Halloween at the office

Festive atmosphere at work today. Chili cookoff potluck for lunch, and many decorated bodies and cubicles. Pre-schoolers came through trick-or-treating - cute to see all of the little pirates and princesses. I can't say I had a costume, but I was somewhat redeemed by Chrissy's Hermione costume and cubicle decorations. Aside from the festivities, work was rather boring - trying to find wildlife survey protocols for sensitive species by searching the internet. Useful I guess, but I don't like sitting in front of a computer all day.

28 degrees now, heading for 17. Coldest night so far.

I now have a Carfax account, so if anyone needs a vehicle history report I can get it for free.

Still waiting on all fronts. Will try to contact Cornell tomorrow if I still hear nothing.

Halloween Party

Lisa (my boss) had a Halloween party last night. I'm not a big fan of sitting around and drinking, and I am especially not a big fan of sitting around and drinking with 30-40-year olds. But the party was at Walker's (Lisa's boyfriend's) house, and Walker is an uber-nerd. I had a life-sized Yoda, a six-foot live iguana, a pool table, and a room full of arcade games to keep me busy when the party got boring. Not too bad, I must say. After the party we progressed to the Corral bar, which was having its own Halloween party. The mayor and his wife won the costume contest, and it seemed like half the town was packed in.

Made a last visit to the hot springs today. The road was muddy and bumpier than usual, but it was great to sit and relax in the warm water one last time.

Still waiting...

Still waiting

P.S. Had to wait three minutes for my blog to publish. Seems the connections are sluggish tonight, or the universe wants me to wait. Time for bed. No one can make me wait for that.

Hurry up and wait

Many things reside in the netherworld of the future, a place where it is not wise to dwell lest we become distracted from the only true reality that is the present. And yet the present is informed by the future, and when the future is not informed the present may stall. I am waiting. Waiting to hear if I got a job in Florida. Waiting to hear from Cornell to know if my potential advisor is interested in taking me. Waiting for my GRE scores so I know how I did before I send them to schools. Waiting to know whether Nathan Senner (a.k.a godwit man) has enough funding to take field assistants next spring. Waiting for my next paycheck to get my savings up to my $2000 goal. Waiting to hear if the BLM has money to extend our contracts.

There are those who would say we should take action, be the change we wish to see in the world, or in our own lives. But there is little I can do. Any further contact with the people I am waiting on would be annoyance. They have all told me to wait. That is not really a problem, and yet I like to imagine a pattern extending into the future, with links falling into place. The links are there, but there is no resolution. I have been trying to visit Jenna in Salt Lake City for the past month. That was unclear until three days in advance, then postponed for two weeks. Now it is tentatively scheduled for November 10. Family conflict, then a trip, now she is ill. I am not saying that I believe people are avoiding me, simply that things are not falling into place as they usually do. Perhaps I am off track in some way, or perhaps there are simply other forces at play.

I had the experience last spring that things usually fell into place as expected, but they required an unusual amount of effort. Take, for example, this job. I applied in February, then the due date was postponed until March. Finally heard in April that they would be contacting applicants soon. Then heard same message again two weeks later. Finally got an interview then waited three more weeks. Called them once a week to be told to wait. Position confirmed one week before graduation. I would like to believe that I am in the flow, but at the moment it seems otherwise. I have a feeling that soon my life will move very quickly, with some long road trips and adventures, and it is frustrating to sit here doing very little, waiting for someone to tip the first domino.

In other news, the weather is wonderful. After a rainy/snowy weekend and two blustery days, the wind stopped on this cloudless day as the temperature soared from 25 this morning to 65 this afternoon. Went running after work and felt out of shape having not done that for about a month.

Kate and I finished the birdramp report yesterday, and I am now a little over halfway done with the final lynx report. I don't like being stuck in the office on a nice day like today, but at least I still have meaningful work. Chrissy is done with her big project and is now being asked to file papers for the people with advanced degrees who are too lazy to do it themselves. Heck, in a few more days, I will be waiting again - waiting for someone to suggest something meaningful to do...

Photos up

Photos posted from past few days here. Kate returned today, and we finished finding stock tanks, driving crappy roads in the farthest corner of our field area. We ran into Ryan and Nick surveying roads on ATVs - quite a coincidence given the size of our area and the number of small roads out there. It's cold here now - with chances of rain/snow over the next few days. Ryan wants to go up to Yellowstone on Saturday - we will see what the weather does.

Adventures on the Road

Looking for stock tanks can be exciting - especially in the mountains. A few adventures from this week... (my camera is at work - I will post some photos when I bring it home for the weekend)

Monday, October 16

Sideslopes
In an attempt to shave about 10 miles of slow driving off my route, I followed a two-track road along a fence. Soon the road disappeared over a hilltop, dropping steeply down on terrain that also tipped toward the fence at a severe angle. I'm not sure what angle would cause a truck to roll, but I don't think I came too close to it. Even so, I would rather drive with my left and right tires at the same elevation.

Spinning
My route took me to two ridges separated by a deep valley. There are no roads through the valley, so the only way to get to the other ridge is to go around the top end of the valley at over 9000 feet. I reached a steep hill in forest that turned out to be muddy and had all four wheels spinning. After several attempts, I managed to get out of the tracks onto some grass along the road, where I gunned it up the hill, spinning in 4-low and bouncing over rocks to the top. Sitting on a knoll at the top is a man in orange with a gun, obviously looking for something with four legs rather than four tires.


Tuesday, October 17

Downslopes
My first site is the Black Canyon Trough, high on a mountain ridge. Again trying to shorten my route, I take a two-track shortcut to another road, but soon find myself angled steeply down. I had no trouble, but the end was a bit scary as the two-track ends on a 15-foot-wide road cut into the mountainside, which means that should one find oneself sliding down the hill they have exactly 15 feet to come to a stop. I never started sliding, so thankfully didn't have to worry about that.

Trespassing, part 1
After looking for the Deadline Pipeline and finding that it had been removed, I head down the south side of the pass on the west side of the Hogsback mountain. The road has only ATV tracks, which I take as a sign that it is not easy for pickups. Aside from a few tricky washouts, the road isn't too bad, but at the end I find that I must either turn around and bounce 3 miles back up the mountain or make a dash across private land. In this case, across private land equates to driving straight through a backyard in which 12 big dogs are chained and another 10 dogs are running free. I don't think anyone was home, or at least no one came out waving a gun as I drove through.

Calpet Spring
After driving up a steep mountainside road and convincing several bulls to move out of the path of my truck, I reach a point where the road cuts into a near cliff, with the road surface sloping outward. Not wanting to die, I walk the rest of the way along a diversion channel from the spring, following it as it bridges over ravines curves around the slope. This is the kind of project I would have loved in my youth if I had had a high-output spring to play with. Calpet Spring is a well-kept secret, a high-pressure artesian spring that fountains out of the mountainside like a giant firehose and cascades down a waterfall. The water tastes good, and I eat my lunch there before continuing on.

Trespassing, part 2
Next stop: Sauli mine spring, a spring back in a deep valley near an old coal mine. Again, my route crosses private land, and I pass two men cutting wood as I drive through. Two minutes later, a guy with a beard braided to his waist pulls up behind me on an ATV, and I expect I am in trouble. Not true. When I tell him I am installing birdramps, he offers to help me, and we find a dead kestrel in the tank. He is an interesting fellow, trained in biology, who sells African and Native American artwork and owns the local bar. After a half hour of chatting about geology, archaeology, and other interesting things, I take my leave and find no more big adventures.


Wednesday, October 18
Snow
Wake up to a dusting of snow on my car, and I drive through snow on my way to my field sites. The snow ends a few miles south of Pinedale, and I encounter no major snow the rest of the day. It is cold though, barely rising above freezing all day with a stiff northwest wind. No real adventures, and I manage to work efficiently.

Kate is back tomorrow, and we have only five more tanks to find before we are finished with this project. Looks like the weather will hold.

I applied for the job in Florida tonight. Hopefully I will know if I have it in a couple of weeks.

Dipping with Dippers

I arrived at the hot spring at about 3:30 and set up a slightly illegal camp out of sight of the road (camping is only allowed in the established campground there, but the campground is closed for the season). As I was snapping tent poles together, I heard three gunshots not more than a half mile distant, and a few minutes later a man with a gun and a four-year-old boy walked by reporting that his brother had just killed a deer. It seems that every man in this state hunts - with millions of acres of public land and under a million people in the state, it is still impossible to get very far from the shooters.

Tent erected, I took my new Tolkien book, The Children of Hurin, down to the hot springs and tweaked the diversion channels to cool the pool of a bit. I was soon joined by four young folks from Jackson, and we had a good time soaking and talking until darkness fell and they left. At some point we noticed a bird pecking at our clothes - an American Dipper. As it turns out, a trio of Dippers have taken up residence below Granite Falls, and I watched them constantly bobbing into the water and chasing each other around, occasionally walking almost right up to me.

The night was clear, and I woke at 3 am to see the Great Cow of Orion overhead. The temperature dropped off well into the 20s, but I had plenty of clothes to keep warm. I woke at dawn but read in my tent until the frost melted, then wandered down to the hot spring for more reading. A few people came by to look at the falls, but no one joined me in the pool. I took a couple of self portraits (posted here), and tried to get photos of the dippers but had trouble with lenses fogging in the steam from the spring.

I drove to Jackson for lunch and groceries, then came home and finished the book (which has the most unsatisfying ending of any fantasy book I have read). Back to the birdramps tomorrow - alone as Kate is in Seattle until Thursday.

Camping tonight

I wrote a first draft of a personal statement for grad school application this morning. Now I am about to head out to find a place to camp near Granite Hot Springs. Weather is unseasonably warm (barely freezing at night) with a slight chance of rain or snow. Otherwise not much to report.

Long day at work

Kate was ill today. I spent the morning helping Chrissy collect water samples then went out in search of wells and water pipelines. I found about twice as many as I expected based on my map of the area, so I got back to the office at 6:40. Not a bad day though - with Kate gone I was free to turn up my iPod. Hard to be unhappy with 131 favorite songs playing.

Puzzle pieces are beginning to fall into place. I have a lead on a field assistant job in Florida from December to March, and I plan on working for Nate Senner in Alaska or northern Canada next May-July. Cornell visit should happen last week of November or first week of December.

I updated the photos of the day with pictures from our hike to Photographer's Point last Monday. Ten-mile round trip was rather exhausting in slush and mud with wet feet, but the views were worth it (for me at least - some of the others are still sore and complaining).

Website updated

Just added a new photo essay. Check it out here.

Bright sunny day has quickly melted all traces of snow. We are planning on taking a hike - perhaps to Photographer's Point - to make good use of our holiday.

Indoor Rock Climbing

Ryan wanted to check out the indoor climbing gym in Jackson today, so the three guys left in late morning and spent about 3 hours climbing on fake rock. Most routes were too tough for us rookies, especially Nick and I, but we all had fun. Shopped around a bit, then drove up to Granite Hot Springs to show the guys the falls and soaking pool. Neither of them wanted to soak, so we just took pictures in the unpredicted snowfall and drove home. Pretty good day overall, but I must say I much prefer listening to my iPod in the car than to the dirty comedy they listen to.

I have a number of photos to post, but I left my transfer device at the BLM office on Friday, so I will try to update on Tuesday.

No work tomorrow - Columbus Day. We might try for a hike somewhere away from hunters - haven't decided yet.

Acting on impulse...

I had a dream last night in which I got married - a prearranged marriage to a pretty lady who became a lot less pretty a day later. Not sure what the point of that was, but I know that I only dream when I go to bed at or before 11 pm.

Test finished, what to do? Chrissy wants to go to Jackson. I don't trust her driving in the snow, nor do I want to be dragged around Jackson on her various errands. Ryan wants a day without strenuous activity - he is still healing from surgery. Nick is indecisive. So I drive up to Elkhart Park (9000 ft) to see the mountains with fresh snow and take a few pictures. That lasts until 3 pm. I want an excuse to drive - mainly to listen to my new songs on a good sound system - so I decide to visit Granite Hot Springs - 62 miles from Pinedale and the closest good hot spring. Ten miles west of Pinedale I hit heavy snow - clogs my windshield wipers so I crank up the defrost. The snow shower passes. Over the pass and down, and the snow returns. I passed Chrissy on the road at 4:30, then follow the last nine miles on gravel to the spring. I wish I had pictures, but I didn't dare take my camera out in the heavy snow or risk dunking it in the creek on the unstable log crossing. I sat in the 110-degree water for about an hour and was ready to leave when some other folks showed up - a young guy from Jackson and three young women from Ithaca, NY (same town as Cornell). We all sat naked in the spring for an hour, and I enjoyed having some more open-minded folk to chat with. Granite Hot Spring is beautiful - a 15-foot waterfall of hot water into a pool beneath a 30-foot waterfall on Granite Creek - and it is only improved by a heavy fall of snow. Can't say I have ever been naked in heavy snow before, but with the hot water it was quite comfortable.

I hit heavy snow on the east side of the pass on the return and was briefly slowed, but aside from that the roads were in good shape - still warm enough to melt the falling snow. Went out to the brewpub for beer and dinner, then walked down to the Cowboy Bar to play some pool. All in all, a good day - even if it did start out with a three-hour test.

No more standardized tests for me!

Iowa Basics, AHSME, PSAT, SAT, ACT, SAT II, GRE, GRE Subject Test....

All completed, and no more on the horizon. Biology test went well, though it seemed a bit harder than the practice test, and I had to rush through the final ten questions (out of 200) to finish on time. I was the only test-taker in the room, and I had plenty of time before to chat with the Pinedale high school principal who was administering the test.

For all the grief we give weathermen in Minnesota, they are usually right to some extent. If they predict a big snowstorm and we get two inches, we complain. Out here, it seems that the forecast is completely wrong (even for the next 12 hours) about 30 percent of the time. We were supposed to get 3-6 inches of snow today, and we haven't seen a flake. Temp is 42, and sun is shining. Still a chance for an inch or two later, or so they say... In meteorological lingo, western Wyoming is currently in an unexpected "dry slot" in the storm system.

Not sure what is on tap for the weekend - perhaps a trip to Jackson or even some cold-weather camping.

Exploring the Range

Life has its ebbs and flows. This is an ebb. Not in a negative sense - simply in the sense that after solo hikes, ATV accidents, and 10-hour days, life has settled into a routine for the time being. Kate and I are about half done driving around the range finding stock tanks. About 150 tanks found so far out of ~300. We finally got the hardware to install ramps today, so we put in seven of the 12 we have on hand. Days go by quickly on this project - always new territory to see and new roads to find. Kate enjoys driving, and I enjoy navigating.

I have been finding new songs I like on the iTunes store, doing a bit of studying for the biology GRE on Saturday, and thinking about grad school.

Snow in the forecast for Friday night and Saturday - a foot in the mountains and a few inches here. Hopefully it will melt quickly - our project involves lots of off-road driving and requires dry weather.