Note: Dana Kavanagh is spending her summer as a Visitor Education Specialist for the Gifford Pinchot National Forest Mt. Adams Ranger District

 

There is nothing like living a life on the edge; the edge where cows graze, the edge where the trees stand tall, and where the community is really a tight knit village.  Trout Lake is where I was raised, it is a place where the forest, the farm, and society all intertwine. Physically the town sits on the East end of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and at the southern base of Mt. Adams. Having been raised in this environment, naturally, I fell in love with the beauty that surrounded me and created my home.

When I am not out exploring the woods, I am attending Central Washington University. I am double majoring in Anthropology and Psychology. After my three-week field camp I could not wait to come home and for the summer to begin.  To get the most of my allotted time in my beloved town, I wanted to work where I could be apart of the interlacing with in Trout Lake. I was lucky enough to be hired by The Mt. Adams Institute and further lucky to be placed working at the Mt. Adams Ranger Station.  At the station I get to do a variety of things. However, my favorite is helping people find places in the forest to visit and scenes to admire.