Yellowstone Day 5
Written by Sean Gaines
The call for the breakfast crew to wake up was given,
however a few minutes later a car alarm went off, thus waking up most of the
camp. After preparing lunch and eating breakfast we played a rhythm game based
on cowboys and another few rounds of Where’s My Bison Duck. Afterwards the
whole group was lead to the top of a nearby ridge across the river and were
instructed to spread out and make a “sound map” from the various noises
present. After doing so we returned to the campsite and set out to a nearby
lake for today’s activity, which was weed pulling in our service project.
10:00 AM MDT
At the lake we were greeted by two women who worked for the U.S Forest Service, who instructed us on the types of weeds we were looking for and passed out some plant clippers and shovels to use. The species we were primarily dealing with was invasive, and had seeds covered in small barbs, which stick to hair, gloves, and practically all varieties of fabric. It was hot, in the mid-90s for the most of the day, and there was next to no shade out in the field. The group set out clipping and pulling massive amounts of weeds, and soon we had produced several trash bags worth of plant matter. We had to make sure to remain well hydrated in the sun, luckily it is very dry here, and so sweat evaporates and doesn’t build up on one’s skin.
12:00 PM MDT
We took a break for lunch. Luckily we were able to return the cars and eat in an air conditioned space. After lunch we returned to the lakeside and returned to pulling weeds until 2:00 pm. This area contained at least one ant nest. I don’t believe anyone ever found its exact location, but we found the ants. Tons of them crawling all over and biting us as we reached down to clip and pull the weeds. Overall I didn’t find them too disturbing, but others might have disagreed.
2:00 PM MDT
We all packed into the cars, thoroughly exhausted from our
time in the heat. We returned to the camp for a short break and then visited
the highlight of the day, the grocery store. I bought myself a single modest
bag of popcorn, but others made sure to make full use of the visit. Some
individuals bought themselves an entire pint of ice-cream, and proceeded to eat
the entire container so that it wouldn’t melt. Others bought bags of candy and
snacks, which had been previously unavailable to us.
After returning to the campsite we
had a 45 minute break until 3:45, during which most of the group went to cool
down in the river, while I retreated to my tent. After our break we continued
to work on our research project. Having decided on our research questions, we
were given the relevant data and began to plan our presentations using our
available information.
5:00 PM MDT
After working on our research
projects, we began preparing for dinner and that days Quest For Knowledge.
Since tomorrow is wolf day, we had to prepare both our breakfast and lunch for
the next day, as we would have to get up early in the morning. After packing we
had spaghetti for dinner. Once the dishes were clean we proceeded to the quest
for knowledge, which was a family feud inspired game about amphibians. After a
lesson about wolves and the politics surrounding them, we got ready for bed and
ended the day at 10:00pm.
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