Relishing in my last bits of undergrad status

This is my final final's week of my undergrad career and I won't lie - it feels like every other one, full of last minute compilation due to my intense procrastination skills...ah yes, always well prepared. I'm preparing for a seasonal plant position down at Mesa Verde NP in Colorado this summer, meaning my research experience here on the Elwha is rapidly concluding. I feel incredibly fortunate to have participated in the research that I did - where else would I get to randomly trek through a gorgeous watershed looking for animal sign, tote around liters of pungent blood, wade snow-fed rivers, and cross logs when wading just wasn't an option...the Elwha is an incredible area and I will definitely miss the river, people, and general vibe associated with this special place...

The Upper Elwha

Elkhorn Ranger Station

Lindsey rescenting a snare pile

This past week I have trekked through some beautiful areas of Olympic National Park, beginning with the bear monitoring up past Hayes Ranch on the Elwha, and then out to Hoh for a leisure backpack adventure. The bear trip went very smoothly, Lindsey and Carolyn were great company and between the gorgeous scenery, storytelling, and delicious food, I forgot that this was technically a "business trip". In total, we visited 9 bear snares, located between the Lillian crest and 2 miles above Hayes Ranch. Each snare visit required an inspection of the barbed wire for any bear hair and the rescenting of a centrally-located woodpile, hanging lure-drenched rag, and rub tree. The rag and rub tree were scented with a pungent beaver castor and the woodpile was saturated with fermented cattle blood - a scent I swear still lingers in my pack...

While out, we saw two black bears, a young little guy who immediately climbed a tree when we spotted him and then a larger adult who was roaming the floodplain and darted off after seeing us. Both encounters provided great visuals without that unnerving feeling - the perfect bear sitings! In total, we spent 4 days up the Elwha and only collected hair from 1 snare, a disappointing collection but pretty standard for this time of year according to the professionals.

Like much of the wildlife research, the bear hair will be analyzed for nutrient content, focusing on marine-derived concentrations. This is the 3rd and final year of this study, and the results will be compared to a 3 year study following the dam removal to see how nutrient dynamics change with hopeful anadromous fish migration and other dam removal activity.

Elkhorn, here I come!

View from Storm King Mountain

With the quarter's end rapidly approaching, the chaos of wrap-up is upon me and the weather is getting more and more lovely! Mel, Pete, Chris, Jenna, and I hiked into an abandoned campground up the Dungeness on Friday night and enjoyed a stellar starch-filled meal of cheesy mac and mashed potatoes while listening to what we believe was a spotted owl (cheers to the spotted owl-meeting bastard who declared that practically all spotted owls are dead...on his windshield?!?! Yep, he said it...) - it was an awesome evening and we enjoyed a great lab outside roaming the Miller Peninsula on Saturday. Next week I'll be joining the bear folks for a trek up to Elkhorn, an area I've yet to visit and as my time is limited here on the Peninsula, I'm super stoked to check it out~ bears have been spotted the last 2 outings, so we'll see what happens!

Vidal Sassoon (...ask Shae)

Last week the snow group headed down to Hood River for the Western Snow Conference, a collection of snow-related mayhem ranging from streamflow forecasting and reservoir management to glacier meltoff issues. It was an incredibly relaxed atmosphere, in part because we didn't deliver a formal spiel, but instead presented a poster with our Deer Park Fire/Snow Course research. Adding to the relaxation was the general vibe of Hood River, where the wind was funneling through the Gorge, providing stellar sights of kite and wind surfers working their magic on the Columbia. We also stopped by Full Sail Brewery where I enjoyed some tasty tempeh with my brew...over all this conference provided good insight into the professional aspect of snow hydrology.

Meanwhile, the bear folks made their first backcountry trip this week, where they reset bear snares with liters of rancid blood, hoping to attract activity and collect bear hair left behind on the wire. Next week will be some front country action and my first exposure to this lovely blood concoction...sounds good to me!

Elk at ONP's Elwha entrance

Carolyn with a "Pile O' Parasites"

The spring quarter is in its second week and the madness has begun to churn! This is the last week of otter work and we've had a stellar past few weeks. The insanely pleasant weather has provided us with a wonderful hiking ambiance - between the great hikes, Carolyn's birding skills, and the classic storytelling sessions, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on this project. Last week we bushwacked the upper east side of Lake Mills and came across the most gnarly pile of parasites ever - the poor otter deposited nothing but a little jelly and 11 long, nematode-esque worms - it was an epic collection frenzy...Bear monitoring is next on the agenda, and I hope help out as much as possible!

The snow group is gearing up for next week's Western Snow Conference in Hood River, OR which sounds like a pretty cool event (with a pre-conference pit stop at Grandma Dona's for some out-of-this-world veggie lasagna ~ mmmm....) - Cheers to wrapping up the Deer Park stats analysis!

the FINAL push...

Daylight savings is here and I am loving it! Last night I took Elsie (that adorable dog above) on a walk at 7:30 pm and it wasn't pitch black - hooray! The madness of finals week is upon us here in PA, which means my wildlife group video and personal otter podcast are up for evaluation - yep, I'm a tech-loving gal (Ok, it really hasn't been that bad thanks to Kathy, a tech guru in my eyes...). Because there is more to the research than the tech-aspect, thank god, Robert and I hiked into 4 latrine sites on the west side of the Elwha last week. This is a stretch of the river I hadn't explored, and it was awesome - gorgeous views, lots of hiking, a HUGE Douglas Fir, and some interesting activity at the snare sites. Robert showed me a partially-submerged beaver den, and judging by the size of the entrance, those beavers are a lot bigger than I imagined - after learning they are in fact a rodent, I became a bit less enthused (though Robert ensured me that encounters are rare and they are not crazy, rabid critters (some say that about rats too, aaaahh! just kidding...kind of).

As for the hydrology folks, I am working on some statistical analyses of the Deer Park data, which we will present in April at the Western Snow Conference in Hood River, OR - not a bad place to be for a few days! But, in the meantime, I'm focusing on surving this week, and looking forward to a stellar roadtrip over Spring Break~

The search continues...

Last week I worked with the 2 USGS otter biologists, Robert and Carolyn, in the continuing, but nearly completed, inventory of potential otter latrines and snare sites. Carolyn and I hiked down the Lake Mills trail on the east side of the Elwha with the lead of a potential latrine site. Unfortunately we found no signs, but the ticks found me - 2 of the little bastards were on the attack, but luckily I discovered their trespassing before they really dug in...yum. The day continued with a lot of river searching with little luck, but I did discover some stellar swimming holes and good jumping spots (definitely on the agenda for this summer...or sooner). Robert and Carolyn expect to have this initial inventory done soon and then we'll begin to check every snare site on a weekly basis, collecting hair follicles and sending them in for DNA analysis. The weather's been awesome, and I'm loving my time spent outside~