Graduation and Beyond

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I am now officially a graduate of Colorado State University and it feels great! My next four months will be spent in the wilderness working for the California Department of Fish and Game in a research survey and restoration project for the Mountain Yellow Legged Frog population of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Directly after my graduation I participated in an 80 hour Wilderness First Responder Course, which is the step below EMT and specifically pertains to the wilderness. It was a ten day course with only one day off on the weekend and that one day off Matt, Brandon and I skied the 14,000 ft. Grays Peak. It was our first ski descent of a 14er and it was sweet.

After the two week course my cousin Brandon and I began a journey in my 1996 Toyota Corrola; we began in Denver on Friday morning and spent the first night in Zion, the next day was too hot and crowded in the National Park, so we headed towards the nearest body of water; Lake Mead. We swam and camped at Lake Mead and the next day we took a helicopter ride over the Hoover Dam and then headed for Las Vegas. There I lost $5 at the slots and called it good. We then drove through the desert to Bishop, California where my sister Sarah and her husband Jeff were waiting with food and tecate. The next day we climed No Good Peak, a 12,000 ft. peak south of Bishop. Then that next morning I began training as a field crew member for the Department of Fish and Game and after three days of classroom training we went on an overnight training to the 4th of July Frog Pond and Matlock, Slim and Bench Lake.

Whewww...

I am now getting ready for my first eight-day tour into the Emigrant National Forest; north of Yosemite. I am part of the only team of three and we leave on Wednesday morning. I'm planning all my meals and getting ready for a great eight days looking for creatures in the beautiful Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.

My work schedule is eight days on and six days off. So...anyone that wants to do some backpacking give me a call...Yosemite is close.

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Photos

YAAAAAA
Graduation is a great thing!

The Family
Stephanie - Mom - Dad - Me - Ginny - Matt - Maud

Grays Peak
Matt Schaefer and Brandon Friese Snowboarding the NorthEast face of the 14,270 ft. Grays Peak, near Loveland Pass Colorado on May 20, 2007.

California or Bust
El Jinete Rides Again!!

Helicopter Ride
$30 ride for about 2 minutes and it was worth every penny. He gave us the "Adrenaline Junky Tour"

Bishop Pass
Eight Miles and 6,000+ ft. of Elevation to Bishop Pass. We went to the peak above the upper right corner of the sign.

Bishop Pass
No Good is just to the left of the largest peak in the center which is Good Peak

Mountain Yellow Legged Frog
With our work the Sierra Nevadas will be repopulated with these little guys

Albino Tadpole
During my first VES survey of the '4th of July Frog Pond' our group found an albino tadpole...very rare.

Ancient Bristlecone
I camped at the Brislecone National Park on Monday night with a co-worker Eric. The trees were so amazing, I loved how they were twisted and mangled from years of Sierra weather. Only the trees that are in the harshest climate(side of the mountain) are strong enough to survive insects and disease so they are the oldest trees in the grove.

Comments

[Dana]

yay, phil!
Heya I hope you love your travels and summer work! You will look like a little blond haired surfer by the end of the summer, aye? I am working in the Adirondacks giving tours in the woods. Good luck and keep in touch! Give a frog a kiss for me! haha

[Theresa]

Fun Counting Frogs
I'm glad you made it out okay. You're right the trees are amazing. Now we know what the Mountain Yellow Legged Frog looks like. That's cool that you found an albino tadpole. The helicopter ride sounds like fun.