Hikes Help Clear Your Head

I had been working and leading tours for about nine-ten days straight. I think being sick with that terrible cold really got the best of me to the point where I was not at the top of my game. Today, I was finally given a day of rest to 1) sleep in of course, 2) get some errands done, and 3) do something for me. So, today, I was able to sleep in past 8am (which is something I never get to do), I bought a new phone (finally upgraded!), and then go on a hike with my friend, Jamie.

Jamie ended up taking me to Ski Lake in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. I had never been there, so she said it would be a good 2-3 hour hike to get out of town and clear my head of all things. She was totally right. The hike was awesome! At parts challenging and totally made me realize I need to get out more (a little out of shape), but when we got to the lake, it was just glorious views!

Look at this Beautiful Lake!

As we sat on the lake edge, we could hear Pika chirps and meeps. So, we decided to explore over to the other side of the lake in search of them. Along the way, we totally found some fossils! How cool is that?!?? So we totally switched focus and found some fossils to take home in our packs. There was one rock that I wanted, but it was literally the size of my torso. Too big to carry home, but I did get a whole bunch other ones to cover my desk with! 

Crikey! We got shells in the mountains!

So stinking cool! Usually I find these in the store!

Today's hike with Jamie was pretty awesome. I am really glad and incredibly appreciative of taking me and letting me come on this hike. She's a great person to hike with and it was awesome to nerd out and look for these fossils. It was definitely a good brain break, way to clear my head, and to not think about working. :)

TheChristyBel

Geo-Nerding Out!

Two Girls Gros-Venturing in Dresses

After having breakfast in town at the Lotus Cafe (a must go-to if you ever visit Jackson Hole), I drove back to Kelly Campus to not unpack from rock climbing or camping at the Wedding Tree...no sir-ee, I just dropped off all my gear, packed up my daypack, and headed back onto the trail, this time with Mandy, one of the graduate students.

Mandy and I share a lot of things in common, like a love for wearing spandex and patterned pants, but one thing that we both have been craving is a decent day-hike...no, not a hike up and down a trail that takes about 30-45 minutes...but a nice, long, legit day-hike! Every time we decided or planned to attempt to hike something, the weather would fall through, we'd have a program to teach, or we were completely exhausted from work!

This time, we were not going to let anything get in our way! So, I get back to campus and meet her in the Dining Lodge to go over the day's hike. She is already talking to a bunch of faculty who have hiked this route before and getting the details of what we were going to have to do.

Today's Mission of a Hike: Hike in the Bridger-Teton National Forest to the 9190' elevation peak, literally in our backyard from Kelly Campus. Super pumped! We learned that we could take part of the route that we use when we backcountry camp with students in Ditch Creek up to Cobble Ridge, but instead of going down towards one of our backcountry campsites, you continue along Cobble Ridge to the east on a horse pack trail. Oh...and another side note, we were both in dresses! Another Super Pumped reason we are awesome!

Our Hike Path-Map!

Our View from the Backcountry Trip Overlook Lunch Spot

Once you get onto the horsepack trail, it is that time of the hike where you get out your map, compass, and orienteering skills and put your bushwhacking skills to the test! Since there is no exact trail from Kelly Campus to 9190' you must get your bearings from a high point, gain your orientation and put that compass to work and just go forward in that direction!

See That Peak All the Way in the Background?!?!
Yep, That is What we Hiked and Bushwhacked To!

When Mandy and I were on the horsepack trail, we oriented ourselves to the map and stated that once we found a small little lake, we would stop and have lunch. This little lake was the last mark that would help us determine where we were on the quest before having to rely on the surrounding mountains and geologic landmarks for bearings. We get to this area where the horsepack trail started curving to the southeast and we both stated, there should be a lake around here somewhere...nothing. As we got closer to the ridge, we look down and low-and-behold, there it was! So tiny! Boom - our orienteering skills - on point! so far!

The tiny little lake!

As we were eating lunch, I looked down near my pack and shared with Mandy my discovery - 'Why are there shells on top of a ridgeline?' and then she reminded me - 'Ancient Seas, Christy! Ancient Seas!' And to our surprise, we found fossilized shells from the anicent seas! So cool! All of the information and knowledge that the faculty instilled in us at the beginning of the year and what we teach our students - came full circle to actually finding evidence! Boom!

Ancient Seas' Fossilized Shells
On Top of a Ridge!

Continuing On Our Quest
We Were 'Half-Way' There!?!

Our Lunch Site View
Absolutely Gorgeous!

After lunch, we followed the ridgeline until we realized the horsepack trail was going to the south more than northwest. If we continued to follow the horsepack path, we would end up heading down towards Turpin Creek. So, it was declared...it was time to get our legs scratched and bushwhack...Oh! Did I mention Mandy and I were both in dresses for this trek!?

Bushwhacking in the Gros Ventre is really challenging - sure there are your standard prickers like wild rose, your waist-high shrubs, and well the no-trail deal, but let me just say that the Gros Ventre also has a few gems of its own as well: like lots and lots of dead trees (still standing, toppled over, or intricately creating mazes for you to climb over, under, and around; not to mention the best gem of all....MOSQUITOS! Just letting you all know now, after this trek...I can still hear them buzzing that annoying buzz in my ears!

Keeping on the Bushwhack Trek!

Let me tell you, Mandy and I definitely worked on and perfected our leadership and community member skills that represent the Teton Science Schools Graduate Program. Effectively being able to be open with Mandy regarding my intense fears of being in dead standing trees was great - we were able to communicate and collaborate together on which routes to take and which direction we needed to be in. Not to mention, since we were definitely not in bear numbers, we found creative ways to make the bears (if they were in the area) known of our presence - like talking in loud, funny accents and just talking about any and everything.

Survived One of MANY Dead Tree Stands!

As much as Teton Science Schools programming works their grad students to lead hikes up and down strenuous terrain, the trek to 9190' was beyond strenuous - even for experienced hikers like Mandy and myself! We were totally huffing and puffing and sucking air to get up there! Lots of breaks is definitely key!

At the Base of 9190'! Almost there!

Almost There...It's Right Up There!

So here's the timeframe that we went through: by the time we hit Cobble Ridge and forked up the horsepack path, that was about an hour into the hike, two hours into the hike we were eating lunch, and  it took three hours to bushwhack our way to our destination; by 4:00pm we were heading up the steep sides to 9190!

By 4:40pm, we got to the top of 9190' and actually had cell phone service! Called our Emergency Point of Contact, Aaron (a TSS grad faculty) to let him know we made it to the top and that we were going to be late getting back (aka not getting back in time for dinner!).

Checking the Elevation For Proof!

The view from 9190' was awesome! You could see everything - not just the Teton Mountain Range, but the Gros Ventre Slide, Jackson Peak, all of Sleeping Indian and beyond, Mt. Leidy, and the rest of the Gros Ventre Range that was hidden from what is beyond the Kelly Campus! It was absolutely gorgeous and breath-taking...we could not believe that the view we saw literally in our backyard! Crazy!

There Was STILL Snow Up There!

Purple Flowers & The Gros Ventre Slide (left top corner of photo)

Summit Posing from 9190'
(Mt. Leidy & the Gros Ventre Mountain Range in my background)

Large Giant Ant Hills!
Photo Credit to Mandy Redpath, fellow Teton Science Schools Graduate Student

Bushwhacking down was another intense part of our trip - we decided to go another way back instead of taking the path we came in. So we decided to follow the ridgeline of 9190' back towards of the streams that leads to the South Fork and eventually catch back up with the backcountry route towards the Ditch Creek Road Trailhead Car Access point. This was really challenging because along the stream, it was super dense full of conifers, willows, dead snags galore, and our favorite...MOSQUITOS! So gross! There was a point in our trek back, that we were literally in a storm of them, and as I was searching for my Natrapel bug spray, Mandy was hitting my back in attempts to squash those buggers! Such a process! But we finally descended back to the elevation we wanted, and hit a 4WD access path, which led us into a meadow.

I am not sure if was from being sun-tired, a little dehydrated, or just hungry/tired in general...but once we hit that first meadow, I kept saying...'Oh my gosh, this may be Grace's Meadow (the meadow we camped in during the backcountry trip).' And as we looked about the whole meadow - no trails, no nothing! Bummer! So we continued to bushwhack - continually talking in funny accents and saying, 'You know what we would appreciate right now...A Trail!' We came upon a second meadow, and similar to the first - no trail and no sign of Grace's Meadow. So after stopping to fill and purify our water bottles with Aquamira, we trekked further, and low and behold, an 'A-ha!' moment! We found Grace's Meadow - I was so excited with joy! And then...answering to our wishes, a trail was found! We followed the trail through Grace's Meadow, passed Shark Fin Meadow, and finally got to the trailhead and access road.

It took Mandy and I about 4-hours after summiting 9190' to actually arrive back to the Kelly Campus. By the time we got back, our knees were in throbbing pain (bad knees), we were hungry, tired, and totally scratched up from the thighs down! But it was sooooo worth it!

Mandy's Aftermath From the Dress and Sandals Expedition to 9190!
Photo Credit to Mandy Redpath, fellow Teton Science Schools Graduate Student

Overall, it was such a wonderful hike - Mandy was a great hiking companion! Collaborating on routes, great person to have chats and stories with, and a wonderful person to experience summiting 9190 with! Thanks, girl!

TheChristyBel

You Think You're Bad Ass?
Try Two Girls Gros-Venturing in Dresses Through Lots of Prickers and Mosquitos!
That's Right...Second Guess Your Bad-Ass Level!
Photo Credit to Mandy Redpath, fellow Teton Science Schools Graduate Student

Camping at Wedding Tree

Saturday was an awesome day! In the early afternoon, Marc and I made it to the Enclosure Rock Gym for a few hours to test out my new harness and get into top-rope climbing. Super fun although really tiring - haven't been on a wall in a long time and definitely rarely on a harness! It was great that I remembered a bunch of terms and processes from my EMS days and that Schools to Stores professional development day at Chickie's Rock! Now it was time to try it, Teton's Style! Another awesome moment, when I discovered I could climb a 5.8-5.9 route! So exciting! Now...its time to work on some of the projects that stumped me then onto outside!

That evening, we decided to go camping in the Bridger-Teton National Forest; this was awesome because 1.) you do not need to reserve a spot - it's first come, first serve! 2.) you can have a campfire and 3.) and the view from this particular campsite was phenomenal!

The Clouds Slowly Moving Out of the Teton Landscape

The campground near the Gros Ventre Slide holds some really nice sites that overlook the Teton viewscape! Located near the Wedding Tree, there are a few little campfire pits to the north of the two Wedding Tree. The view was a little iffy when we got there at first - there were really big and dark storm clouds lurking over the Tetons. We were both a little worried if the dark clouds were headed east towards us. Luckily, the wind directed northward and started to pass behind the Tetons and stayed away from us!

A Beautiful Sunset Building! We Were Waiting For the Spectacular to Start!

We decided to bring dinner to cook over the fire - aluminum foil packet dinners! So delicious - made a ground beef and lamb dish with cut up sweet potatoes, tomato, and onions. All ingredient were placed together, seasoned, and placed in the foil, then wrapped up to cook all together on the embers of the fire from the awesome fire place of a pit at our campsite. Sorry, there was no photo of the meal - too delicious to take a photo before eating.

In the Mean Time, Built a Fire to Cook Our Dinner and Heat Up the Evening!

Oh Man, Look at That Sunset Starting to Peak Its Way Out!

During dinner, we looked up and the sunset that we saw...let me tell you, it was so beautiful! the clouds were blocking the direct rays of the sun, so you could only see a few rays peaking through. It was completely gorgeous - full of shades of dark purple, magenta, pink, orange, yellow, and red. Absolutely stunning! And well the spectacular did not just last during dinner, it lasted until 9pm-ish - constantly changing its color patterns and the rays from the sun as they peaked through the clouds.

Dun-Dun-Dun!!!!! Such a Sunset!
Photo Credit to Marc Sweet

The next morning before packing up, we woke up to no clouds in the sky and a clear view of the Tetons! Such a great night!

Great night for a night outside!
TheChristyBel

Natural History in Kelly

Since the weather has slowly been warming up, the sun is shining, and the snow is melting, we have been seeing Kelly Campus get a little more active and frequented by many visitors!  

A Ground Squirrel Meeting Me on My Cabin Porch

The first visitor is a small little furball that only stays out in the open for 3-months out of the entire year - the Ground Squirrel.  Although, they may look cute, these little rascals like to make residency under many cabins and scurry and squeak all night long!  Including under my cabin...yes, not fun when you do not get much sleep and need to teach from 9am - 5pm!  Also, they are quite fearless.  You can get pretty close to them before you scare them and they scurry off!

Wolf Scat!

Wolves have not been sighted on Kelly Campus, however, evidence tells us that they do get pretty close.  Like back over spring break, I found the tracks on one of our back trails.  While in Bradley Taggart this past week, my students and I discovered some large scat.  Tapered at both ends with visible fat and protein in the droppings in large segments clearly defined that this scat was from a large canine - a wolf!  So exciting!

Driving home, herds of hundreds of elk have been migrating from the National Elk Refuge back to the higher elevations in the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.  So it has been really awesome to see the huge camel/horse-like animals cross roads and on the sage flats in Kelly.  However, they are very skiddish and can be really a dangerous situation to drive around on the roads with since they are unpredictable when crossing highways.  Also, when not crossing, they will pick their heads up and just stare at your car - almost looking as if they were judging you!

On Wednesday, my students and I visited the Gros Ventre Slide area - including Slide Lake, Kelly Warm Springs, and the Wedding Tree.  While conducting water quality tests on Slide Lake, we came across a crazy find - a full elk carcass!  It was really cool.  Examining the whole skeleton, including the jaw and skull area was really interesting because those body parts are able to give us clear evidence on identifying the animal.  If you examine the skull and notice there are no upper incisors, that is a key factor, as well as the interesting canines that this herbivore has!  The Elk is one of the only ungulates and herbivores that have canines!  In fact, Ivory Canines!  After teaching, Joe, Hazel, and I went back to the carcass and removed the canines to clean for earrings!  I also took the lower jaw to use as a teaching tool - at the moment it is still soaking in a hydrogen peroxide bath to clean off left over tissue and dirt.  Picture of the elk canine earring and lower jaw bone - TBA!  

PS. Since this carcass was in the National Forest, the specimens were okay to take!  Do not worry, I did not take anything from the National Park!

Full Elk Carcass Skeleton

Elk Skull - Lower Jaw Bone was the Only Part Salvageable for Teaching Tools

Notice No Top Incisors and the Canines on the Elk Skull!

Ok, back to Kelly campus...so, lately with all the ground squirrels emerging out from hibernation, we have had another visitor.  Francis the Fox loves to eat ground squirrels.  Francis is a Kelly Campus local and can be seen from time to time around.  Very used to humans, Francis is known to get close to the residents and visitors of the KC, however, she never begs for food or poses any issue of human endangerment.  

Francis the Fox

So adorable!

This afternoon, I went on a hike around the Kelly Campus trails in search of Aspen Markings for an Aspen Community lesson.  Looking for 'Butterfly Tracks' are evidence of Elk Browsing - when grasses are limited in the winter, elk will resort to nutritional aspen bark.  Since they do not have upper incisors, they are known to scrape from the bottom up to feed on the aspen.  As a result, the tree will attempt to heal itself and cause a butterfly-shaped scar on the trunk.

Elk 'Butterfly' Aspen Markings

The last Aspen marking I was in search of was the drilled holes from the Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker.  These are a lot harder to find, but along the road, I found an old one as well as a fresh one! - even with sap still coming out of it!  This type of woodpecker will bore holes into the tree to consume the sticky, sweet sap.  The evidence is displayed on the trees in horizontal and grid-like holes.  If over-consumption occurs on a single tree, the sapsucker can totally girdle a tree and result preventing water from traveling up the tree and suffocating/killing the tree.

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker Bore Holes

I hope you enjoyed the Kelly Campus Natural History!

Do not worry, there will be more to come!

TheChristyBel

The Wedding Tree

This afternoon, Sarah, Mary Beth, and I explored and scoped out some sites for teaching later this week with the Snake River Montessori School.  For Wednesday, we were focusing on natural disturbances and hydrogeology/geothermal activity in the Tetons.  So we scoped out the Kelly Warm Springs and the Gros Ventre Slide.

For a full-view stop of the Teton Mountain Range and the Gros Ventre Slide, Mary Beth suggested that we should all take our students to see the Wedding Tree.  

I had not been there before, so I was pretty interested on what this place was.  Since I was on Outreach in the Fall, many local areas are still NEW to me, since our places to take students were pretty limited in the Winter.  

Getting to the Wedding Tree was really simple.  You just follow the main road past the Kelly Warm Springs into the Bridger-Teton National Forest driving like you were to go to the Gros Ventre Slide Trailhead.  Instead, make one of the first rights for the first pull off where you can see a great view of the Gros Ventre Slide and take a 2-minute walk to the most beautiful viewscapes I have ever seen.

The Wedding Tree and the Beautiful View

The view was absolutely amazing and not to mention, the trees on either side are quite remarkable too!  They are over 300-years old!  So cool!

TheChristyBel