Erin's Blog!: September 2007

Cutest Kids Ever!

We spent some time up at the Vredevoogd's cottage on Glen Lake. Here are some shots of Ethan and Violet playing together...too cute!

Underage, should we say?

Laurie's Bachelorette Party!

Our friend Laurie came up all the way from Florida for her bachelorette party. Her sister did a great job of making the night a lot of fun! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the bride-to-be!

Kelly and I.

Stephanie and I.

During the drive home I was amazed at the change in scenery throughout most of Wyoming. Here are a few shots from the drive. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the Sturgis Biker Rally bikers who helped me when my car broke down. They were a great help!

Jackson, Wyoming

During my trip out west this summer, I spent some time visiting Mary, an old friend from college, in Jackson Wyoming. We spent some time in the Tetons and also did an overnight in the Windriver Range.

The Tetons

A double rainbow! So pretty!

Mary on the gondola at Teton Village.

The following photos are from our trip through the Wind River Range.

Fireweed

Cheryl with her dog Smoky. He was a champ and even had his own backpack!

Mary checking out the view.

Mary and I with Smoky.

Dawson Pitamakan

These photos are from a hike a few of us did on one of our off weekends during my U Montana class. For those of you who know my "bear scare" story from my trip to Glacier with my brother in 2000, this is the hike that we were supposed to do before we were evacuated. It was great to finally complete the hike! With Chris, we were planning on breaking up the 18.8-mile loop into two days. We made it to Old Man Lake the first day and then were evacuated. This time, we did the whole loop in one day. It ranks up there in my top hikes...spectacular views!

Two Medicine Lake - location of the trailhead. A general note about these pictures: the mountains are typically much more snow covered. I was there late in the season, plus they had an abnormally warm summer which most likely contributed to the snow melt.

Starting the hike, only 18.8 miles to go!

When I was here in 2000, this area had a large stream flowing through it.

Making our way! We're getting higher!

Old Man Lake, our lunch stop. This is as far as we got in 2000 and was also the location of the infamous bear incident.

Lupines! My favorite wildflower. They were pretty scarce during my trip because it was late in the season. I was so exctied to see some!

A cute little squirrell...apparently they live at high elevations as well.

We made it to the top! A view of Pitamakan Lake.

Christina and Emily at the top. It was windy!

Sam and Emily ventured out to these rocks! They are brave! They finally convinced Christina and I to climb out there as well...it wasn't that scary!

Making our way down...a view of No Name Lake.

Two Medicine Lake...finally we made it back!

Conservation Ecology -- University of Montana Biological Station

Here are some photos from the 2 week course I took this summer. We stayed in small cabins on the beautiful Flathead Lake in northern Montana, the site of the university's biological research station. Most of our days were spent in the field in Glacier National Park with various conservationists. We met with scientists who work on projects ranging from grizzly population management, grey wolf conservation, fire ecology, tadpole breeding habits to invasive plants. Their work was inspiring and along the way we had the opportunity to see some beautiful scenery!

Here is an evening view from my cabin on Flathead Lake. I loved the way the sun peered through the clouds.

Harrison Lake, GNP.

Jeff Stetz, who works on the grizzly population project, installs a camera to try to catch images of grizzlies rubbing on bear rub trees.

Bear rub tree.

Nayak Flood Plain. Here we studied tadpole breeding ponds.

Boreal Toad tadpoles!!

Polebridge is a VERY small town near the northern portion of Glacier. It was quite eclectic. Below are some shots of the area.

Their only bathroom was this outhouse.

They even had a three legged dog roaming around. So cute!

A baby spruce grouse that a classmate of mine snatched up. Probably not the best idea!

Diane Boyd, a wolf researcher showing us a bear rub tree -- there were remnants of grizzly hair caught on the bark of the tree.

Wolf skat . . . a little gross! Diane explained that this must have been from a wolf that was "lower" in the pack order. Its skat was full of hair indicating that it was one of the last to eat from the kill and didn't get much meat.

An old wolf den near Dover's Pike, GNP.

Hidden Meadow, GNP.

Mr. toad just hangin' out! We spent a day tromping through the muck catching toads and swabing them in order to check for signs of chytrid virus.

Aster Falls, GNP. Here we spent time searching for rocky mountain tailed frog tadpoles. They lach on to the bottom of river rock and thrive in very cold water.

Bouman Lake, GNP. Here we spoke with Wade Fredenberg about the plight of the Bull Trout, a species whose numbers have been declining.