Day 7 : A fun day with the forest rangers

July 13th /day 7 

Our day started out great we had a bacon, eggs, and potatoes for breakfast, after breakfast we went down to a creak and met a man named Tom Walker who was a fisheries biologist. When we got there some of us got a chance to water some small trees that he had planted. I was one of the lucky few who got a chance to do this. After that he really put everyone to work, he took us to goose creek which was a site that they had been trying to rebuild. Tom had us all pick out a tool and then walked all of down to the creek. We had to first break down the stone like soil, then spread pine over the soil, and finally, plant some grass on the pines and water the soil. 

This was a struggle for most, I can usually do ok when it comes to working outside...but it was hot.  After we finished up we all felt tired but happy because we had done something that was going to be good for the stream. After this, we stopped at a small park to break for lunch and then quickly headed back out. 

Our next stop was at lava butte where we met Jim Elliot, and Tony Salvine who were both rangers they showed us around the lookout and even offered us a bus ride to the fire lookout we actually got a chance to go up on top and meet the fire watcher Joey Hudson, he explained how he watches fire and what he has to do in case a fire breaks out. It was cool to see how they deal with fires once they spot one.  

After the lookout, we were actually told that we were going to be served dinner from f the forest rangers which was super kind of them before we ate we all went for a quick walk through the park. 

A bunch of happy campers 


The rapids from the river












I named him Steve. 
They provided us with plenty of hotdogs and we did not hold back. I myself had four. After dinner we were taken to the lava caves and were given a private tour which was pretty cool It gave me a chance to get to know the white swan students better. the tour was pretty funny because Priscilla was just scared for most of the tour, to make things worse Amila kept tripping over rocks. Thankfully everyone made it out of the caves safely. I really enjoyed the tour because it was nice and cool down in the caves. 
  When we got to camp we had to work on our blogs, but instead of writing our blogs, I and Maria started talking to a camper. It looked like they were going through a lot so we stopped what we were doing to try and give some kind words of encouragement. By the end of the night, we had become friends and we could see that we had cheered the camper up. It felt nice being able to offer advice to someone who really needs it. 

Maria had the brilliant idea of going down to the creek to go and wash up a bit, and because I felt so musty, I went along…. we immediately regretted our decision it was freezing. On the bright side, I felt much cleaner. hopefully, we don't die of hypothermia. 
  

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