Day 9 - Yellowstone National Park Student Organized Trip July 2021!

                                                                            Day 9 Log

                                                    Written by Cameron (Back at home)

7:00 AM MDT

We woke up in our tents for the last time and packed our things. We had a small breakfast and many of us were busy trying to fit our many things back into our bags. We deconstructed our tents after being packed up and loading the cars with our bags. An hour later, we began our drive back to Bozeman Airport.

10:30 AM MDT

We fittingly stopped at the same rest area that we did for our first lesson on the first day. After some stretches, we took some time to spread out and reflect on our time in Yellowstone. We thought about what we learned and why it was important to us. After that, we got back into the cars to continue our drive.

11:15 AM MDT

We arrived at the airport and retrieved our bags. We said goodbye to Sarah, Emma, Phia, Arthur, and Amy and headed through security. Many of us were glued to our phones after being apart for nine days. We got through security quickly and waited at our gate.

12:30 PM MDT

We said goodbye to Danielle, Alex, Abby, and Jackson as we boarded our flight back to Newark. Many of us had heavy bags and we enjoyed the TVs on our way back to the city.

 

Day 8 - Yellowstone National Park Student Organized Trip July 2021!

 

                                                                            Day 8 Log

                                                    Written by Michael and Cameron

7:00 AM MDT

We woke up today and had breakfast on our final full day. We were sad that this would be our last day of activities, but excited for the day. We saw the teachers packing up and we took a final photo with Mr. Citron before he departed. Sean led the cleanup crew who finished the dishes quickly and we headed to the stage right after to present our research projects.

 

9:30 AM MDT

Each group presented their projects and data on the topic that they chose. Cameron’s Climate Crew (Alex, Kevin, and Cameron) went first and presented on the impact of rising temperatures on precipitation levels. Next was Michael, Sean, and Abby’s group who discussed bear safety data in Yellowstone. After them went Naomi, Jackson, and Arthur where we learned about bighorn sheep and mule deer group size. Next was Ella, Brayden, and Claire, discussing sex evenness in bison herds over time. The last group to present was Daphne, Danielle, and Amy. They taught us about the different groups that carry bear spray and why. Overall, each group was able to present and discuss their findings and we learned a ton about many different topics impacting Yellowstone.

 

11:00 AM MDT

After some quick group games, we made sure we were packed for rafting and headed to Arch Park, right next to the Yellowstone entrance. We spent some time at the gift shops, perusing different souvenirs and purchasing what we liked. Alex found a great cowboy hat at a shop and many of us were peeking at the ice cream shop that we were going to go to after rafting. We then took time to take photos under the famous arch and at the Yellowstone National Park sign. We had lunch and peered at the elk that were wandering about by the gazebo. We were all enjoying our last to-go sandwiches of our trip. Afterwards, at about 12:15pm we departed for our aquatic adventure.

 

1:00 PM MDT

After buying some snacks for the plane, we got changed and put on lifejackets for rafting. We began the tiring task of carrying the boat down into the river. We were grouped into two boats and after a quick safety introduction we were heading down Yellowstone River. Many of us were soaked by the fast flows and we had a great time playing games and falling out of the boat! Allegedly, Kevin did a backflip off of his raft (we were in the other one) and many of us “rode the bull” by holding the front rope and sitting on the front of the raft. When we eventually parked our boats and loaded on to the bus, and were taken back and changed into our dry clothes.

 

3:30 PM MDT

We walked back to the souvenir area and bought ice cream! It was a super rewarding treat after a week of eating healthy. Brayden brought everyone to a great spot that had three scoops of ice cream for six dollars! Many of us tried the moose tracks flavor (peanut butter cups) and we agreed that it was delicious. Unsurprisingly, Michael and Ella fell asleep on the bench and many of us were laughing at their uncanny ability to doze off.

5:00 PM MDT

We picked up our pizzas next from the shop on the souvenir block and walked over to Arch Park. Once there, we devoured our cheesy treats after a long day of rafting and souvenir buying. Some of us managed to eat six slices! We really enjoyed our last time at Arch Park and left for camp after.

 

8:00 PM MDT

We enjoyed some free time and headed to the gazebo. We completed our course survey and evaluation and debriefed on our time in the park and what we learned. We received our diplomas for the course and many of us took time to sign each other’s to keep in touch. A little later, we received our schedule for packing up on Sunday and we began collecting our things. When we went to sleep, it began thundering and storming! Thankfully, many of our tarps held strong, except for Brayden’s tent who had to do some manual repairs while preventing the “ship” from sinking! When everything was secured, we went to sleep for our last night in Yellowstone :(.

 

 

 

Day 7 - Yellowstone National Park Student Organized Trip July 2021!

 

                                                                Yellowstone Day 7

                                                                Written by Ella Joo

 

7:30 AM MDT

After being treated to breakfast we packed extra gear for the day ahead. We packed water shoes, raincoats, and extra pants. Sounds exciting! As students began to file out, bags ready, we played a couple games of Alaskan Baseball: using our money for the flight home, we took a plane to Alaska, found the one baseball field there, and had a great time. Kidding, but what we actually did was nearly as interesting, albeit… original. The actual game was about running in circles and chucking a rubber duck halfway across the field. I, with the help of Kevin, Sean, Jackson, Danielle, and Arthur, won.

 

9:00 AM MDT

Shuffling into our cars, we took a twenty minute drive past the lake where we had pulled weeds, and up towards the mountains. Lugging four pairs of waders (very long, waterproof boots), six nets, and one extremely long PVC pipe, we began our hike to our destination: the Twin Lakes, where there were sure to be an abundance of amphibians and reptiles to study. Filled with the enthusiasm of 15 high school students about to hike at least five miles, we started up the dusty trail… and promptly turned back after half a mile and the realization that we had went the wrong way.

 

10:00 AM MDT

For real this time, we trekked up steep hills and countless inclines. The view was probably beautiful on the way up, but I was too busy making sure I didn’t take a one-way trip off the trail. Emma, one of our instructors, carried 50 pounds of water to keep us hydrated. I’m not sure if she even broke a sweat. Regardless of our instructors terrifyingly fit physique, most of us were pretty winded on the 2.7 mile trip up. At one point in the trail, the rocks gave way to nearly two feet deep mud, and Naomi lost her shoe. We did not find it. By the time I’m writing this, it’s likely fossilized into the ground; rest in peace, Leave No Trace.

 

12:20 PM MDT

After stopping for lunch and changing into water shoes, we finally made it to the Twin Lakes. Brayden and Abby donned waders, and we plunged into the impressive 2 and a half depth of the lake, through tall grass and layers of water bugs. On amphibian day, sadly, we found a total of zero amphibians. However, we did find two reptiles: a garter snake and a gopher snake. Thanks to Arthur’s sharp eye and Daphne’s skill with the net, we successfully met, and in Claire’s case, took selfies with, a real snake. It did not kill us—in fact, all the snakes in Yellowstone, besides the occasional rattlesnake, are not dangerous. Despite our nearly empty handed search and a couple almost-faceplants into the mud, we filled out a log recording the state of the amphibians at the lake as a group, soon to be sent to the National Park Service. As well as describing the weather and condition of the lake, we tested the pH and depth of the water. In fact, our assigned lake was likely about five feet deeper prior to our arrival, and had been evaporating under the summer sun. Muddy, sweating, but several times more knowledgeable about the Twin Lakes in Yellowstone National Park, we swapped shoes and began our trek down the mountain.

2:30 PM MDT

Back in the cars, we drove back to our campsite, and many took a short nap: some on each other’s shoulders. Gathering in the gazebo, we finished up our research projects, getting the graphs finalized and ready for the next day’s presentation.

 

6:30 PM MDT

While we were (mostly) hard at work, the instructors did us the favor of cooking dinner, which was curry chicken, fresh from the can. Rain began to drip down, so we took shelter under the roof of the gazebo for dinner, sharing it with my estimate of three hundred moths. As drizzling turned to pouring, we remained dry—Michael took a nap on the floor, and a few of us, Cameron, Kevin, Claire, and I, played cards. Regaled by stories of Michael’s Polish origins, we waited out the rain and washed our dishes. Exciting.

 

9:00 PM MDT

The instructors set out the schedule for tomorrow; to our great delight, we were done with hiking, and the last day seems to be pretty relaxing. Playing cards until bedtime, Kevin beat Cameron at Spit in what seemed like the tenth win of the tenth game. Quite unfortunate for Cameron.