Some sweet pics from my adventures so far this summer...

Yeah!!!! INHUT rocks!! This is my group of fellow students and professors who are on this great expedition right now. This picture was taken on Dutch Peak, which is in the west desert overlooking Vernon, a little bit west of Tooele. We hiked through a few canyons in the Sheeprocks Mountains. Spring in Vernon is a little behind Provo. While we were on the peak, we got some snow flurries....and lots of wind.

This is a picture of the Ophir (O-fur) post office. The town is an old mining ghost town. People actually still live in this town (not many). The mines in Ophir aren't really active anymore so many of the people work at either Deseret Chemical or Dugway Proving Grounds, which are just about 20-30 minutes away.

Ahh....good times. One thing I learned while exploring the mines and workplaces in Ophir....miners are not good at cleaning up after themselves. Old carts and equipment were left all over the place.

If I use my imagination enough, I can almost pretend that this is like in Indiana Jones, when they are flying through the caves in the mine cart thingy....yeah....moving on.

One of the cool things about the people on this expedition is that they are all super smart and talented. (This class is through the honors department at BYU.) A few of the people are great photographers. So I have been picking their brains in hopes that I will learn how to use my camera better. Digital cameras are so easy and convenient. But I have always wanted to know how to really use it on the manual setting. This picture was my first attempt at changing around the apperature. I think it turned out alright. I hope to end up with some great pics by the end of this trip.

Here is yet another attempt at using my fledgling photography skills. Everything in this picture is basically just rusty old trash and equipment. But it makes for a great shot.

While in Vernon, we stayed at Greenjacket Ranch, which is owned by the family of one of our professors. We did a service project for them as payment for letting us sleep on their lawn....next to the rooster that crowed at 3:30 in the morning everyday. One of the issues ranchers face in this desert environment is whether to cultivate the plants and trees that are native or to develop the land for something else. These people have decided to cut down the juniper trees on some of their property in order to allow grass to grow for grazing. This also lets the sage grow taller, which provides habitat for sage grouse. It was quite interesting to see how it all fits together. In all my time in Utah, I just thought ranchers put the cows where the grass was naturally. I didn't realize they developed the land to grow the grass. This is me cutting down a baby juniper tree.

In our quest for Dutch peak we had to hike over a number of snow fields. Good fun!! I definitely wasn't expecting as much snow as we encountered. But we made it fun!

It was especially fun while we were hiking down the canyon. No skiis, but we improvised and just slid around on our shoes.

Striving for Dutch Peak....elevation....somewhere around 8800 feet.

I have many pictures and will post the best of the best as I can. Sweet!!!!

Integrated Natural History

Life is crazy when you're on an expedition with 21 people. Right now, I am an assistant on an Integrated Natural History tour of Utah. This is a brand new class at BYU that integrates 4 disciplines: Biology, English, History, and Rec. Management. We've been backpacking in western utah and snowshoeing in the Uintas (where we got about a foot of snow last week!!). Yesterday we went kayaking down the Provo River. The water levels are so high right now!!! I've never seen the Provo River running so fast. It was great fun. I've learned more about stone flys and caddis nymphs that I ever really wanted to know. I think what I've enjoyed the most about this trip is the history side of things. I've been to many of places we are visiting this month, but I don't know the history behind them. Having been a history major at Utah State, I really enjoy hearing the stories about these places in Utah....Camp Floyd, Sundance, Vernon Creek, Bear Lake, Escalante, Lake Powell. It's all very interesting. This week we are heading up to Bear Lake where we will learn about the history of the lake, check out some more bugs, then canoe down the Bear River to Salt Lake. We are heading out to Antelope Island to learn about other bugs and rocks. (We have a very enthusiastic biologist on this trip.) The week I am anticipating most is our adventures in Grand Staircase National Monument. First we are doing a 3 day trip through Coyote Gulch. Then we are hiking to the Hole in the Rock monument at Lake Powell, where our houseboat will be waiting for us. Then we get to spend 3 days kayaking the Escalante finger canyons of Lake Powell. I AM SO EXCITED!!!! Check out some of these places on Google Earth.

I have a billion picutures already, and will have tons more. I will post them as I can. Get out and recreate this summer!!!!