Cape Cod in the Fall

So, here I sit on a Saturday afternoon, at the kitchen table of my apartment, listening to good music, reviewing for looming midterms, and thinking.

This semester has been going really well so far. The work load is more than I imagined it would be, but the people in my program are all so unique, quirky, spontaneous, deep, and caring. I love them all so much after 5 weeks - we are all like a big family. There is Brendan O'Leary, who lives in the boys apartment across the hall, and plays the bagpipes and the penny whistle. There is David, who is in my lab group, and loves to beat-box. There is Sara, who can knit anything (and has got us all on our own projects - even the boys). My roommates are awesome, and so is my lab group. After class we usually go running, biking, or swimming in the ocean or a Beebe Woods in Deep Pond. On the weekends we relax and watch movies projected on the blank wall in the boys apartment, and go contra-dancing. Last night Brian gave me 251 new songs, and so I've been listening to them, and also pondering the mid-term study questions: How has CO2 and O2 varied in the atmosphere over the last 3 billion years?

It is a beautiful day - I went biking this morning, and I wish that I could study outside. I'm having a little trouble focusing because both my roommates are away, and so I'm alone in my apartment, with out other people to tell me to focus. I've also (as always) been thinking about how much I miss Colorado, and the friends that I made there. I've been plotting how I could get back there after I graduate. I'll definitely look for job openings in Aspen, or maybe I could do a NOLS program out in the West somewhere. I had such an amazing summer, but I think I'm finally starting to be able to focus on the fun I'm having here instead of day-dreaming about the road-trip to Yellowstone.

Cape Cod is beautiful in the fall, and when I run, it makes me miss Cross Country so very much. I miss the team, and being so in shape, and doing so much more than sitting in class all day. But this program is really interesting. In a lot of ways, to me, it feels like the summer science programs that I used to do when I was in middle and high school. But much more intense.

I just wanted to write to tell you all (well, at least Jessica, whom I miss tons and is the only person I know reads this)that I am doing well. And also I wanted a break from work. I hope that you are enjoying the fall as well!

Woods Hole

I have moved locations! Now I'm in Woods Hole, Mass, and I've started a program called the Semester In Environmental Studies, through the Marine Biological Laboratory. It's pretty hard to focus still, and I keep day-dreaming about what a wonderful summer I had, but its good so far. I really like the people. Its going to be a hard semester, though. The day starts at 8:30 and usually goes until 5, then a short run, dinner, and homework until 10:30, which has become my new bed-time. Hopefully I'll have time for some fun this weekend! I really want to explore the Cape some. We'll see. I'll write when there's more to tell!

August

Well, it's really surprising, but here in Aspen, we can all feel fall coming! At lower elevations the fall flowers like asters and Perry's Gentian are blooming, and up at the tops of valleys the nights are getting very cold, and there is frost!

The internship continues to go really well! Unfortunately, though, a few days ago people that applied to be winter naturalists heard if they got it or not, and also people have started to leave to go back to school, so the mood is kind of mellow.

I also haven't left this valley since I got here on June 6th, and I am getting very restless. But guess what!? Before I leave for Connecticut Jade and I are going to go on a road trip to Yellowstone (I think)! I am in the library trying to figure out where we would stay, and how much driving this would involve. It is A LOT of driving, and we only have about 4 days total, but we'll see if we can pull it off. If we decide not to go so far, we can always explore some of the cool National Forests and National Parks that are closer to us.

I am starting to look forward to going home. I know that the minute that I leave Colorado I will miss it tremendously, but I also miss Connecticut, and just New England in general. I can't believe that I've been gone ALL summer! I have a feeling that when I get back the heat will surprise me. The weather here has been gorgeous - mid-70s, beautiful blue skies, and everything. Today, actually, though, there was a thunderstorm in the morning that woke me up (we hardly ever have storms except for in the afternoon), and it has been gray and rainy all day. But I don't mind. I have the day off, so I might take a nap, bake something, and read some today. Oh, and start packing :(

Well, I just thought I'd write since I haven't in so long. I hope that all the people that read this are doing well!

First Campsite, Snowmass Lake

4 Pass Loop

Hey, there, dear Readers! I'm not sure if there are any of you out there anymore, but I shall faithfully write anyway.

So last Saturday to Monday, Jade and I hiked the 4 Pass Loop, 28 (I think) miles around the Maroon Bells. I won't describe the technicalities of the hike itself, because this PDF does it pretty well:

The whole hike was absolutely gorgeous, and we both had a blast.

The first day we hiked about 11 miles, over two passes, and down to a valley/canyon that Jade and I re-named "Forever Basin", just because the real name sounds kind of like that and is harder to pronounce and remember, and we thought that Forever Basin sounded nicer. The alpine meadows that we hiked though were FULL of tons of beautiful wildflowers, more than I even knew! It was amazing! The first night we camped by a waterfall and an area where an avalanche had crossed the river, and was still in the process of melting. I would post a picture of it, but I'm having trouble doing that, right now. The snow basically formed two curved awnings over the river, and were melting, drop by drop, into the water, like it was raining. It was very cool. We were exhausted from getting up at 5:30 and hiking so long, so we only stayed awake long enough to watch the first stars come out, and then we went to sleep.

The next morning we hiked down a beautiful waterfall -- it must have been 100 feet tall! and we had to wade across the river several times, in our sandals. The water was so cold that it hurt our feet, but there were so many trees fallen over the trail, that it was impassable, and so we walked along the other side of the river. Actually, one of the US Forest Service employees that is living in the Bunkhouse with me this summer is soon going to clean up that area! Jade and I were wondering who was going to have to go camp in this beautiful area and clean it up for their job (not such a bad gig!). When we finally found the trail again and put our hiking boots back on, we hiked up and over Trail Rider Pass. It was a VERY challenging climb. From the top we could see Snowmass Lake, a very large, very deep and very blue alpine lake. We hiked down to it, and found a great campsite. I wanted to go swimming, but it got cloudy towards sunset. The moon was so bright that the stargazing that night was not very good, but I was much warmer than the previous night.

In the morning I finally got the chance to go swimming and sit in a spot of morning sun to warm up after. We practically had the lake to ourselves! Afterward, though, I had a hard time warming up, and so I sat outside in my sleeping bag and drank some coffee that Jade made for us. That didn't actually help all that much, but once we started hiking, I sure warmed up and dried off fast!

That afternoon we hiked up and over Buckskin Pass, and right about that time, a thunderstorm hit us. The view of the storm and the lightning right over the Bells was spectacular! We also met a man who must have been 70 years old, who was hiking the same loop we were leaving (and he only had one tooth!).

When we started nearing Crater Lake, where we head back to civilization, we were both sad to be leaving, but we were very tired, and out feet hurt. The 2 mile hike from Crater to Maroon Lake seemed to take forever! Once we got home, we went out to pizza for an early dinner, and Jade headed out to Denver. I went to bed early, and since then, it sure has been hard to get back into the swing of things!

The last two days I have been working at -- you guessed it -- the Maroon Bells! That has been interesting, and it has been really great to tell visitors about my trip! The hike from Crater to Maroon Lake and back, which I have had to do several times in the last two days, is MUCH easier without a 35 pound bag on my back!

This was only a very quick over-view of the trip. I had such a great time, if you want to hear more, I would be happy to tell you about it all in detail! There are so many other things that I could write about - like my week up at Toklat, but I think this is all for now!

Busy Week!

Man! Another busy week! I just thought I'd update my blog for all you faithful followers, so that you don't worry about my well-being.

Yesterday Kendall and I biked from Aspen to Rock Bottom Ranch, which is also owned by ACES. I got to milk a goat! It seems like a really cool place - they make their own soap, and they spin yearn there, and can things, and all other crazy things! Then Kendall and I accidentally rode all the way to Carbondale - total a 30 mile trip! It was REALLY nice to get out of Aspen, though! We took the bus back, thank goodness, because it would be 30 miles of gradual uphill back. There was a rainbow in the evening, too! A FULL one. I love rainbows.

There was a cook-out for Lindsey Fortier and her husband for them moving that night, and I had my second hamburger in roughly 10 year (my first was a few weeks ago)! I keep on telling all my co-workers about all the "firsts" I have here - first hamburger, first cup of coffee, and all those kinds of things, and they say that I am moving at a kind of dangerous pace - ha ha ha!

Well, I have to go buy some thread to mend something for a friend, so that's all I'll write for now. Next week I will be living at Toklat, so I will have no cell of internet service (unless I come back to Aspen for a bit). So I will be a little out of touch for a week. I hope you all are having great summers, too!

Pictures

Blue Columbine, the Colorado State Flower:

Work

Sorry I haven't written in so long! Once work started for real, I've been so busy! The tours are going pretty well, although I still feel like I have a lot to learn, overall. I mostly have the nature stuff down, and what I need to work on is dealing with people... Things have been pretty slow during the day, but I hear that after the 4th of July (I can't believe its already July!), things really pick up. It has started thunderstorming in the afternoon almost every day now, and I really like it! It cools off, rains and thunders for about 30 minutes, and then clears up and gets sunny again.

The site where I have been scheduled for a lot is on Snowmass Mountain. I begin the day with a 2-hour wildflower walk at 10am, and then ride the gondola up to Elk Camp Meadows, and lead a tour in a pin forest, called Rabbit Run Trail, at 1pm. Then I sit at the desk outside for a while to answer any questions (and there never are any), and then I ride back down, and catch the bus back to Aspen. I have been giving more of these tours recently -- I gave a one-on-one tour to a woman who is originally from New Zealand the other day. She was really cool, and since she's been living here for several years, she gave me some tips of trails to hike. I was thinking of doing some hiking later today, but I am exhausted from the 4th of July weekend, so I think I need to take a break today.

Let's see, what else have I been up to? The last few days that I had off, I went camping, and then hikied up to American lake and went swimming at around 10,000 feet! It was very cold and refreshing. The lake was so clear that you could see the bottom everywhere, and all the trout swimming around.

The 4th of July Parade was so amazing! It was VERY long, very hot, and it also had many commercial floats and political signs, which I didn't really appreciate. I got my face painted, and collected candy, and enjoyed being squirted with water from passing floats. Then we went to a free picnic from the Aspen Art Museum. We were planning on going swimming later, but got tierd so watched a movie and napped until dinner time.

I tried to put some pictures in this post, but it didn't work. I'll try to put them up separately.

Overall, I am loving Aspen. It seems to me that everything in Colorado is beautiful, from biking to work in the morning in a sun-shower, to getting stuck on top of Ajax (Aspen Mountain) and watching lightning hit the top of the Elk Mountains. Today I am planning on working some on my tours, then I need to bike to the store and buy some groceries. I would like to run and take a nap at some time, also. I hope everyone reading is having a great summer, too! :)

P.S.

http://www.aspennature.org/

Last Week of Training!

Originally, I was going to try to write about EVERY SINGLE DAY, and what I did, but that is too large of a task. And you all might get bored. So here is a quick run-down of the things that I can remember:

Tuesday – When I came out of the grocery store at twilight, a cloud above the valley blazed orange and pink. By the time I had put away my groceries into my backpack to carry out, it was slate grey-blue again. I am so lucky to get to live in a place like this for the summer.
Wednesday – We had two incredible speakers this day – Auden Something-or-other from Aspen Skiing Company, and some guy from the Roaring Fork Conservancy. Aspen Ski Co. is a really progressive organization. They operate on US Forest Service land, and run all their lifts with wind energy. They area also very realistic, and understand the disagreement between trying to run a business with 5 star hotels, and trying to make it totally sustainable. They realize that in a perfectly sustainable world, they would not exist. Also, they realize that it is important to be green themselves, but as a small company with lots of press and power, the biggest thing they can do is use their power to educate their multi-billion dollar customers and use their power as a catalyst to change.
The Roaring Fork Conservancy guy was interesting because water in the west is SO DIFFERENT that water in Connecticut. Did you know that in Colorado it is ILLEGAL to collect rain from your roof to use, because technically that water is supposed to flow into the river nearby and it already BELONGS to someone else, who bought the right to that amount of water. And people can buy enough water rights to run a river dry, and that is okay. There are so many other rules and laws it is confusing and amazing. We also learned all about the Colorado River and Lake Powell, and so much more!!
Thursday – This is when we left to go to Toklat for our end-of-training retreat! Toklat is a building that ACES owns in a little hardly-inhabited valley, where the ghost town of Ashcroft is. When we first got there we went on a long barefoot silent hike, lead by our boss, Jim. We found ourselves in a grassy mountaintop field, and there we all shared what we had been thinking about, or our thoughts about the two weeks of training. We finished ascending the mountain to see a beautiful view as the sun began to set, and then the descended a VERY STEEP face of the mountain where there were no trails.
That night the Super Naturalists cooked us AN AMAZING dinner. One of the best dinners I have ever had. We had homemade bread, breaded trout with seasons and lemon, salad, roasted asparagus, kenioa, and mushroom soup. The mushroom soup was to die for. We all ate together on this very long picnic table in an adjacent field. After the sun left the valley it began to get cold quickly, and we all started layering up, and huddling abound the fire. We drank and told stories for a really long time, until we began running out of wood, and then we went to bed. I, and some others, slept out under the stars in the near-by field. I was wearing SO MANY layers, and yet I was still cold. I didn’t get much sleep, but I have never seen so many stars in my whole life! I saw two shooting stars, too! It was beautiful. By the time I fell asleep birds were singing, and when I woke up a few hours later, there was frost all over my sleeping bag!
Friday - In the morning we had another amazing meal, and then helped the kind of “handy man” of Toklat do a few chores and manage the trails. They are in the process of getting Toklat off the grid by installing micro-hydropower generator. That afternoon we all got our free gondola passes, and rode up Aspen Mountain to see the views that we missed when we went up in the snowstorm on Monday (three inches fell)!
Saturday – Today I had the day off, so I spent most of the day planning for my tours on Sunday! I’ll let you know how they go when I can!

First Week of Training

Sunday,June 13th, 2010

This morning there is snow on the mountains that you can see from town. It has been quite the first week in Aspen, let me tell you!

Each day of training we met at ACES at 8:30. Some days we would spend the day in Aspen listening to lectures about habitat zones or the history of Aspen, and some days we would go out to sites where we will eventually be leading nature tours.

On Monday night we had a welcome dinner with all (or most of) the ACES staff, and they fed us lasagna and we had a bonfire beside ACES. They have actually given us all keys to the building, and told us that we can use it whenever we want. They even told us that we can have parties there, just as long as we let them know ahead of time, and ask permission!

On Tuesday we went to the Maroon Bells. I didn't bring my camera (it's out of batteries), so I don't have any pictures to share with you, but right now go and Google image it. It is amazing, and even those pictures don't really do it justice. This is another reason why people should come and visit me! Soon I will be totally trained and be able to give everyone first-rate tours of some of the most beautiful places in Colorado! It was here at the Maroon Bells (that’s the name of the mountains in the background), that we first began learning the names of all the plants - especially the wildflowers, that grow in the area. We were all given this amazing book called Wild at Heart, which is a condensed field guide to plants, animals and birds in the Aspen and Snowmass area. It is a great book! I have already started to check off all the plants that I have seen, and I have seen quite a few! Probably more than half of all the kinds listed! One time I also looked up the Kinglet because I heard it and remembered that they are a very cool bird (Only 7 ounces and can survive winter in the Colorado Rocky Mountains), and the field guide said that when there are disputes between the birds, they put up their crest, and sing, and then it said something along the lines of "probably a good lesson for us all". The author is so funny!

But anyway, on Wednesday we stayed at ACES again and learned about the history of Aspen. Basically it was a big mining town, producing 1/8 of all the silver from the US at one point, I think. When silver collapsed, Aspen became very run-down and small, until a family, the Paepckes, “discovered” it! The wife, Elizabeth, convinced her husband, a wealthy man who manufactured boxes, to put money into the town to make it a renaissance-type cultural center, with the motto "mind, body, spirit". The Paepckes founded all kinds of institutions, for athletics, science, social justice, and the environment. It was this family that founded ACES.

On Thursday, we drove up Snowmass Mountain, and saw some of the trails there, and had to give practice tour stops. I did a stop about elk, and I talked about how they eat Aspen bark in the winter and how antler tissue is the fastest growing of any kind of tissue (it can grow an inch a day sometimes). It was really beautiful at the top of Snowmass, and when the sun came out and shone of the pine trees (well, Engelmann Spruce and Sub-Alpine Fir trees), it smelled almost like Cape Cod, and when we walked by a rushing stream it reminded me of the Barn in Vermont.

On Friday we learned about patterns in nature, and then drove to the top of Independence Pass, to look at plants there. It was SO cold and windy on the top! We worked our way down the mountains (driving, not walking!), and found and identified over 70 different plants in different habitats. When we were done, we were leaving a campground, and out of the corner of my eyes I saw what I thought was a moose! So I yelled to Howie, who was driving “MOOSE! Moose!!” and he stopped the car, and backed up. The car behind us was very confused, but backed up also. Then we all jumped out, and sure enough, there was a mamma moose and a baby moose! We stood there watching them, and they were only about 100 meters away (Howie said that it was very dangerous, but they eventually just walked away). The baby moose was so small and gangly!

On Friday night, we all went out to an art opening, and hung out in town for the night. It was really fun! It was nice to get the chance to talk to some of my co-workers and get to know them better.

On Saturday, it was very cold and rainy all day. I didn’t do much, except buy a blanket at a consignment shop, because I get really cold at night. That night one of the interns threw a party at her family’s house. I tried to bake cupcakes from a mix, but I didn’t know you are supposed to add more baking soda for the higher elevations, and so the cupcakes were really light and fluffy, and fell apart very easily, so that I couldn’t even frost them! They weren’t very pretty, but they sure tasted good! Take another break, and go Google “Highlands Pond House”. Yes, that’s right. That is where the party was. The house was AMAZING. It was like a museum!! The house alone (without the property) must have cost several million dollars. The house had roughly 10 bathrooms per floor, and everything was SO BEAUTIFUL. We ordered pizza and hung out all night, building forts in the awesome playroom with the pillows, trying to figure out the house-wide music system, and playing “heart and soul” on the Steinway piano.

Sunday was a little bit nicer of a day, although the weather couldn’t really make up its mind. There was snow on Aspen Mountain when I woke up. After breakfast I went for a walk, and as I passed the church across the street, a service was starting, so I went in and went to church. It was interesting, and I couldn’t help wondering how many of the people in the church were actual residents who live there all year round. I might get involved in the church, but I’m not sure how often I will have Sundays off. It would be nice to have another group of people to hang out with, especially if I didn’t want to drink (which my co-workers do more than I am really used to). After church I went to the library (which is open every day!), and took out Atlas Shrugged, which I have heard is a good book. Then I biked into town with one of my co-workers.

Let me take a moment to tell you about my bike. I rented it from ACES for $20, and it is everyone’s favorite bike! It is covered in orange tape and glow-in-the-dark paint! I think the previous owner was very nervous about getting hit by a car or something. The best part about it is that I never have to lock it up!

So, back to Sunday. So we went to town, and went to a free Outside Magazine panel, where we got to hear Jake Norton, Chris Daventport, Melissa Arnot and Doug Coonbs talk. It was really cool! For going we also got bags with free hats, Burt’s Bees Chap Stick, and other cool stuff. One of the cool parts about living in Aspen is that 70% of people who live here are around my age, and also there are so many free events all the time! Then we got ice cream (nutella flavored, but for $5), and headed back to the Bunkhouse. The bunkhouse is run by the Forest Service, and is actually passive solar! The first floor living room and kitchen is tiled, and the back wall is black cinderblocks. No one else has moved in from the forest service yet, and if no one moves in soon, I think some of us will move into rooms of our own.


Just as a side note, I sometimes will write these blogs and not get to post them right away because of my poor internet connection. So this last entry was mostly written on Sunday.

Monday, June 14th, 2010

Today we drove to the top of Aspen mountain, where it was snowing. About three inches fell overall, and it was very cold! In June! Unfortunately, that also meant that we didn't get to see any of the amazing views, because we were inside a cloud. After work I finally went for a run because I got the package with my orthotics that Mom sent me (Thanks, Mom!), and played Ultimate Frisbee with some friends from work, and our boss! We just got back from eating Chinese food. Since I had run to the park where they were playing frisbee, and I didn't have a bike, my friend Howie biked me all the way back across town on his handlebars! It was very nice of him, and also kind of scary, but we made it totally safely (and I think that he got a workout)!

Melanie Goes West

So here I am! Across the Continental Divide, and officially in The West!
Let's back-track, and start from the beginning:

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

On the 3rd, I arrived at the Denver airport an hour later than expected (I think, the time change confused me). I found the baggage check, and then went outside to the curb to wait for Jade to pick me up. I met Jade at National Youth Science Camp, in West Virginia, the summer after we both graduated from high school. That we three years ago, but we've kept in touch. He goes to the University of Colorado at Boulder.Once he had found me, and we had loaded my large (50.5 lb) bag into his car, we headed off into the "front country", the incredibly flat part of Colorado, with the VERY large Rocky Mountains in front of us. The mountains were SO TALL. Also, the front country doesn't have very many trees at all, and it is brown and dry. I thought that all of Colorado was in the Rocky Mountains.

In an hour, we arrived in Boulder, a very pedestrian-friendly city, spread out, with lots of bike lanes. We brought my carry-ons into his old house, which is part of the suburbs, and had some bread and cheese in the back yard. We were planning to bike around the UC campus when his sister, Julia, came home, and so we went to a very early dinner with her.I was very tired from getting up at 4am, and so that evening we watched a movie, and then went out to a local Boulder brewery.

Friday, June 4th, 2010

On Friday we woke up late, and made a Denver omelette for breakfast/lunch. Then we set out for what Jade recalled as a fairly easy hike up to a natural arch on the Flatirons, the more forward mountains that you could see from Boulder (the ones with snow were behind, and you couldn't see them). Maybe you can tell from the picture why the mountains are called the Flatirons. You can see part of Boulder in the background. The hike ended up being much more difficult than we both expected, and I was very short of breath from the higher elevation, but we made it to the top! It was so beautiful, and already I am running out of words to describe Colorado, and it is only the first full day there!

At the top of the hike was Royal Arch, a natural archway. The bottom of the hike was through a grassy field full of pine trees and flowers, and it was so breathtaking!

Once we finally got back to Jade's place, we had another snack, and decided to head over to Salida, where his mom lived, for the evening. It took us a while to pack up and head out, but finally we were on the road again!

On the way we saw the Red Rock Amphitheater, and some amazing mountain passes. I also saw the largest field I have ever seen, South Park, and attempted to learn how to eat sunflower seeds.We arrived in Salida, and I met his mom, who is really nice! We were pretty tired, and so all we did that evening was watch some movies and go to bed, so that we could get a good start in the morning.

Saturday, June 5th, 2010

On Saturday we got up and finished breakfast at around noon, and decided to go see the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, in the next valley over from Salida. Once we got into the valley, we could see the dunes, but it took forever to get there! I can't even describe the beauty of the Sand Dunes, and even pictures don't totally do it justice, but here are some anyway. Although many of the pictures don't have people in them for scale, just take my word that they were VERY LARGE, like most things in Colorado. I have so many more beautiful pictures from that day!


Once we got to the bottom, a thunderstorm rolled in while Jade was flying his stunt kite (which I figured out how to fly, too, after dive-bombing him several times!)! Don't worry, we soon packed up and after showering off to get less sandy (even more so than spending a day at the beach), we got back in the car. And this is what we saw while driving back. We had to stop to take it all in:

Sunday, June 6th, 2010

Today Jade drove me over Independence pass (12,095 feet), to Aspen, Colorado. On the way We stopped to take a short hike to a beautiful stream. The water was very loud, because the snow was melting off the mountains and flooding the streams. We also found an old miner's cabin that had aspen growing up though the logs, which was very beautiful. Most of the drive there looked like a variation of this:


There was LOTS of snow at the top of the pass - around 7 or 8 feet in some places. At the top we stopped and had a brief snowball fight (in JUNE!) before hurrying on to get me to the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies on time! We got there around 4:30 or 5, and I found and moved into "the bunkhouse", a sort of dorm-like building with a living room and very large kitchen. I met some of the other interns, and after Jade helped me bring all my stuff up, we said good bye, with plans of seeing each other later in the summer form more adventures!

That night, with many of the other interns, I went out to Bad Billy's. We chatted and got to know each other. Everyone is very nice and friendly, and it is great to be surrounded by people so much like me!

Well, I think that's all I'll write for now. Much has happened since, but I need my sleep for tomorrow. I hope you enjoyed reading! I'll write soon about the first week of training!