Nutrient Enhancement

Because salmon cannot pass several dams on the Cowlitz River, the hatchery trucks salmon carcasses upriver and place them in tributaries of the Cowlitz. I had the rare opportunity last week to go along.I like this picture because you can see the stream of slime flying through the air after the fish.

Brian and I emptied 5 totes full of coho. In this photo Brian shows off his supreme balance. =P









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Under Water

Photos from the news of Chehalis.








Exit 79. The overpass running horizontally across the picture is Chamber of Commerce Way. The freeway beneath is completely submerged.

Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery

I've been working at the hatchery for a month now and am really enjoying it. Lots of things to keep me busy.

Here are a couple of the guys feeding the young spring chinook.















This is the denitrification tower and the separator where salmon are sorted into ponds.




















Crowding adults into the center channel for spawning. Note, this was taken with my phone so it's not very clear. =P


Here Cody is rounding up any remaining fish while Kristin waits to drop the end-wall.















Looking down into the spawning room. Dan and Dan sort male and female coho for spawning. Again, taken with the phone.





Kristen, Holly, and Jason pick dead eggs from trays. Each tray contains the eggs from one hen.



















Here, Jason dumps his tray into the collection basket. After being picked, eggs are distributed 7000 eggs to a tray.

New Gig

November first I will start my new job at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery near Salkum, WA. This photo is looking downstream just below the barrier dam where the fish ladder starts. Obviously a popular fishing spot....

Wiener Races!

On October 13th Chris and I went to the first annual Pioneer West Wiener Races. This was put on at a local garden store. They made a race way in their nursery. There were 60 some dogs entered in the races and lots of spectators. Videos coming soon....













Watching the races!







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Update

During my last week of employment, I went on the road with Chris and took my data entry with me. We spent 3 days in Mount Vernon, WA and then 2 days in Randle (I stayed at our empty house in Chehalis). The following week was spent packing and then it was moving day over Labor Day weekend.




Chris' friend Dan helped us load up.






My parents drove extra vehicles



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And here's the near-finished product:


Livingroom taken from dining room.














Dining room taken from livingroom.







You can see the upstairs loft railing but I haven't taken pictures of the upstairs. My camera lens is too big to get anything in the frame. haha




The kitchen, which is like 5 times bigger than in Tillamook...












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So Long Beaver State, Hello Evergreen State

It's finally official, Chris and I are moving to Chehalis, Washington on Labor Day weekend. Chris' job has assigned him to Morton, Washington which is about an hour away from Chehalis. We are renting a townhouse that is huge and we are very excited. Chehalis will be a nice central place for me as well - I could work at Rainier, St. Helens, Olympia, or even in the Olympic Peninsula.

Woot!

Beaver State

While getting lost trying to find a day hike location, I came across a little lake and there was a beaver swimming around!







Here is a video of it.



Lovely clearcut adjacent to the beaver pond.













Nearing sunset.






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Sweet Find

At the edge of a marsh lay this bobcat skull. No trace of any other bones though. I'm going to clean it up and put on a book shelf. =P