18 Aug Collapsed Road, Thunderstorms, Fires, Oh My!

My past few weeks at the Park have been filled with many obstacles but nonetheless enjoyable! 

About two weeks ago the road to my housing collapsed and was very unstable. As a result there was not a safe route to my house so I had to quickly pack up my stuff and find refuge in my home in Southern California. It worked out because with the LHIP workshop coming up I needed stable internet connection which I did not have in my park housing. This was the first time I drove for more than two hours, as my home is approximately a 6.5 hour drive. I filled my time listening to a multitude of podcasts and countless playlists, even so the drive seemed never-ending. I was not looking forward to my drive back. I am not a big fan of driving to begin with but I survived! By the time I returned, the road had been stabilized and it was safe to drive on it once again. 

I have spent these last few weeks roving and staffing some closures. I finally completed the Tomales Point Trail which is a gorgeous 9 mile trail where you can see a number of Elk roaming the hills. Elk are majestic creatures, but their screams send goosebumps down my spine. Their shrieks are ear piercing and do not sound like they came out of an Elk definitely a sound everyone needs to experience at least once. If you were camping and you heard their shriek I am sure you would think someone was in danger. 

This week was filled with thunderstorms, rainstorms and fires! I was woken up at 4AM to my whole house shaking, doors slamming, and windows trembling, on the brink of breaking. In a groggy haze I woke up and closed all the doors and windows, making sure it was not a ghost playing games with my head. I heard the roaring thunder and flashing strikes outside my window and was comforted that a noisy ghost had not inhabited my home. I was somewhat surprised by the storm as just the evening before it was sunny and clear skies, but the heat should have been warning. By the morning, our porch chairs were scattered across the yard, a very large tree limb on the side of my house was hanging on by a thread and the roads were filled with fallen trees and debri. I knew the day was going to be interesting. I was not wrong, I spent my morning outside the red barn catching up on emails when a hefty grey cloud floated slowly over my car. I knew trouble was about to begin. It quickly began to rain, sharp loud raindrops hit the roof of my car intensely. Thunder surrounded the Visitors Center and everyone was called to shelter. Everyone in field was to come back to base and wait out the storm. I was alone so it was slightly terrifying but I did not panic and found a safe place to reside until conditions bettered. All power went out, so once again I was wifi-less and without access to electricity. So I spent my day reading… until I heard on the radio that there was a fire near my home. I quickly headed home to get a go-bag together incase I needed to evacuate. Luckily, I have not had to evacuate YET but fingers crossed I do not have to as I have some ice cream cones that I would rather not go to waste. 

In conclusion, in these past two weeks I have experienced my fair share of stressful events but yet I persevere. I still love my park and I understand that these are the things you deal with when living in nature. I would still do this all over again (except for waking up at 4AM confused). 

That is all for now, 

Ruby