2005 Mountain Ecology Pictures

This trip started with a wet stop near Flagstaff, AZ (San Francisco peaks)	Their rainfall enables certain organisms to survive there (find the nickel).
It's a hard hike when you are not used to the high elevation (low oxygen)	The rain gave us an excuse to catch our breath under a tree
You gotta love trees in the mountains; this is a ponderosa pine	The aspens are pretty too
Forest fires are a part of the natural cycle of life.	The helicopter is part of trying to control these fires
We collected data and identified organisms after the rain (see the rainbow?)	We caught a very small horned lizard.  Animals are an big part of the trip.
Here's a deer and fawn (white rump) at Arches NP	Another fawn in Idaho mountains
A bull elk  . . . .	. . . . and a bison at Yellowstone NP
A herd of pronghorn at the Petrified Forest / Painted Desert NP in AZ	Can you see the black bear in this field at Glacier NP?
This ground squirrel was near the visitor's center at the top of Glacier NP.	It made friends with Anna
So did this chipmunk in Wyoming	This bat got caught in our "batmitten" net one night
Do hummingbirds really have wings?	Anna shows us that they do.
Lakes are also an important part of mountain ecosystems.	They are often at high elevation, often near the treeline.
This is Green River Lake, and looks like a postcard.	This "lake" at Yellowstone is active
Amazing scenery is everywhere on this trip.  This is Yellowstone NP . . . .	. . . . . Arches NP . . . .
Grand Canyon NP . . . . .	. . . . and Glacier NP
With backdrops like these, you just gotta take group pictures	The Grand Canyon is warmer than Glacier NP (AZ vs. MT)
Rocky Mountain NP peaks out at over 12000' above sea level.	The Petrified Forest / Painted Desert NP is considerably lower.
On the trip, we collected data for a class project	The crew poses for a photo
Caught something?	It's sometimes easier to find something than to identify it.
Sometimes it takes a lot of opinions to figure out what something is.	Collecting data also requires measuring things.
Which can be frustrating when the tape gets tangled	With all this hard work, everyone slept well.
When we arrived at our hunting lodge in Wyoming, we stayed for 4 days.	There we did individual projects,  from comparing east/west facing slopes . .
. . . . . to flower pollination, . . . . .	. . . . . .  to sampling fish to determine their diets.
Evenings were more relaxing, especially when Nathan composed and played songs, sometimes accompanied by Zach and Anna.
To repay the Binnings for use of their lodge, we stacked a little wood	All in all, the trip was a great experience.  Time to start planning the next trip!