain ongoing restoration projects and give a tour of those site locations to partner organizations.
He was doing a final run-through of the field trip itinerary, ensuring that the roads were in OK condition, and finding places for the field trip vehicle convoy to park and turn around.
Being able to see some of the smaller mountain communities in the Sierra Nevada was such a fun day.
Of course, the other highlight from my first week was that field trip! I got to join the Tahoe along with several other partner organizations on the two-day trip, which culminated in a seven-mile hike along part of the Pacific Crest Trail and an overnight stay at Sierra Pines Resort.
My first week was also full of weekday meetings and weeknight trips out to Roseville (metro Sacramento) for Trader Joe’s freezer burritos (yay hotel living!) and REI staples.
Since the first weekend’s rafting trip was canceled due to weather, I honestly didn’t do anything at ALL during my first weekend in Nevada City. It was way too rainy and I was way too tired. I holed up in my hotel room watching Harry Potter and sleeping on Saturday, and then I went to our local recreation store to peruse.
My next week at work was a lot more routine than the first. I ended up getting my COVID booster shot, so I spent two days out sick.
While my second week was pretty uneventful, my second weekend was a LOT better than the first. After sleeping off a busy few weeks of travel, work and COVID booster shots, I finally felt good enough to explore the area a bit!
I spent Saturday morning wandering around downtown Nevada City.
Guys. If you ever make it to this part of California, GO TO DOWNTOWN NEVADA CITY.
It is SO cute!
The entire downtown is basically landmarked, so it’s this rolling hilly collection of old Victorian-era mining buildings.
I wandered around and stopped at Heartwood Eatery and perused the shops and stores.
I wish I’d taken more photos because the entirety of downtown is so quaint and precious and adorable.
Then later that night, I met up with some of the girls from work (I’d met one of them, Lauren, the prior week during our field trip) for pre-gaming at Lauren’s house followed by a Halloween concert downtown at the Miners Foundry.
This was the first time I’d been to ANYTHING like this since the pandemic started. It was so weird! The venue checked vaccination cards at the door and asked that we wear masks while not drinking, but obviously, people were drunk and dancing. It was such a blast to act like things were normal for a night!
Then, the next day, I drove out to Downieville to meet up with Ana, who I met during pre-gaming at Lauren’s house. She was working at a local coffee shop, and I invited her to go for a hike with me after work. She was totally down, so we hiked up to Sardine Lakes to admire the Sierra Buttes.
After our hike, we had beer and (veggie) burgers at Two Rivers back in Downieville, where we got to watch the trick-or-treaters filter in and out.
And, that was about it! I had one more week of work, which I spent touring the Truckee Ranger District a bit and doing some ordinary office work, and then on Friday morning I checked out of my hotel and started my drive back to Flagstaff! One of Ryan’s friends from his crew had a wedding this past weekend here in Arizona, so I had to be back anyway.
I’ll be working remotely until my cabin opens up back in California, and then I can finish out the rest of my four-month assignment in-person!
I already can’t wait to be back.
