Backcountry trip

Today we got back from our 4 day backcountry trip! It was an experience I'll never forget, but also may never repeat!

I had a great time getting to know my fellow teammates (the Fire-snorting Bisonte Serenos) and our two faculty leaders, Aaron and Kate. We got to spend 4 days and 3 nights together bonding and learning about each others lives and teaching each other about our areas of "expertise".

Each of us prepared a 10 minute lesson on a topic related to the area. Mine was on the relationship between Clark's Nutcracker and Whitebark Pine. It was a great opportunity for us to learn about how we go about teaching, as well as get some feedback about those styles.

The Bisonte Serenos started out hiking Death Canyon to our first campsite. This day was challenging for me, working with altitude and my knees giving me trouble. But after some breaks and talking to our faculty leaders, and support from my teammates, I figured out a pace that worked for me, and the following days were much better!

Making dinner our first night 

Death Canyon

Just because I think dead trees look cool

The first night I slept for maybe 20 minutes, which made me a little nervous for the next day, but I pushed through and you could hardly tell I didn't sleep! Our second day we hiked to the Alaska Basin where we learned even more geology (my head is going to explode if we talk about any more geology this week!) and saw some amazing views!

Lunchtime!

That second night I slept a little longer, but it was so cold! We woke up to frost and a really cold morning. We headed over Hurricane Pass, which was supposed to be really windy, but it wasn't! Again, some amazing views!

Just a little windy!

Our last night in camp there was a black bear roaming around, although we never saw it. But we were on the lookout! I was a bit terrified, and therefore only slept a little bit! Our last and final day was primarily a downhill walk, and I led our group out the entire time, because they thought it would be good for me, as it was my first backcountry trip. And I guess it probably was.

An almost empty bear box!

I made it!

This was an amazing experience, and I owe a lot to my teammates who helped me out along the way. I learned a lot about myself and everyone else, and I can't wait for the rest of the year!

Group pictures to come as they are on Kate's camera!

~Meghan

Skynyrd and Rocks

So Sunday night we got to see Lynyrd Skynyrd (for free) in Jackson Hole! That was pretty cool, seeing pretty much the entire town there and running into tons of people we know already.

Then yesterday I learned how to rock climb! It was so much fun, and everyone was really patient while teaching me the basics. Didn't climb anything difficult, but I will work up to it! Here are some pictures of us climbing.

Katherine

Me

Ben

Just a cool view

Kayd

Wyatt

Martha

Today we're off on our back country trip! 4 days and 3 nights in the Teton back country, yikes! I'm nervous but also incredibly excited to try something new. As long as I can carry my pack!

See you in a few days!

~Meghan

We survived week 2!

So Thursday was our defensive driving and vehicle training day! Since I am scared to drive anything bigger than my little Rav 4, I was extremely nervous about this!

But it went better than expected. The 15 passenger vans were alright, except that we had to watch a video about how unsafe they are and how often they roll! Not very reassuring. The mini buses were not my favorite. Too wide for me!

But we got to see the Jackson campus of Teton Science Schools, which was nice since some of us will be spending a great deal of time there. The challenge course was calling out to me, so I really hope we get a chance to do it at some point!

Yesterday saw us getting ready for our backcountry trip next week! This included splitting up gear and food, and learning how to pack a pack! At least I learned how to pack a pack... everyone else has done it before! But my pack is huge and I can barely carry it! Problematic...

Today Julie, Paige, Ashley and I went on an adventure to Oxbow Bend and Signal Mountain. At Oxbow Bend we saw a pelican, some deer, lots of ducks and an otter from afar! Then we went to the top of Signal Mountain for a pretty good view!

We saw some bison along the way

And some horses 

Pelican at Oxbow Bend

View of Mount Moran

On top of Signal Mountain!

Lots more happening this weekend!

~Meghan

Geology and mice

So the last two days have been spent learning all about the geology of the Tetons and Jackson Hole. We got to be outside for a significant portion of this time, and lucky for us the weather has been beautiful!

As someone who knew next to nothing about geology, these were two pretty intense days full of unfamiliar terms as well as landmarks. We've also been working with maps, another thing I just do not understand! But I'm working on it...

Something I found incredibly interesting was the amount of displacement that took place when then Tetons arose due to the Teton fault. About 30,000 feet of displacement! The Grand Teton is only 7,000 feet above the floor of Jackson Hole today, so imagine how high it might have been wayyyyy back in the day.

Today was spent mostly talking about glaciers, and how they formed this place that we are living in today. We hiked to Taggert Lake and did some fun activities along the way.

Not s good as last year's Teton handstand picture, but I will get another later!

Hiking to Taggert Lake

Cool rock formations

Such amazing views here. You can't take a bad picture!

Taggert Lake

We have also officially found mice in our cabin! Two have so far been found and ushered outside again, but I am now on the lookout!

Tomorrow we learn about defensive driving and how to drive the big vans! Not looking forward to that =/

~Meghan

Safari day!

I was a bit sad today because it is the first day of school for my Linfield friends! I miss you all and hope you have an amazing year!

This morning we had to wake up extra early to go on a wildlife tour! We saw a couple moose, lots of pronghorn, some sandhill cranes, bison, a Ferruginous hawk, and a Uinta ground squirrel. No bears or wolves yet, but I've still got 11 months!

Moose!

Two moose!

Pronghorn on a hill

Really leery of us...

A Ferruginous hawk

One of the last Uinta ground squirrels of the season

Our guides from TSS Wildlife Tours brought with them some specimens for us to look at in the vans. I had fun with the moose antlers! Again, these were NOT sheds collected within the park (not allowed), but specimens brought by our guides for educational purposes. As you can see…

We then got an official introduction to the Murie Museum, a museum on campus that houses some of the collection of Olaus and Mardy Murie. There are tons of specimens of all kinds of animals. It is absolutely amazing, and I get to do some work study in there this year!

~Meghan

Ouch!

Yesterday was a lazy day. I did some laundry, some reading for class this week, and ultimately got distracted by Netflix. Oops…

But a few of us went to Dornan's for a drink, and I had a lot of fun continuing to get to know people!

Today, a bunch of people were going on a hike up to Lake Solitude. I was a bit hesitant because I've never done any real hiking before, and thought 15 miles might be a little much for me. But I'm so nervous that the back country trip is going to kill me, so I decided I would get some hiking practice in by going with them today…

It was…painful. My knees and feet definitely were NOT happy by the end. I didn't take my trekking poles because I was dumb and didn't think it would be that bad. And I didn't wear my knee brace for the same reason. WRONG. It was a struggle. And the hike ended up being about 20 miles because we had to walk 2 miles to the trail head, and then same on the way back.

While my body is not happy with me for this endeavor, I feel very accomplished! I lagged behind a bit, but my classmates were awesome, and kept checking on me and taking turns lagging behind a bit with me. So thank you guys!

We did see some notable wildlife though! A young moose, 2 bull moose, a couple deer, lots of pikas, and a couple marmots! No pictures of the wildlife, sorry.

I now know what to do in the future, and for the back country trip to try and make my knees feel better!  Yay!

Here are some pictures of the scenery we saw along the way:

Sun is a problem, but at Inspiration Point

Inspiration Point

Look at those clouds!

Gorgeous!

I don't remember what this was

Wyatt in the distance

Lake Solitude…finally

It should be known that most of the group jumped in the (freezing!) lake. I did not.

Tomorrow we get to go on a wildlife tour to hopefully see some elk, moose, and maybe some wolves or bears!

~Meghan

Time to learn about bears!

Yesterday was our introduction to wildlife and life in the Tetons! This pretty much just entailed learning how to avoid and deter bears. Which means, we got our pepper spray, and got to practice using inert pepper spray cans. That was interesting…

We learned a bit about how to distinguish between black and grizzly bears, as well as some of the behavior they exhibit when stressed. A lot of people in class already have had experience with bears or bear country, but then there's me. With absolutely noooo idea what to do when I saw a bear! Well, now I do.

After dinner a few of us went on a short hike up one of the hills by ditch creek. I have to admit I was a little winded, but it was fun! Had to cross a few fallen trees over the water, which was not my cup of tea, but I managed. Saw some great views, and saw lot of limber pines and cones along the way! The trip back down the hill was a slippery mess, but sliding down on our feet seemed to work pretty well!

More bonding time in the commons last night, as well as a short hula lesson...

Some views from the top of the hill

Ditch creek

Today and tomorrow are free days, and I have no idea yet what I am going to do!

~Meghan