I had a moment to post on Monday night...but I had NO pictures or much of anything to say. So, I decided to post sometime while Justin, Mandy and Jill were here.
Poor choice.
This is literarily the first chance I have had to post!
Monday at work was pretty chill. I skyped with a school in New York. I could hear the class, but they could not hear me. So they had a designated boy come up and type questions to me. It worked. After that, Alexis and I were supposed to go meet up with the 'track guy' and make plaster track-print replicas. Unfortunately, he did not show up. That night, I hung out with Eric and Udeitha. Good times. ALSO, this was the night that infamous Mammoth Elk decided to attack and destroy the tarp and raft of our next door neighbor. Pictures presented below.
Tuesday was also pretty chill. We did a few errands in the morning and then we went to Canyon for the Wildlife Olympics. We had about 280 people show up, so that was awesome.
Tuesday night, Justin, Mandy and Jill arrived. It was SO WONDERFUL to see them! I took them into Gardiner to eat out on the Iron Horse Bar & Grill deck. It was delicious. It was the first time they had a full menu. We all got bison burgers. But, we had no idea that meant bison burger, bacon and sliced sausage. ALL ON ONE BURGER! Intense!! Since they were all exhausted, the three stayed in my place Tuesday night.
Wednesday was a very exciting day. I was being sent by my office to work with a Master class. They were in the park studying micro-invertebrates and fish. It was fascinating. All 13 of the people involved in this group are science teachers from around the country. I learned SO MUCH about making science really fun in the classroom from these impeccable teachers. Unfortunately (but not really), I won't be teaching math or science next year (Mr. Holy Eagle will). I will be teaching only reading and social studies! But I will have to pass on my notes to the lovely Nicole Collins and marvelous Mike Kozar. And any other science teachers who want some fresh ideas!
Anyway, I started out meeting the crew at the West Thumb Geyser Basin. I left around 7:30am from Mammoth and arrived at 9:30am. (West Thumb and Grant Village are the two furthest points in the park from Mammoth). There we tested PH, temperature and identified thermophiles. With the later, I had NO IDEA what they were talking about when they were rattling off the names of the different thermophiles. That is a totally new world I don't know much about. I was so proud that I knew and could define thermophiles! Now I realize I've only scratched the surface.
From there we went to a little sandbar on the Lake. The sandbar COMPLETELY separated a Lagoon from the rest of the Lake. As a result, there were two entirely different ecosystems present. After a discussion led by a water and micro-invertebrate specialist, we went down, checked temperature, turbidity and PH. Once we got that (boring, in my opinion) stuff done, we moved on to the best part: CATCHING MICRO-INVERTEBRATES!!!! I teamed up with Karen (Alabama), Jen (Ohio) and Meg (Naperville, IL) to catch this little critters! And oh the things we caught: Mayflies, Scuds, Daphnia, Leeches, Midge Worms and Plankton! It was crazy. Look closely at the pictures below and see that almost ever little spot is a living thing! SO COOL!
From there, we ran to Bridge Bay for the Gill-Net discussion. At this point and time, Justin, Mandy and Jill were going to try and meet up with us. Unfortunately, none of us had reception, and there was no way to predict where we would go for the Gill-Net explanation. Luckily, Mandy is magical, and she decided that Bridge Bay would be the best place to find me. And, magically, there we all were, at the exact same time.
So, the three of them were able to join our group. We went out on the dock and boarded the Gill-Netting boat. This is where the mass-killing of Lake Trout takes place. Okay, info time. Long story short: Lake Trout were introduced to Yellowstone Lake for game fisherman. Unfortunately, Lake Trout spawn and live DEEP under the water. No predators (birds, mammals or other fish) are able to reach the Lake Trout. As a result, these fish have NO Predators besides human. And each Lake Trout consumes about 44 Cutthroat Trout in a year. And Cutthroat Trout are rapidly dwindling. Furthermore, over 44 species rely on Cutthroat Trout as an important food source. As a result, Lake Trout are considered the greatest ecological threat to Yellowstone National Park. Any fisherman who catches a Lake Trout is required to kill it. And Yellowstone National Park has numerous boats and elaborate netting systems set up on the Lake to capture and then kill the vermin. And that is what we got to learn about! We even got to see several Lake Trout killed, vomit up Leeches and several fish dissected. Yum. Mandy especially loved this portion. ( ;
From the Gill Netting discussion, we parted from the group and went our separate ways. The four of us decided to go on a hike, but about a half-hour in we realized we didn't have time since we were an hour and a half away from home and food. Consequently, Justin, Mandy and Jill dashed back to the campsite (Indian Creek) to get things ready and I took the government car back to Mammoth, grabbed my stuff and headed over to the campsite myself. There we roasted hot dogs, s'mores and Jill did an amazing job being crafty in making man-whiches. YUM! After enjoying the dwindling fire, we all crawled into my four-person tent and fell fast asleep.
I was up bright-and-early the next morning to head down to work. We had the Wildlife Olympics at Old Faithful that day. It was especially exciting for two reasons: 1.) Justin, Mandy and Jill were able to stop by and actually participate in the activities. 2.) Two unpredictable geysers in the Old Faithful Geyser Basin went off while we were there! SO COOL!
After work, I met up with Justin, Mandy and Jill and I took them to Tower Falls. What a pretty sight! I was excited to stop by because I hadn't been there yet. Next I took them wildlife spotting in the Lamar Valley. It was so great. I was even able to show them a black wolf stalking a bison! We were pretty pumped.
Finally, we scooted over to Gardiner and grabbed some DELICIOUS K-Bar pizza. BBQ sauce, onions, jalapenos, banana peppers and sausage pizza. OM NOM NOM! It was a delightful dinner, but bittersweet. As we ventured back to Mammoth, I had to say goodbye. They were leaving early the next morning and I had to get up at 4:00am for my Friday adventure. It was sad to say goodbye, but I will see them soon!
Friday, I woke up at 4:00am, jumped in the Prius and drove to Lamar Valley. There I met up with Rick, the wolf guy, for a day of shadowing. I was super pumped. I began the difficult process of following around his yellow x-terra around Lamar Valley. Wherever he would park, twenty cars would immediately follow. But, the aggravating part was: no wolves. So we left Lamar Valley to travel to Hayden Valley to observe the Canyon pack. Still: no wolves. We had distance 'movement' and 'animals' that COULD have been wolves, and the collar beeps pointed in that general direction, but I NEVER caught anything on the scope that screamed "I AM A WOLF! YOU HAVE SUCCEEDED!" So, nine hours later, I hoped in the Prius and travelled back to Mammoth. I learned a lot. But, as far as seeing anything, no dice.
As soon as I got back around 2:30, I checked my emails and left. I had already 'worked' over my 8-hour day limit. So here I am, coffeeing up on a Friday night, preparing for a weekend of Friday night potluck and potential back-packing trip. We shall see! And you shall soon here!
Thanks for reading!
Thug elk. Destructive jerks.
So much meat!
Laser-Temperature Gun. Yes
The sandbar. Lagoon on right. Lake on left.
Catching micro-invertebrates!
Gill-Nets!
Where the fish come in on the boat!
Lake Trout
Driving
A HUGE cutthroat trout.
After killing one Lake Trout, it vomited up leeches.
Slamming the Lake Trout's head on the table = execution style.
Carnage
Campsite!
Yay fire!
Sunset!
Green bee-thingy!
Old Faithful!
Beehive Geyser
Lion Geyser?
Tower Falls
Brothers!
Lamar Valley with hundreds of Bison!
Bison and babies!
PIZZA!
I caught this guy on my scope. He stared for like an hour, just chewing his cud.
Incognito Ranger Grant
My Scope
The Yellow X-Terra I stalked
Pronghorn and Babies!!
Wolf Collar Tracking Device
Scoping things out!
