In and Around Pinedale

6-24-07 - Photographer's Point: As our first hike in the area, Ryan and I chose the easy five-mile hike to Photographer's Point just north of Pinedale. The trail starts at around 9,000 feet and slopes very gradually upward for five miles to the Photographer's Point overlook at just above 10,000 feet. The overlook provides great views into the core of the Wind River range.

The largest mountain in the center is Fremont Peak (13,745 ft), the third-highest in the state and the highest that can be climbed without technical gear and experience. Look for a trip up Fremont in a future photo essay.

Just in case you didn't believe I was actually here...

Looking down into beautiful Chasm Lake.

We hiked past Photographer's Point a bit, to a saddle that provided beautiful views out into the plains to the south (that straight line is the horizon, not clouds)...

...and framed views of the high mountains to the north...

 

6-28-07: Lynx habitat surveys

Lynx habitat surveys have constituted the bulk of my work for my first month here. Our field locations are on the east slope of the Wyoming Range, about 30 miles west of Pinedale. In this picture, Chrissy is using a densiometer to measure percent forest canopy cover.

We measure ground-level cover (i.e. visual protection from predators) using a cover board, here held by Chelsea.

This was the week of the Horse Creek fire, which spread steadily southward. On this day it reached its maximum extent, about three miles north of our location.

As we drive around to and from our field sites, we often see sage grouse...

and antelope, along with jackrabbits, ground squirrels, lots of raptors, and the occasional badger.

 

7-14-07 - Rendezvous Parade: Pinedale's annual celebration, Rendezvous, commemorates the mountain men and their annual gatherings in the area. The event features rodeos, lots of trinket sales, a reenactment, lots of drunkenness, and a parade on Saturday morning. I missed most of it, but did make it to the parade. Overall it was quite similar to a Renville parade except with a lot more horses and people dressed as mountain men or Indians. Advertising was as likely to feature cute little girls on horses as the traditional float.

A local environmental group had two donkeys carrying the slogan "don't be an ass, support the Green River Land Trust."

Bringing up the rear was a large group of mountain men, women, and children.