Stories from someone just fumbling through
Gull Point is a new wetland complex this year because some of the old complexes are now closed due to nesting swans. My partner and I helped out the other crew on this one and it turned out to be a lot of fun. The day started out with us being dorm-bound due to rain… Continue reading Yellowstone: Gull Point & Utah Dorm Life
Fern Cascade is a notorious nightmare from hell so I was absolutely dreading it and so was my field partner. My 2006 field experience is one I remember like it was yesterday and if I could have those memories erased I sure the heck would. It requires two days of intense off-trail hiking through non-stop… Continue reading Yellowstone: Fern Cascade
Surveying the periphery of Blacktail Pond (aka. Shaky Lakes) is like surveying the moon. It feels very much like you're bopping around on unknown, untested terrain. It takes hours of navigating through quicksand shorelines, animal bones (some sun-bleached and some too fresh for comfort), a bounty of sunning snakes, aggressive nesting birds, thousands of trout fry and… Continue reading Yellowstone: Blacktail Pond
Week two consisted of surveying Blacktail Plateau, Fern Cascade and Gull Point. There were spotted frogs, chorus frogs and lots of salamanders seen and enjoyed. Severe storms just missed us on several occasions until our luck ran out yesterday when we had to postpone our surveys due to rain. I think that worked out for… Continue reading Yellowstone: Blacktail Plateau
Hold on to your hats, kiddos! This is a long one! I was always really interested in risk assessment in grad school. I even wrote a paper on it soon after Hurricane Katrina because I was interested in why-- in the face of massive destruction, environmental pollution, lack of infrastructure, and an increase in violent… Continue reading Yellowstone: Risk Assessment
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
Deb, Andrew and I got an early start since we had no idea what this catchment had in store for us. All we knew of Gibbon Meadows is that Andy and his crew had to stop surveying when they hit a large, confusing wet meadow filled with beaver dams. Needless to say, we were concerned--me… Continue reading Yellowstone: July 18th, 2013
The hike into the Grebe Lake took one blazing hot hour. My stomach was already killing me from last nights pizza, not to mention the lack of sleep so I wasn’t as enthusiastic as I should have been. Don’t worry, I gave myself hell for my bad attitude the entire walk in. I haven’t forgotten… Continue reading Yellowstone: July 15th, 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
The Unmaker 