Yellowstone NP Before the Rush

After our first full week here, we took a three day weekend trip to Yellowstone National Park. West Yellowstone, Montana, is about 110 miles northeast of Camas NWR.

On our way to the Park, we followed the Mesa Falls Scenic Bypass (SH-47) that parallels US 20.  



Upper Mesa Falls

Geysers Everywhere

Mammoth Hot Springs 

Home for Two Nights in Mammoth Hot Springs Village

Church Volunteers Tending the Lawn

Grand Prismatic Spring

Old Faithful Inn
Where we Enjoyed Lunch Each Day
It was very nice and reasonably priced.

Crested Pool in Upper Geyser Basin

There She Blows

Old Faithful
Erupts Approximately Every 90 Minutes

Yellowstone Canyon
and the Lower Falls

We did see three black bears, a cub and one grizzly.
We only got a good picture of this one.

The last morning we awoke to seven inches of fresh snow.
What a treat to see the Park in its winter coat.

Who would have thought a snowball fight in mid-May.
We enjoyed watching them melt in the hot pools.

Norris Geyser Basin trails were beautiful but not busy.

First Work Week at Camas

Well, we made it through the first week. As always the first week is challenging as we settle in and orient ourselves to both the area and the refuge. All refuges are similar yet each is unique. 

 

Monday USGS came out to assess the effectiveness of drone surveys versus fixed wing aircraft surveys of Trumpeter Swan nesting. This is the first time a drone has been flown on the refuge. They assembled the army surplus drone and tested it by flying quadrants  for about three hours. We were invited to observe the test.

 

Drone Assembly

Launch

Flight Operations

Each Tuesday we follow a specific route through the many miles of refuge two-track roads surveying large mammals and certain birds of interest as well as any newborns. This is also a good time to check on two Bat Monitor stations, changing the batteries and flash cards that record the bat echoes. 

 

Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons we are responsible for setting 45 small mammal traps. These traps are laid out in grids of nine each. The five 100 foot square grids are placed in areas of the refuge as determined by the biologist. These grids are moved each week. Wednesday and Thursday mornings a group of local volunteers come to open each trap, identify the small mammal captured, record data gathered, mark them with White-Out, and release them.

 

Daily we read gages and record water levels in the ponds, which are maintained by ground water pumps.

 

Female Elk has Seen Better Days

Small Mammal Survey Results

Checking Pond Levels
Sawtooth Mountain Range in the Background

Nesting Trumpeter Swan Pair

Arrival at Camas NWR in Idaho

During the last half of our journey from Nebraska to Idaho we followed Interstate 80 west through most of Wyoming. We turned north at Rock Springs, Wyoming, and followed a scenic shortcut through the mountains, bypassing Salt Lake City, to enter Idaho. Since leaving the Rio Grande Valley, we have traveled around 2300 miles to our Summer home.

Rain clouds forming on Elk Mountain, west of Laramie.
Thankfully we were always a day ahead of the storms.

First good view of the Teton Range
from US 191 north of Pinedale, WY.

Arriving at this high desert refuge shortly after lunch on May 6, the friendly refuge maintenance man was waiting on the drive to show us where to park and help with any problems. After getting settled we met with the manager and biologist, the other two members of this staff of three. The biologist, Pam, was a familiar face since we worked with her in the summer of 2011 at Arapho NWR.

They took us out into the field to show us how to set the small mammal traps for the mouse and vole survey that is being conducted. We are also training for bat activity tracking, gathering water depth data from the ponds and water flow readings from the six wells that maintain the wetlands. We will also be responsible for a weekly elk survey in which we drive specific roads through the refuge looking for changes in wildlife and counting the elk, nesting trumpeter swan, mule and white-tail deer, sage grouse, long-billed curlew, prong-horn antelope, American white pelicans and any young ones that may have arrived. There are a large variety of waterfowl on the refuge. Also, close to our trailer is a bald eagle nest and two families of great horned owls, which look very cute in their downy coats.



Our covered RV pad is big enough to house our
truck and car.

 The Refuge area is becoming more arid as the aquifer
levels decline due to over use by farming.
Old cottonwood trees are dying off without replacement.

The refuge office is one of several 1930's era buildings
in this complex. The shop building also contains a
laundry room, shower and bathroom.

On Our Way to Idaho

We stopped at Army Corp. of Engineer (ACE) campgrounds in Kansas and Nebraska. Cottonwood Point ACE Campground is on the Marion Reservoir southeast of Salina, Kansas. 



Cottonwood Point Campground was a great two night stop.

Our site #102 was in the newest section complete with
50 amp service and a sewer connection. 

Goessel, Kansas, near Marion Reservoir, is in the heart of Mennonite country. We spent the afternoon touring the Mennonite Heritage and Agricultural Museum. Eight buildings in a village-like setting tell the story of Mennonites who emigrated from the plains of Ukraine to the plains of south central Kansas in 1874 and helped turn Kansas into the breadbasket of the world.

After visiting the museum we went to the Bread Basket German Restaurant in Newton, KS. They provided eight different kinds of homemade soup and a fresh salad bar with various homemade breads.

Hunter Cove ACE Campground is on Harlan County Lake near Alma, Nebraska. Upon arrival we discovered only seven of their sites had fresh water connections and we took the last available. The next day we drove around the lake and found Methodist Cove ACE Campground which has easy access FHU sites and was only five miles from US 183. This will be where we stop the next time. With our Senior Pass discount it's worth it to drive a couple miles out of the way.