Field Workshop: Yellowstone & Montana

It’s our last day together in Yellowstone and I knew it would go by way too fast. I feel like we were just meeting everyone at the airport with the Nat Geo flag and trying to remember names. Now there is  no way I will ever forget them! It’s been an amazing trip and I know there will be some hard goodbyes for the leaders and the students. This trip has had a positive effect on each student, and they will go away with an insane amount of knowledge in photography and wildlife.

This morning we rose early at 5 am without National Geographic expert Betsy Robinson to find the local wolf pack! Although we were unsuccessful in finding the pups, the entire morning we were surrounded by a huge bison heard, black bears, coyotes, and even a Grizzly! The lighting was so beautiful and I wish I could start every morning surrounded by the enthusiasm the students had. We grabbed a quick breakfast in Mammoth afterwards and visited the stables to see the back country by horseback.

Tonight will be the presentations for the On Assignment projects. We will all get a chance to see what amazing photographs and wildlife reports the students have been working so hard on. We know they are each going home with a project they are proud of and spent hours dedicated to. We wish them all the best in the future and hope to run into them down the road. We have no doubt that each of the students on this trip will go far and succeed in whatever they want to do. We’ve had such an amazing time and want to thank them for being a part of that!

-Erika, Lina, and Pat

Blog written by Sara Jacubowitz on July 8th.

This morning we started off our day by meeting the famous wolf conservationist and National Geographic Expert, Betsy Robinson.  After breakfast, we broke off into our Wildlife and Conservation and Photography groups, and Betsy went with the Wildlife crew. Our guide, Phil, and Betsy decided to stop at a good wolf sighting place called Slough’s Creek. Sure enough, Betsy and Phil found a pack of wolves within 30 minutes of our venture!!! We were extremely fortunate and saw more than just wolves.

In addition to the four gray wolves that were out on the ridge, we saw several bison, pronghorn, and even a bald eagle perched on a fallen tree.  Phil and Betsy were very impressed with our sightings and decided to ride out our good karma by stopping at another viewing place called Fisherman’s Point.  Our fortune continued when we saw an entire herd of bison, an elk, a Sandhill Crane with chicks, and even a grizzly bear scrounging around for food.

After another successful stop, we headed over to Lamar Valley for a hike to the caged-in area where wolf conservationists, including Betsy, keep the transferred Canadian Gray Wolves for 10 weeks so that they can adjust to the Yellowstone area.  On the way up, we took a detour around a fairly aggravated male buffalo that was in our path.  We took a short break once we made it to the top and learned more about the wolves’ caged-in habitat.

On the way back down, we found some skeletal remains of an elk, and we also ran into another aggravated bull that we had no choice but to pass, because there was a creek that was preventing us from going around him.  Luckily, we passed quickly without any issues.  We hopped back into the bus to headed for the Lodge, but we weren’t out of luck just yet.  There was a ton of traffic on the road and Betsy told us it might be a “bear jam.”  So we pulled over and there was, in fact, a black bear wondering through the woods.

After such an eventful day and so much wildlife crammed in to such a small amount of time, we all headed to dinner, not expecting anything but a relaxing meal.  However, our day had one more surprise in store for us!  We were met in the parking lot by several elk.  They were not afraid of humans, so we got a very close up look at them.  After dinner, we headed back up to the Lodge and that ended our extremely eventful day.

Blog written by Jessica Colla, Christa Bush, & Leah Nordman on July 8th.

Riiiinnnggg….the alarm clock sounds. It was 7 am and we had to be ready and set to start our second full day at Yellowstone National Park at  8 am. We were headed to visit all the of the natural geysers and attractions via car and a loop that goes around the park. Our famous “bluga” ride, packed with our usual Photography gang, headed along with the wildlife crew and the other photo car. The day was filled with adventures including a visit to Old Faithful, The Grand Prismatic Springs, and Lower Waterfalls. Unfortunately our fabulous long trip was cut short by a hail and a thunderstorm. . . however, we were safe in our car with our leaders waiting for it to pass. After dinner, we drove around the park looking for wildlife and found bison, a bald eagle, and pronghorn. We were all so exasperated by the eagle that we jumped as soon as the car stopped and were able to get some amazing shots as well as hear it for a bit; it was amazing! Next, we returned to our Roosevelt cabins, and held our nightly group meetings to prepare for the next day’s adventures, shared our high and lows, and ended the day catching up on our photo editing and preparing for our wildlife hikes early the next morning.

Blog written by Leah Nordman, Richard Eiseman, Emma Sparrow, & Christa Bushon July 9th

At 5 am, some of us woke up and headed to a sunrise shoot with our leader followed by a quick wildlife drive where we were able to see deer, bison, a hawk, ravens, and the early morning mist above the many lakes of the national park. After meeting up with the rest of the group and our National Geographic expert, Betsy Robinson, we met some Yellowstone Guides from the Yellowstone Association who took us on a drive to see more wildlife. On our way, we met wolf expert “Ranger Rick” who educated us on the reintroduction of the wolves and told us stories of the new wolves of Yellowstone. After listening to the amazing stories and showing us a cemented paw-print bigger than most of our hands, we went off on hikes led by Betsy who showed us were the wolves were kept during the reintroduction in 1995. We were able to see a badger, swallows, and blue birds. That afternoon, Betsy led a small group on a nature hike which led us to the Lost Lake where we all decided to jump in! After a cold/wet hike down to our cabins, we all rushed for a hot shower and had a glimpse of a bear outside of our lodge! After a late dinner, we spent our night working on our final projects and sadly realizing we only had one more full day all together.

Blog written by Olivia Landon on July 7th

Today is our first full day in Yellowstone! We are at the Roosevelt lodge and now technically in Wyoming. We all woke up promptly at 7 am this morning, and saying it was chilly is an understatement. We pulled out our winter hats along with our bowls and utensils for breakfast. However, the reality here in Wyoming is that the night is only as frigid as the day is hot. After cereal and bagels, we split up into our Photography and Wildlife and Conservation groups for hiking. I thoroughly enjoyed the photography hike of 5 miles through the park. We managed to see a marmot, black bear, elk and bison with their young. Despite our success, upon returning to camp the wildlife group amazed us with tales of grizzlies and wolves! I must say I’m a little jealous, however I know the photography group will have an opportunity to take the same hike in 2 days. Hopefully we will be equally as lucky if not more so. After returning back to camp we ate lunch at the Roosevelt Lodge Restaurant. We then spent the grueling hot hours of the afternoon editing photography. What’s next on the agenda? Who knows! Its an adventure out here…and I did hear rumors of a night hike after dinner…

Photo by Erika Skogg.

Photo by Erika Skogg.

Photo by Erika Skogg.

Yellowstone Bison. Photo by Olivia Landon.

Photo by Olivia Landon.

Blog written by Francesca Garafolo on July 6th

Some said today was the best day they have had so far-quite a statement! The day started off with a viewing of Grizzlies at the Montana Grizzly Encounter. It was awesome; naturally. We met the famous Brutus, raised by the equally famous Casey Anderson, and the other Grizzly Sheena. We learned a lot about bears in general and especially bear safety! Fun Facts: They are extremely smart, ranked just under primates, very dependent on their mothers, and much faster than you would think. They are only aggressive in situations where the mother is protecting her cubs or food source and if they are startled. They are omnivores and eat a lot! We also learned that its never a good idea to run from a bear, make eye contact, or bring potent food or miscellaneous items with you in the field. Don’t approach bears with cubs and never startle one!

Photo by Francesca Garafolo.

We then talked with the star, Casey Anderson, who told us fascinating stories about his Television show on National Geographic Wild and about mountain lions. After talking with him and taking more photographs of the bears, we headed towards Yellowstone. We got lunch at a grill in Gardiner and then got ice cream on Main Street. Finally, we headed to Montana White Water to go rafting! We burned up as we changed into our heavy wetsuits which helped us prepare for the 40 degree Yellowstone River. While our instructors explained the risks and record breaking height of the river, I couldn’t help but feel butterflies in my stomach. We split into two boats and entered the raging river! Eight miles of paddling and swimming marked an exciting time rafting. To put it simply, we had a blast! At the end we were all laughing and smiling from the great time we had and it was at last time to head into Yellowstone National Park. We enjoyed a scenic drive into Tower Junction and ended the night with relaxation and much needed sleep.

Wild Flowers. Photo by Francesca Garafolo.

Blog written by Rebeckah Mckinney and Richard Eiseman on July 4th

Today we rose early to begin the 5th day of our trip. The morning was as busy as the rest of the day. We separated into three groups. The Conservation and Wildlife group stayed at camp with Patrick to study, while the two Photography groups went on hikes to learn more about depth of field and lighting with Erika and Lina. We photographed wildflowers, blooming cacti, swarms of dragonflies, and an adorable painted turtle. When the sun began to get a little too hot, we found ourselves back at camp where the Wildlife group was finishing up a tutorial on using GPS for field biology.

We soon set off again to enjoy a short swim.  What we thought would be a small creek, turned out to be a beautiful lake! Everyone helped to push a log into the water and a few adventurous kids climbed on top and dove into the lake. The girls were the ones who really enjoyed the trip because we were able to finally able to wash our hair (no worries, it was biodegradable). After our cool dip in the water, a small group of us ventured off with Patrick where we found an impressive Western Toad and a few leeches. Finally, we returned from the river to work on our On Assignment projects. Photographers loaded and sorted through their photos while the Wildlife group worked on their field guides.

We enjoyed a nice dinner of buffalo burgers and then headed to Zortman to watch the fireworks. On the way we saw many interesting birds including the Sage Grouse, Swainson’s Hawk, a short eared owl and several long billed curlews. Upon arriving at Zortman, we saw the very small jail with only two barred windows. The fireworks were amazing! There were five sets goings off. Some sent loud flares in the air while others sent a variety of colors across the sky. Everyone watched from the trunk of a car or lying on the dirt road in sleeping bags. When the fireworks stopped we had a group meeting then rode two hours back to camp and quickly fell asleep.

Blog written by Christian Buehrer and Sara Welge

The Prairie air carried wonderful the aromatic smell of the diverse plant life that Montana so generously offered us. We rose early at 7 o´clock so that we could have the time to enjoy as many fun, exciting and educational experiences as possible. There was so much to take in.

We loaded up the van and enjoyed a ride to our hike– chatting, laughing and having a great time.  Today the group hiked the prairie. Our guide, Dennis, educated us on what buffalo conservation efforts were taking place on the APR.  Most of the buffalo population is interbred with cattle so they don´t have pure buffalo genes. The World Wildlife Fund is creating  a herd of genetically pure bison, because they are naturally better able to adapt to the environment than hybrids. We were able to get close to the buffalo, which was an awesome sight to behold.

Then we took another ride to an equally exciting part of the prairie.  The prairie dog colony.  The prairie dog is an incredible ingenious animal which creates 3 type of burrows and underground networks, much like a gigantic ant farm. We learned from Christy, a prairie dog expert at World Wildlife Fund, who showed us how smart prairie dogs really are. She explained how, after just a couple of weeks they would completely recognize her face and her clothes.

Today was a fun and productive adventure and we learned a lot of useful information.  Now we have a great foundation to start saving something very important… our planet.

Blog written by Sarah Fredrickson and Olivia Landon

NGSE awoke bright and early to a beautiful red Montana morning sunrise, the first we would see.  After grabbing some breakfast, we headed to the Museum of the Rockies for orientation and then a special behind the scenes tour of the museum´s paleontology and western history storage areas by the curator, Michael Fox.

We then set off on the road for the American Prarie Reserve, the APR.  The hypothesized 5 hour drive from Bozeman to the APR through Lewiston, ended up being more like 7 hours!  Along the way, there were plenty of false bear and buffalllo sightings which usually turned out to be cows.  However, when we arrived at our detination we saw several legitmate bison and we were all stunned by the wonder of the scenery at the APR.

That evening, night hawks swooped across the pond and tents, snatching up bugs and mosquitos much to our pleasure. The insects had plagued us from the minute we stepped out of the vans.  After introductions to Dennis and Ryan discussed, our tour guides, we put our bags into the tents, had a campfire ruing which we discussed our events of the day and then headed off to bed.  It was a great end to a great day.

We’ve received word from the leaders that all students have arrived safely in Bozeman.