The Best Summer Ever

Can't believe my time volunteering has come to an end. I volunteered 680 hours, hiked 400 miles, and left with some pretty amazing friends. This last week couldn't have had better timing either! Thanks to tropical storm Guillermo, everyone had to evacuate from the field, and all 11 of us got to be at the house for three days. I can't remember the last time all of us were home at the same time, since our schedules are always staggered and people come in and out of the field so often. Our first night we had a huge "end of the world" party, and had some of our friends from the bird project over, there was lots of dancing and it was definitely one of my favorite nights here this summer.

Me and Mackenzie!! 

The day after that we stayed in and probably watched at least 7 movies. And our last day we had a huge roofball tournament. Roofball is a game Jeddy and I created, it's kinda like volleyball, but anyways we had 5 teams and we had music going, and it sorta ended up being a dance party at the end. Here's the video:

Jeddy and me, roofball co-founders

Then that night we hiked to the lava tube in the park, and hung out in the cave for a while, it was super cool when we turned off our headlamps and just listened to how quiet it was! On our way back we were cutting through a parking lot, and the stars were just incredible!! So we laid down in the road and just watched the stars for an hour or so…We all had a 6:30am office time the next day, but all our adventures we've done are so worth being tired the next day. 

My last trip in the field was in backcountry with Jessie and Jeddy. The hike in is just over 8 miles and a 3000 ft elevation drop, but it was beautiful! We had a turtle come up and run into some guys tent, so that was exciting, and we also met some locals who were camping there, and they were doing a lot of fishing, and one night they came over and said they caught way too many and if we'd help eat with them, so OF COURSE we said yes. In the field we live off of ramen and cliff bars, so eating fresh fish was incredible. 

It poured on our hike in!

Halape is so beautiful!

Jeddy, me, Jessie

One of our day hikes to check a nearby beach

We met up with another group from the field and had a beach day!

Our favorite tree to take pictures

The hike out was the hardest hike I've done all season. I've improved so much with hiking, but hardest hike was for sure this last one. 8 miles, going up 3000 feet in elevation on 4 hours of sleep, but the views on the way back were unreal. And the best part was seeing my family at the end of the trailhead and seeing them for the first time in 3 months. 

Mom was a little excited…haha

So far, this season has been extremely successful for turtles! We've tagged 10 new mama turtles, and our nests that have hatched have been pretty successful. The Hawaii Island Hawksbill Turtle Recovery Project started in 1989, and turtles take about 20 years to reach sexual maturity and start nesting. So these are some of the first years where we can really evaluate how the project is doing, and based on our data it's definitely making a difference. It's estimated that only 1 out of 5,000 hatchlings make it to adulthood, so anything we can do to help will increase those odds. I've been so fortunate to have this opportunity to help save such an incredible species. I've been able to tag turtles, evaluate abnormalities, do nest translocations and excavations, and assist hatchlings to the ocean. I couldn't have asked for a better summer job. 

680 hours done!

I'm gonna miss all the other turtlers so much, saying goodbye to everyone yesterday was awful. Being in the field was incredible and the beaches are amazing, but I've had some of the best times of my life at 203. Whether were eating ice-cream and watching movies or playing rootball and having a dance party, something fun was always happening at that house. 

Best. Summer. Ever. Can't wait to see what's next!