Stories from someone just fumbling through
I realize that many of you may not know what exactly I'm doing in Yellowstone besides just generically "working" here. That could mean anything. I should be more specific. Back in 2006 (probably before that), the National Park Service's Greater Yellowstone Network Inventory and Monitoring (GRYN) Program selected amphibian occurrence to be a vital sign… Continue reading What in the heck am I doing here?
Today I bid my beloved Yellowstone adieu and drive 7.5 hours (it’s actually 10 for me since I drive slower than molasses in January) to see my friend in Fort Collins, Colorado for a few days. After that, we drive back east together. Leaving here makes me feel ill. I don’t want to go. I’m… Continue reading Yellowstone: July 19th, 2013
Riddle Lake, my old friend, opened for the season today but only for about two hours. Normally there are nesting swans in Grebe Lake which has led to previous teams not being able to survey the lake and its surrounding wetlands but it appears that the swans moved to Riddle Lake this year. I guess… Continue reading Yellowstone: July 17th, 2013
Oh Craig Pass…why? WHY!? Once again, we had another doozie of a catchment. Previous teams had set up seven navigation points to get us, the easiest way possible, to the wetlands. Well, Andrew and I both want to tell those people off. The navigation points led us through the worst forest known to man. Painful… Continue reading Yellowstone: July 11th, 2013
This is the day (sniffle, sniffle) that the Wisconsinites leave for Glacier National Park. I will miss them terribly. Even their constant door-slamming that would rob me of much-needed sleep will be missed. If I had to choose between never sleeping again or keeping them forever, I would choose them. Those three people have very… Continue reading Yellowstone: July 10th, 2013
Day two of the Shoshone catchment. This is the day we surveyed the rest of the sites in this wetland complex. Site 13 was way too remote from the rest of the wetlands to survey all in one fell swoop so it was broken up into two days and two vastly different experiences. It’s been… Continue reading Yellowstone: July 9th, 2013
I woke up and got right down to the business of catching up on my journal entries from the past week. I was so engrossed in writing that Andrew busted in and lit a fire under my ass. It was noon and I hadn’t even gotten out of bed and here he was, having just… Continue reading Yellowstone: July 8th, 2013
Oh Mary Bay…what can I say. This was the only wetland so far to have completely turned my stomach. Mary Bay is a large pond/lake that is just filled to the brim with waterfowl turds. Each year it gets a little smaller and I know why: it’s being filled in with poo. We could… Continue reading Yellowstone: July 4th, 2013
Ahh, the beautiful Dunraven catchment. This was supposed to be a two-day affair but Andrew and I blew it up (in a good way). I think the Iron Maiden car-ride/jam session helped lay the right foundation for the day. The walk in was about an hour through dense old-growth forest with areas of downed mature… Continue reading Yellowstone: July 3rd, 2013
Crawfish Creek (I like to call it Mississippi Mud Bug Creek) was another brutal experience. The four mile/ two-hour hike to our wetlands was a nightmare filled with boggy surprises, seeps that will swallow your limbs, thermal areas, stream crossings, hoards of hungry biting flies, blood thirsty mosquitoes, steep mountains, intense heat, huge swaths of… Continue reading Yellowstone: July 2nd, 2013
The Unmaker 