Task of the day: complete the lynx habitat survey by creating polygons around good habitat. This basically entails returning to the points where we found suitable habitat and walking a perimeter while carrying a Trimble GPS that is constantly logging points. I am out alone, as Chrissy is now focusing on the pothole study and Chelsea is still recovering from the cold that has been going around. I mark several large areas of good habitat – perhaps enough to save part of the area from being cut over. Just before noon, a cloud rolls up from the south. As I am rather far from the truck and in a valley where lightning is unlikely, I decide to wait it out. The storm proves to be a soaker, and by the time it is over my clothes are all dripping and the ground has turned to mud. The storm sent down only one close lightning that hit a ridgetop a quarter mile south of my location. After finishing my surveys, I wallow down the mud road in four weel drive, return to the office, and prepare for guzzler-seeking tomorrow.
