Not that I'm counting the days...

...but only around one and half months till I head to Peru! Woo hoo!

Since returning from Yellowstone, the order of the day was to get the last transects done. And in spite of a minor hiccup (well, major in some sense), they are all done now.

There were about 8 transects left to get done in just over a weeks time, with some help from my boss who was going to do a few. So I figured, no problem!

I had done an excellent job this year (notice the past tense...) of not getting stuck in snow or mud, in spite of all the rain. There were some dicey days in Thunder Basin National Grassland when it rained, once for about a day straight. But when the rain stopped, the roads became pretty easy to drive on. After that, I had a few transects in the Laramie Peak region, but it stayed nice and dry the whole time. Though I had to get pretty wet for one transect, fording a stream/river 8 times on my way in and out and during the transect. Actually, for the most part, the rain has been sporadic, and only once did it rain during a transect that I had to call it quits on it - and it was because the bird activity dropped right before the rain began, not because it was actually raining.

Well, with only a few transects left, and oodles of afternoon time, I took the scenic route to one of my transects. And (finally?) got stuck. In dirt though, not mud, which actually made it harder (the rear wheel struts got buried into dirt and sod about a foot deep). So, I hit the "HELP" button, help arrived, and we eventually got the truck out. I did my transect the next day, and then decided my body needed a few days to recover, so I headed back to Laramie.

I consider that a minor hiccup, but it took a lot more work than we thought to get the truck out. But, thankfully, the rest of the transects went smoothly, and I was even able to enjoy some nice scenery to help break up the monotony and the drives. And some fun wildlife too.

In the Snowy Range west of Laramie, I was keeping my eye out for moose, because I had seen one on one of my drives out from a transect (but was unable to get a photo). And lo and behold, in the same willow patch, she was there again!
That was the day I got stuck. Due to the amount of snow they got this winter, along with the late season snowstorm in June along with frequent rain, I had a transect to do that had a "minor" road closure issue. One reason I got stuck was that I was exploring different ways to access the transect. The following is a fantastic illustration of a "dip in the road":
The open stretch is about 100 feet wide. The part of the road that was near my transect was almost to this point. I could see cracks in the road near my transect, and also sections along the downhill side had collapsed. Needless to say, I trod very carefully. And possibly due to my lack of sleep the night before, or just getting used to seeing them, I saw a black bear while at my first point about 40 meters away, and I don't think my heart rate went up very much. I seem to be having this knack for seeing those animals (and FYI: when I am working or alone, my first thought is always SAFETY, not photos of the bear).

So, after I finished that transect, it was back to Laramie to rest and recover, and wouldn't you know it, my housemate was actually not in the field! I actually had company for the weekend! So we made the most of it. Rodeo, street dancing, and beer tasting, all in downtown Laramie. It was a fun way to recover from what is now known as "Michael's Fiasco."

I began the training for the next part of my job out here on Monday (I will be doing habitat measurement for Lynx), then I was able to leave on Tuesday afternoon to wrap the bird transects up. Awesome scenery, and thankfully not a huge distance of driving, though one transect took about an hour to get to, though it was only about 6 miles in on a dirt road (the road was in pretty poor shape).

From Centennial Ridge, a view of the Snowy Range:
So from there, I had a longish drive to my next transect, BUT, I had already scouted the transect about 3 weeks earlier, to check on the river height (I had to ford a river to get to it). So I could take my time, and I did. The photo at the beginning of this post is Lake Marie, with Medicine Bow Peak as a backdrop. Just below this lake was the following cascade, Lake Marie Falls:
Incidentally, I could tell there would be nice fishing there. I could see the trout in the stream and the lake! I had a nice time up there, and it was a good place for a picnic lunch since it was cool (about 50 degrees F), a little breezy to keep the mosquitoes away, and just plain pretty. Then I headed to my next transect, and for the first time in a while, I wasn't driven batty by mosquitoes. And I got to enjoy a sunset over my transect. And relish the aspen groves, the first and only transect I have done that was dominated by them at nearly every point.
This transect also gave me a fantastic view, and photo opportunity, of a female Dusky Grouse at a point. Probably because she had a few chicks in the area, that I also spooked up.
And I of course took pictures of the wildflowers, many of which are coming into full flower now. Since I have to identify shrubs and trees on my transects, I have been provided with a plant book for the summer for identification aid (funny, though, that the oak you see in the above photo didn't make it in). So I have been able to take my time to identify the flowers in my spare time. The following are Mule's Ears (Wyethia amplexicaulis); Colorado Columbine (Aquilegia coerulea); and Monument Plant or Green Gentian (Frasera speciosa):
And so, day to day, the transects were getting done. Unlike the crew here last year, I have lucked out INCREDIBLY in being able to get nearly all the points done on every transect. The weather has been much more cooperative. And so, on Saturday morning around 10 am, I was all done:
Some summaries. The life birds during my bird work, in order [W means world life bird, so new for me completely; US means new for the United States, but I had seen it before elsewhere, like Mexico]: Harris' Sparrow (W); Clay-colored Sparrow (W); White-winged Junco (species not new, but the subspecies is) (W); Red-necked Phalarope (W); Long-billed Curlew (US); Mountain Plover (US); American Three-toed Woodpecker (W); and Red-naped Sapsucker (US). Two additional new birds were in Yellowstone, Barrow's Goldeneye (W) and Trumpeter Swan (W).

I also saw a few new mammals, including Moose, Badger, and Mountain Lion (I still can't believe that one!).

So, that's my report for now. I am modifying this blog site, so that you can subscribe to it, as well as getting some web links on it. More specifically, the links to my flickr photo pages (that have many more photos of these trips) and some of the other places I have worked, or will be working (such as Bosque del Rio Tigre Lodge in Costa Rica, which has a great on-line newsletter).

There is no superlative that will work

"Awesomely Awesome" is the closest I can come to describing my holiday weekend (America's 4th of July/Independence Day weekend, to my foreign friends)
Four day car rental: 110 dollars.
Gasoline: 50 dollars.
Backpack, sleeping bag, tent, and other camping gear: 1.000 dollars
Stove, stove fuel, camp pot, and food: 100 dollars
Cameras and GPS unit: 1.000 dollars.

Walking 22 miles of wilderness in Yellowstone National Park on a holiday weekend and seeing nobody. At all.

PRICELESS.

It was a legen...



...wait for it...


...keep waiting...


...here it comes...


...almost there...


...DARY hike. Legendary. I believe I was saying the word "epic" a lot (and using it to label things on my GPS as well) the third day. Just fantastic views and solitude. That third day (July 4th) had some of the best hiking I've EVER had, for views and everything. A day to day summary.

Day 1. July 2, 2010. "Getting In"

I only hiked around 2 miles that day. But this was preceded by about 8 hours of driving. One doesn't realize how big the west is, or how LARGE Yellowstone National Park is, until one needs to get to the West Yellowstone area, from Laramie (and I did some driving the day before, on the 1st of July). I had a guidebook that I chose my hike from. I needed a 3-4 night hike, preferably with mountains and nice things to see. My first option was a little used area in the northwest corner of the park (in Montana). My second choice was near the South Entrance along the Snake River. I chose the northwest hike because the Snake River loop would involved multiple river fords, and the river was running still kind of high. And fording a river (not a creek or stream a full blown river) alone was not high on my list of risky moves I wanted to take. Plus, it didn't sound quite as scenic, or as isolated (i.e. fewer people). Anyway, I digress. After filling out my backcountry permits, watching the backcountry safety video, and getting to the trailhead, I headed in. I think it was about 3pm.

Just the walk in was pleasant, and I was able to see some new things almost right away. It was nice to have a short walk to my first camp, and be able to relax and admire the scenery. And watch for wildlife. I had plenty of bird life to keep me amused as well. Not much else to say about that day.

Day 2. July 3, 2010 "Decision made, & bird number 1.230 [world]/431[North America]"

Wilderness hikes, no matter where I have taken them, have always offered me the opportunity to clear my mind, sort through things in my head that need sorting, and just contemplate everything and nothing (I stare off into space a lot when I am resting on a backpack trip). This trip also purposefully had very modest mileage goals: 2 miles, 5 miles, 5 miles, and then 10 miles (on the way out). Short mileage meant lots of free time in camp to admire and contemplate.

The walk this second day was lots of fun. Overall the hike had very moderate hills. Or maybe it seemed that way after the transects I had been doing for work! I really was able to enjoy the hiking, enough so that I often forgot I had a 40 pound pack on. I pause often for photo opportunities, of nature and me in nature. First, Yellow Columbine, and then me before I cross a stream.
From the stream crossing, I hiked the switchbacks up the hill, and the trail eventually flattened out to come to my camp, next to the lake you saw in the early photos. Awesome reflections.

After I was there for a little while, I realized there were some ducks on the water! They had been hanging out on the rocky shore on the other side, and had also been hiding among the logs and trees surrounding the lake. The bird nut that I am, I of course had my binoculars (thank god I invested in the lightweight pair!). So I watched for a while. And it dawned on me: this might be the species of Goldeneye I haven't seen yet! There are two species of Goldeneye in North America: common and barrow's. I didn't have my field guide with me (I rely on sketches and notes, to look up when I get out); but when I got back to my car on the 5th, I discovered it was Barrow's Goldeneye I was watching. And I was pretty sure this was new (I had to get back to Laramie to know for sure). So yup, without even thinking I would see a new duck on the trip, I did. I had been hoping for new bird, namely a ptarmigan or a rosy-finch, but I never got up to the right altitude for them. I'll take the duck, though! An added bonus.

The nice thing with such leisurely hiking is that I don't have to leave camp early (I think I left camp 1 around 9am), and I get to my next camp at lunch time. So I had my lunch. Packed my stuff in my pack and hung it (bear safety), and just relaxed. And thought.

I had a minor personal dilemma I had been mulling over for a while. [no, it's none of your business]. The quiet and solitude are what I needed to reach the decision. And now I can move on. And I felt (and feel) better for it.

And then I wandered around. Took pictures (still working on the photo stitching for the lake reflections). Admired the ducks. Set up camp. Collected firewood. I don't normally build a fire...but it was going to be a cool night, and a campfire is nice to be next to when writing in my personal journal and watching the light fade over the lake.

Which is one thing I had to get used to. I was farther north, much so, than where I work. So I still had quite a bit of light at around 10pm, and the sun was shining quite well at 5am as well. Times like that made me think I could be hiking 15-20 miles a day if I so chose. But I learned a few years ago to choose not to.

Day 3. 4 July 2010. "EPIC" "AWESOMELY AWESOME"

I foresaw that this day would be offering me some nice views, and some snow (on the trail), but nothing prepared me for what I saw. Also for the first time, I successfully did some route finding. Thanks again for the GPS Mom and Dad! It helped a lot!

So, from Crescent Lake (where my camp was), the trail meandered through some forest and slowly up some hills. It crossed a few meadows here and there. I always remember when I came upon them, to talk aloud to myself and clap my hands here and there. For the uninitiated: bear attacks occur generally when you surprise a bear. So the rule is, don't be quiet. But don't be loud and obnoxious either, or the bear may attack out of spite. Or another hiker will. Little joke. Ha ha. To continue:
I really enjoy this kind of hiking! From this point on the trail, I knew that the trail "disappeared". Not completely, but it climbed a bit from this point, and was going over terrain that still had snow in patches, as well as mostly rocky soil. So lack of trees meant there wasn't much to put trail markers on. So, off trail navigation, there I went! And as I hiked higher and higher, I got more and more distracted. I knew from my map that I had to hike to the highest point on the ridge, then turn southeast and follow the edge of the cliffs to the next trail.

I got more and more distracted because the views kept getting better and better. You can see by the grin on my face I was having an awesomely awesome time (my new favorite phrase). I believe I labeled this point on my GPS as "Epic":
That meadow you see below and behind me is what I would walk out next to and through the last day (and saw lots of wolf tracks in).

And yet, I was still getting higher and higher on the ridge, until eventually I saw the National Park Boundary marker sign (one of quite a few, though I can't imagine anyone coming up the cliff/scree slope). And then I turned around. And labeled the GPS point "more epic":
[this is a photo merge from five shots. actual photo is 1 foot tall by 5.5 feet wide]. I was blown away. As I said, there are no words to describe how wonderful the view was.

And for the next mile, I got to enjoy this view for quite some time. Plus others to my north, where the cliff dropped off. And I got to walk over a bit of snow as well. And admire the fields of glacier lilies (in order: cliff view, snow pack, and lilies).
And as you can see from this last photo, I successfully found the next section of trail, and continued on to camp. And had my usual routine of lunch, enjoy the scenery, and get camp ready. And did my usual stare off into space and zone out and relax thing. For the first time though, I got my tent up kind of early, since it looked like it might rain. And put the rain fly on. I'm glad I did, since it did rain. I somehow made dinner between rainshowers, and realized I didn't want to leave the next day. But duty called, so I had to.

Day 4. 5 July 2010. "Back to 'civilization' "

Well, after all the work I had been doing this past year, I made really good time on the hike out! It helped it was all downhill. And that at least 2 miles was in a burn area (recent, not the 1988 fire), so there wasn't much to see except for burned trees. I did get to track wolf tracks for a while...I never realized how big their paw prints were.
I think they were tracking a moose. There were also some very large hoofprints on the trail, which were much too large for deer, and I think too large for elk, either. The hoof tracks were more scattered than the wolf tracks, but I saw both sets of tracks in the same sections of trail. I had tracks on the trail for quite some time.

I also got to enjoy watching those always personable birds, juncos, feed a very old youngster. And I also found a nest of a sparrow along the trail as I walked.
And when I got to about one mile from the trail head, I saw my first large mammal that wasn't a mule deer (which I didn't see OFTEN, but often enough that they weren't a big deal). And as you can tell by how small it is in the photo, this is how far I WANTED it to be while I was hiking alone.That dark object mid picture is a black bear, just doing it's thing in the woods. It was actually only a hundred meters or so away from the camp I stayed at the first night, that I had to walk near on my way out. And such, ended my very enjoyable trip through part of Yellowstone National Park.

I hiked alone in an area I was no longer top on the food chain...I wasn't even in the top 3! I visited a new state. I saw a new bird species. I saw awesome views. I didn't see any people until I got to the trail head. I did my first successful route find. I had campsites all to myself. I actually packed too much food.

I had a great, fun, awesome, stupendous, terrific, great, and there just aren't enough words to describe the time I had. I can't wait to go back. I leave you with my parting view of the area I hiked:

Catch up...

I had meant to get a post up before my most recent trip away from work, but life interfered. As usual. My boss had gone up to do some field work near Devil's Tower in north Wyoming, so I had to get my planning done without her, as well as to make sure my safety net was in place. And to let my safety net know what my plan was, and when I would be checking in. Anyway...

The last set of transects weren't killer. But I think it included two of the three hardest transects to do. I had fun anyway, and got lots of great views! Some cooler air was involved too, because for the first time I was having transects get above 9.200 feet (about 3.000 meters). The two transects were hard because of the slopes involved, and in one case because of the amount of deadfall in one area. One was in a V-shaped canyon, and one side of the canyon had about 50% or more dead and down wood (trees), on a slope that was 50 to 60 percent. Fun times! The other one was just on a steep slope. I realized how "in shape" I was upon completion of these two transects: 30 of the 32 points done. One point I ran out of time to do, and one point the birds had quieted down too much - at 9:30! (A bit early for them, but it WAS a warm sunny day).

The first transect (that of the steep slope variety) was fun because I had to do some exploring for it. Though the transects were done last year, the crew last year decided to hike from an established trail BELOW the transect. Which meant a 1 km walk up a 1.000 foot slope. I decided that wasn't going to be my cup of tea, especially since the top of the transect was at the crest of that huge hill. So I decided to do some plotting with my GPS software beforehand, and follow an old log access road to see if I could have an easier time getting to the transect. Lo and behold, it worked. So my reward?
A nice little siesta since I got there so early. And yes, that is a beard. It helps with dealing with mosquitoes. It'll be gone before I go to Peru.

The other thing I love about walks in the woods, especially when the hike isn't far (about 3.5 km) and I have PLENTY of time, is that I can admire some of the smaller wildlife around.
So, the next day was transect time, and boy, was I treated to some great views. Note the degree of slope I'm on in the second photo. I still can't believe they chose to hike UP that to the transect - for 1.000 feet, no less!
And from there, it was off to more transects. I did a little bit of exploring here and there, namely places on the way to the next transect. More of the same and usual scenery, though I was not in any way getting tired of it. I did have some minor adventures getting to the next transect, because of trees fallen across the road. And I didn't have a chain saw, or a bow saw (not something I foresaw needing). So, I had to go the LOOOOONG way around. It took about 3 hours to drive to the transect that was about 5 miles away from where I turned around. Thankfully I get paid for my time driving, and I have my iPod and radio adapter to keep the tunes flowing. And plenty of gorgeous scenery to enjoy.

So, I did two transects in the Snowy Range, then I headed back into the Sierra Madre to do two more over there. Lots of fun, and the last plot (of the V-canyon) got me some new birds for the season. I saw and heard my first Pine Grosbeaks of the season (and this was only the 3rd time I have ever seen them). I also had my first Golden-crowned Kinglets of the season.

While out in the Sierra Madre, I got to wondering what I might do with some time off. My boss emphasized (strongly) that I should take some time to myself, since I had accumulated serious overtime (and had been working hard) because my coworker left. Upon my return to Laramie, we realized we had eight transects left to do in 17 days. Since she and a colleague were going to take four of them total to take some of the work load off (and so they could enjoy field time too!), it meant I could take a break from bird surveys for a while. Just in time for the holiday weekend, too.

And eventually, I decided that even if no one was around to join me, I would head up to Yellowstone for some new scenery, and solitude, and fun. So I did.