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!