Day Fourteen-Final Day

July 22, 2017- Final Day

I did not want to get up this morning. It was cold and I was tired. But in order to get home sooner, I jumped up and got ready.

Once we were ready, we checked our mouse traps this morning…Diana and I caught a mouse!! How exciting. Pedro said ours looked a little different than the first groups mouse, so they must be a different type of species of one another.

We then packed our personal belongings into the van, turned in what was issued to us at the beginning of the trip and cleaned up camp. I think we got going a bit late because we left camp at 10:45 a.m. for the Coeur D’Alene Wellness Center to publish our final blogs. It took a while to load the pictures because everyone else is using the internet as well.

After this, onto Palouse Falls and then homebound!!!

It was an awesome experience and I’m very happy it was a choice I decided to take. I learned a lot that I am sure will benefit me in my future endeavors. I met wonderful people and made new friends. 

I'm thankful to Diana for allowing me to be her roommate through this adventure, and our friendship has grown to a deeper level now that we had the opportunity to see each other at our worst as well as our best.

Day Thirteen-Kamiak Park and Julyamsh Powwow

July 21, 2017

OMG!!! I had a rude awakening at 3 a.m. this morning. All I heard was a loud thud of, what I assumed were rolling rocks and Robyn screaming. Once I realized it sounded like rocks rolling down the hill, I screamed and took cover inside my sleeping bag. I was not able to go back to sleep until 4 a.m. I was terrified and scared I was going to get smashed by rolling rocks and debris. The noise turned out to be a deer running straight down the hill above our tents. I could hear the deer breathing loud and running around the lake. My imagination began to take over and I was thinking the deer had to be running from something, but what? My first thought was a wolf or a bear, then I thought of bigfoot, too scary. Then about 15 minutes later a coyote or a wolf howled, I was thinking a wolf, because the howl was long and loud, unlike a coyote. At least that is what I think.  I was even more scared after the way my imagination began to run, I stayed awake until about 4 a.m. Diana and I were supposed to get up and hike up the same hill the deer came down, but I was thinking of telling Diana I was not going hiking up that hill. Thankfully she didn’t get up and we did not hike up the hill. When it was time to get up, Jessica had informed us the tent had a hole in it.

Our first activity for the day was to check on our traps. Not one group caught a mouse. Pedro said we will leave them until tomorrow and check back in the morning. I was wondering if the peanut butter from the mouse traps lured the deer closer to our campsite. We will never know.

After breakfast, we went to Kamiak Park, where we met Landon Charlo, a Washington State University student working to obtain his master’s degree in Forest Ecology. His research is on the Pileated Woodpecker, through Snohomish County. They need to study this species for 100 years. He said he is completing the first step, which is the environmental impact of the Pileated Woodpecker. For his part in the research he is using the indirect method which is non-tagging and hidden cameras to snap pictures. It is for this reason, he has not seen the Pileated Woodpecker up close and personal. He said the second step in the research will utilize the direct method which is the tagging of the birds. He said he will not take part in the next step of the research because he will be working to obtain his PHD.

After introductions, he discussed the factor influence of site one, such as the elevation, the slope, the position of the slope, partially protected/fully exposed, high organic matters/low organic matters, weather conditions, average overstory canopy cover, and PAR (photosynthetically active radiation).

Once finished discussing site one, we hiked two miles up the hill to site two. I barely made the climb. I am so out of shape. I carried my camera and took pictures on the way up and on the way down.

I was excited to get to the Wellness Center because we were getting cleaned up to head to the Julyamsh powwow. This was my first time being at this powwow, as I do not travel to powwows. I bought a pair of earrings and a couple of things for my kids. We got to watch the grand entry, it was a beautiful sight to see all those dancers in their regalia. I only wished we could have stayed longer to watch a part of the competition and take part in the inter-tribal dance. I was happy for those in the group that had never been to a powwow, they had the opportunity to eat an Indian Taco, watch the grand entry, and shop at the stands. All in all it was a good day, other than almost getting trampled by a deer while I was sleeping.

Day Twelve-Coeur D'Alene Casino and Mouse Trapping

July 20, 2017-Day twelve

We went to the Coeur D’Alene Wellness Center to shower up this morning. What a beautiful facility. While I waited for the showers, Diana, Jaynelle, and I sat in the sauna. We both explained to Diana the similarities between the sauna and a sweat. I like that Diana is interested in learning about our culture. When I got all finished, I treated myself to a coffee. It was good. I was read some bible verses from Alexis. I’m thankful she did that, I felt it was God telling me something I needed to hear. Thank you, God, thank you Alexis. Jessica said we were coming back to the wellness tonight to blog. I asked her if we were going to get an opportunity to work out, and she said only if our blogs are caught up. Here I am multi-tasking eating my lunch and keeping on top of my daily blog so I can work out tonight. When you have goals, you need to have a plan, take proactive action and execute.

We went for a ride to the Coeur D’Alene Casino where we met and listened to Quanah Matheson and his father Dave Matheson. Quanah spoke about how in science relative is a term that is used often, but also in our culture it is used to say we are all relative to one another, plants, animals, earth, water, and we need to show respect to the animals, for they sacrifice themselves so we can live. He asked us if we knew what the bottom line is, what is it? The bottom line 400 years ago was balance, today the bottom line is money. With money as the bottom line today, do we have balance? No, we don’t. But in our own little way, we should try to take care of Mother Earth. She is called our Mother because she takes care of us, like a Mother.

Dave Matheson said Native people are stewards of the earth. We need to take care and protect what is provided by the earth. What are problems to the environment? Apathy, greed, and self-indulgence. How do we fix this problem? That is an answer all people must think about and come together to discuss and enact solutions. He said his part in taking care of the environment is eating all natural foods such as, deer, elk, wild game, roots, berries, and water. No added preservatives, antibiotics, steroids, cross cultured foods, or gmo foods. He also spoke about how the earth is crying, by the fires that are rampant, flooding, earthquakes, and ice caps melting. We need to be the people to help change the environment for the better for our future generations, to not be selfish, but to look past what is in front of us and see for the future.

I am officially burnt out. In my hurry to get going, all I brought were my hiking boots and I forgot my tennis shoes. So, I am unable to work out today. L

We got back to camp and Pedro gathered us all together and we began to make traps to catch mice. The materials he gave us were a five-gallon bucket, 16-gauge wire, pvc pipe, and peanut butter. We assembled the materials make a make shift bridge with the wire and the pvc pipe with a bit of peanut butter in the middle.  Diana and I gathered sticks, weaved them together with pine branches to make a way for the mice to climb onto the bucket in hopes they would fall in. Once everyone had their buckets assembled to their liking, Pedro took us up the hill to set them up. Because there were six groups, there were two teams a piece for the lower elevation, middle elevation, and a top elevation. Diana and I picked the middle elevation, since we missed out on the lower elevation. We had to level out the ground to set the bucket down, set up our sticks for the mice to climb on, and covered the outer part of the bucket to camouflage it from passerby’s.