Computer deep-clean

Days have become somewhat routine with the birdramp survey - more fun than lynx work because the project takes us to all corners of our million-acre area, but still not requiring much intelligence. Weather has been beautiful until today, when a rain system moved in. Forecast calls for a half inch of snow tonight - we shall see.

Chris and Michele sent a new 320 GB hard drive that arrived today - essentially quadrupling my computer storage capacity. They loaded their entire music collection - about 10,000 songs - onto the drive, so my music has quadrupled also (though I expect I will find only about 10-15 songs I really like out of that 10,000).

When I opened my computer to install the new drive, I found a half inch of dust bunnies at the bottom and a solid coating of dust on all of the circuit boards and components. My cooling fins were completely packed with dust. Using a squeeze-blower and a vacuum, I managed to get most of the dust out before installing the new drive. Sure is nice to have plenty of space - should be able to do video editing if I have time when I get home.

Haven't had any signs of N. fowleri yet, so am hoping I won't get the over-sensationalized bug.

Today was pretty laid-back - cleaned, did laundry, watched Harry Potter 5, worked on computer. Tomorrow will try to find some scientific articles and perhaps send e-mails to potential advisors at Cornell.

A day in the office (and at home)

Too wet to drive the little roads today, and the snow stopped the mower so I couldn't do the ATV work - so spent the day reading background material on lynx and doing statistical analyses on the lynx data on my home computer.

It was a foggy, drippy morning with the melting snow, but it is all gone now with the exception of the now-white mountains. Should be able to get back to the birdramp project tomorrow.

Time to go take a look at the moon...

ATV-ing in the rain

Too wet today to drive two-track roads in search of wells, so I worked on finalizing the lynx data in the morning. Josh gave me an assignment - take an ATV out to where Greg Reser is mowing sagebrush and mark GPS polygons around the mowed areas. We loaded up an ATV on a trailer just before noon, and I spent about 2 1/2 hours bouncing around the sagebrush (rather like driving through a rough field of small stumps). By the end, I was working in rain changing to snow, but I finished all of the areas that have been mowed so far. A rather fun job, and I suspect I will be back at it tomorrow.

Snow began around 4 pm and continued until 7, dropping just under 3 inches of wet white stuff. View out my bedroom window here.

Teton photo essays are up.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Snow is falling fast and furious - big globs that now total a good inch on roofs and sidewalks. It's the third and final day of precipitation from this low pressure system, and the cold has finally arrived. Forecast calls for 30 degrees tonight, then warming up tomorrow and most likely melting the snow.

Back from the Tetons

I'm home and drying my gear. Photo essay should be up tomorrow or Tuesday. Ryan is back as well and feeling healthy. We should see our first snowflakes of the season tomorrow. All is well in Pinedale.

Heading out

8:30 am Thursday. Just leaving for my Teton hike. So far weather looks great today and Friday, with rain/snow above 9000 ft. likely Saturday into Sunday. Will post a quick update Sunday night to let y'all know I am home.

Finished!

Lynx project finished as of 1 pm today! Took Nick out on foot, hiked up a steep hill, and whipped through the final 48 points. Beautiful country with the aspens turning yellow and orange, though the area is now swarming with deer and elk hunters. Spent the afternoon searching for water wells, then had a good piece of homegrown beef for dinner courtesy of Kate who used her "sick day" to move in next door. She is doing well except for a stiff and swollen elbow that keeps her arm in a sling for much of the time.

Just heard from my friend Jenna in Salt Lake City - may give me an excuse to drive down that direction for one of the upcoming weekends. Second weekend in October perhaps.

Weather looks good for the first two days of my Teton hike. May have some rain/snow Saturday night into Sunday, but I will be headed downhill by that time so it shouldn't be a problem. One more 10-hour day ahead - then four days of freedom.

Google Earth

If you have Google Earth, take a look at:

Fremont Peak (43º07'28"N, 109º37'04"W)

Cirque of the Towers (42º46'40"N, 109º13'W)

Grand Teton (43º44' 26"N, 110º48'09"W)

The exact spot Kate flipped the ATV (42º45'22"N, 110º27'41"W)

Before descending steep hills, make sure the rear brakes work...

The lynx project is stuck - at point number 666. I'm not one to be superstitious, but after we got the truck jumped last Thursday and were thwarted from our goal today, I'm willing to concede that there may be some devilry at work.

After I slept through my alarm and arrived at work at 7:30, I found Kate had already gassed up the ATVs and was ready to head out. We unloaded the ATVs and strapped on our gear, then started down the steep hill to the creek. Kate, with more ATV experience, took the lead, and I followed behind - far enough that we wouldn't collide should one of us flip. As I was about 1/3 of the way down and Kate was 2/3, I watched her turn sideways, hit a rut, and roll - the machine rolled over on top of her, rolled another 4-5 times, then landed on all 4 wheels and rolled to the bottom of the hill. My first instinct was to jump off and run to help, but I soon realized the parking brake would not hold my machine on the hill. Kate got up quickly, relatively unhurt, and I managed to roll my machine to a sideways position on the hill so it wouldn't roll. With Kate's help, I got my machine turned around and gassed it back to the top, and we called Rusty once again for help getting the machine out. We knew Kate's machine didn't have functional rear brakes, and she insists that the brakes weren't a problem, but knowing her extensive riding experience and the fact that many ATVs had been negotiating the same hill in the past days, I have to assume that brake issues had some role in the rollover.

We waited a little over an hour, and I told stories from Ecuador to pass the time. Then a truck arrived with not only Rusty but also Kathy Gunderman (the boss) and Dave Crowley (the safety coordinator). Kathy insisted on taking Kate to the hospital, and Dave, Rusty, and I contemplated the task of extracting a mostly-wrecked ATV from a creek bed. This task proved not too difficult, as the three of us rolled the machine up onto the bank and then down ramps into the truck that we parked in the creek. After that, we rolled the machine back onto the trailer, and I drove us back to the office. We spent another hour swapping ATVs on the two trailers to get the two remaining functional machines together in case someone wants to use them. By this time it was 1 pm - a very fast six hours.

Not wanting to waste the afternoon entirely, I talked to Steve Laster (head range man) about birdramps, and he sent me down to the lumberyard to get quotes on materials to construct them. That completed, I went out to look for a few wells south of town. I missed the first one to the south, and while I was following a little-used two-track road back north, I spotted a medium sized bird standing on a mound of earth in the middle of the road - an owl! An owl at a burrow - a Burrowing Owl - the first I have ever seen. I got out to take its picture (check out the photo of the day for a blurry, cropped-down version - too bad I didn't have the long lens along), snapped a few shots, recorded the location on my GPS, then drove through the sagebrush around the burrow to continue looking for my wells. I ultimately only found two tanks (one required a long walk), then got back to the office just before 6 pm. I called Kate, who reported that she had a small chip in a bone in her elbow and would have her arm in a sling for the next week.

Got a package from Ed today with some tasty wild grape leather - perhaps record time for a package arriving here from MN. Then put together a package for Heather, played some basketball and volleyball with Nick at open gym, ate a bit of pizza, and sat down to update the blog.

Haven't written in recent days due to general lack of excitement. Stayed home this weekend to catch up on finances, do laundry, take a practice biology GRE, and bake ginger cookies. Also made some rather tasty sweet potato burritos for dinner Saturday night, went for a night walk around town, and paid a visit to the local bars to give Nick the experience.

With Kate staying home, I will take Nick out (on foot this time) to finish the lynx project tomorrow. Hopefully number 666 won't find a way to strike again...

Steep Hills and a Dead Battery

Lynx project has been cruising along, with plenty of poor habitat that we can zip through. Finished 44, 62, 79, and 67 points in the last four days, leaving 48 for tomorrow. We are now in an area with no maintained roads - most with down trees across them. Yesterday we tried to drive in from the west over an officially closed Forest Service road. We soon learned why it was closed - a nearly 40-degree slope near the top with uneven rocks. Kate tried it in 4-low and had all wheels spinning. We managed to back down to a level spot to turn around. Today I was driving and we tried to come in from the south, down an extremely steep hill down to a creek. Near the bottom there is a tight curve followed by a narrow stretch where the rear wheels slide sideways. I made it, but unfortunately forgot to turn the lights off, so when we got back to the truck at around 3 pm the battery was dead. We called Rusty and Lisa out to give us a jump - they seemed to enjoy the excuse to get out of the office and drive on some exciting roads. Rusty drove both trucks back up the hill, as Kate and I didn't want to look stupid getting a government truck stuck or stalled with the bosses watching. Tomorrow we will make use of our ATV training and use the ATVs to get into the area from the south. Only 48 points left, so we should be able to finish. A good way to finish out a 50-hour week.

Just called Ryan - he had surgery yesterday, is recovering well, and expects to be back here on the 23rd.

Beautiful weather is still holding, but a chance of rain returns tomorrow.

Old Growth

Kate and I broke our previous record of 49, finishing 62 lynx points today. Now 196 left - another 4 days or so. Today's transects covered steep north slopes that have never been logged, covered with giant Englemann Spruce (along the streams) and Douglas Fir (higher up). These trees, probably about 200 years old, are 3-5 ft in diameter and probably 100-160 ft tall - the tallest trees I have seen so far. I hope these old giants are not logged out as part of the timber project next year. There are spirits in those trees...

Beautiful weather - freezing in the morning warming quickly to near 70.

Cirque of the Towers

Just returned from an overnight hike to the Cirque of the Towers, one of the unknown wonders of the world. Check out the new photo essay.

Got up at 4:30 am yesterday morning to take Ryan to the Jackson airport. Drove a few miles beyond the airport to watch the first touch of sun on the Tetons. Photos here. Stopped at the organic food shop for some hiking food, then back to Pinedale to pack and head out up the trail.

First hard frosts here tonight and tomorrow night, but weather looks great with sunny skies and highs around 70 all week. Plan is to put in five 10-hour days on lynx work.

ATV Training, Cerulean Warblers, and an Early Morning

Spent the last two days learning how to safely ride an ATV in a BLM training course. Turns, swerves, sudden stops, heavy loads, turns on hills, loading/unloading trailers, stream crossings, and all other possible scenarios were covered in a mix of lecture and riding experience. Not sure I will need the training, but it may come in useful someday.

I am reading scientific papers on cerulean warblers and realizing that this species is relatively unstudied. So I will continue reading to see if I could turn a cerulean idea into a Ph.D. project.

After several months of increasing abdominal pain and bulging, Ryan finally went to the local clinic and learned that he has an inguinal hernia in need of immediate surgery. So I am driving him to Jackson Hole at 5 am tomorrow morning for a flight back to Indiana, where he plans to stay for two weeks following the surgery before returning to work here.

If I am still awake after that trip, I plan to hike about 9-10 miles over Jackass Pass to the Cirque of the Towers, one of the more beautiful locations in the Wind River Mountains, where I will spend the night and return on Sunday. Look for an update and photo essay Sunday or Monday evening.

First hard frost predicted for Sunday night - 29 degrees. Aspens are beginning to turn yellow. Fall is coming...

Wild Storms and Wild Trees

Today began muddy after a long rain last night - too muddy to negotiate the rutted road to our lynx site - so we had a day in the office. I spent the morning putting range water troughs on the map for the upcoming birdramp project, then ran out of useful things to do. Kate had a range management meeting to attend, so I was on my own for the afternoon. I decided to take a crack at finding a few of the closer water wells on the range.

I knew that storms were on the way - a tornado warning had been issued near Jackson - and before I could locate my first well in the maze of gasfield roads I was reversing my route down the two-track roads - trying to get back to a road that would not be liquefied by the advancing downpour. Check out the photos of the day to see the wall cloud that preceded the storm.

I reached a well along a decent road in the middle of the storm and tried to wait it out, but rather than pass quickly like most storms out here, the rain mellowed but kept coming, with no sign of lighter skies to the west. Finally, I had to head back toward the office - along a different road that would take me past another well. As it happened, the rain stopped just as I reached that well, so I took my data and moved onward.

Farther up the road I reached an area of construction - cutting back a bank along the road - that for some reason had not stopped during the rain. I was confronted by large machinery occupying a stretch of 6-inch-deep clay mud with a small torrent crossing the road. A dump truck dropped a load of gravel in the stream, and a guy waved me through. So I threw the big Chevy in 4-low and chugged through without incident, soon finding myself back on hard surfaces leading me to Pinedale.

I am finally reading The Wild Trees, a book with a number of small-world stories involving birds, a friend's mother, and Ecuador. The book describes the adventures, near-death experiences, and personal lives of a group of scientists exploring the high canopies of redwood forests. The story begins with my freshman year RA, Zoe Anderson, a studio art major. Reluctant to leave Carleton after graduation, she stayed on as a fifth-year intern with the art department. It so happens that Zoe has a mother who likes birds, and who came to visit Carleton this past spring. Zoe asked me if I would lead a bird walk in the Arb for her mother, and - never one to pass up an opportunity to watch birds - I agreed. The birds appeared for us - warblers, meadowlarks, even a Henslow's Sparrow, and many species to add to Zoe's mom's life list. As we walked, the mom recommended a book she had read - The Wild Trees. People recommend books all the time, so I wasn't particularly piqued. A few weeks later I find a package from an unfamiliar name addressed to Michael Lutter. After the post office informed me that no one with a name at all similar to Michael Lutter attended Carleton, I opened the package to discover that Rosemary Anderson had not forgotten the book but had obviously never asked how to spell my name.

The second thread of the story begins in Ecuador with professor Leah Larsen, a sparky and beautiful young woman with a passion for botany and tree climbing. Leah climbed trees with lanyards - basically two extendable ropes attached to different high branches that allowed her to move safely in any direction. She taught us the basics, and we all enjoyed climbing around the large but not really tall Podocarpus trees of the cloud forest. Leah spent most of her graduate school experience in the tops of redwood trees, learning the ropes from Steve Sillett, who just so happens to be the main character in The Wild Trees. Leah even merits mention in the book.

Kind of makes me want to go climb some trees....

Lynx again

Back to lynx work today, now at 414 of 714 points. Should be able to do lynx work tomorrow if the predicted rain holds off, then four-wheeler training on Thursday and Friday.

Photos from last weekend are up. Take a look here.

Warm days, parents, and the spirits of the Tetons

Thursday: M&C picked out a campsite and looked around town while I worked in the morning. At noon we had a potluck lunch as a farewell to four employees who are leaving soon. Afternoon took M&C out for a taste of lynx surveys - seems they weren't too impressed with the amount of hiking and climbing over logs involved. Had dinner at the Mexican restaurant and headed up to Fremont Lake to set up tents and sit around the campfire.

Friday: Off to Jackson for a day of good eating (though I don't recommend softshell crab sandwiches), shopping, and wandering. We drove up to the Tetons, where Michele found a group of spiritual masters in an etheric temple centered around the Grand Teton. They recommended that I spend three nights in the backcountry for spiritual attunement. As I hardly need an excuse to spend three nights in the Tetons, I have tentatively planned that outing for Sept. 13-16. After tasty desserts at the Bunnery, back to Pinedale and campsite.

Today is a bit more laid-back. Chris isn't feeling great and wants to rest at the campsite. Michele is wandering around town. We will probably drive up to Elkhart Park for good views of the mountains.