SUMMER PICTURES

We enjoyed touring on our days off. One of the near-by places we liked to visit was Rocky Mountain National Park. After crossing the park from Grand Lake to Estes Park we returned to the Alpine Visitor Center via the nine mile one-way gravel, Old Fall River Road. There are many points of interest along the way including the Chasm Falls.







Old Fall River Road begins in the Endovalley and ends at the Alpine Visitor Center, at 11,796 feet.











GEORGETOWN NARROW GAUGE RAILROAD




On our second visit to Georgetown, Colorado, we decided to take the narrow gauge railroad ride from Silver Plume to Georgetown and back.






We had a choice of sitting in an open or closed car. We chose the open car and sat in the back for the best views.



Included with our ticket was a tour of an old silver mine, the Lebanon Mine, one of the mines that established these towns in the 1800's.



One of the treats of living on a National Wildlife Refuge is the critters we saw on a daily basis. These Sage Grouse stopped by once or twice a day to visit. The Refuge staff nicknamed them "Lunch" and "Dinner".
Other frequent sightings: Moose, Elk, Badgers, Magpies, Bluebirds, White-tailed Prairie Dogs, Pronghorns, Ground Squirrels, Ducks, Geese, Beavers, Coyotes, and ever present Swallows



The Three months passed all too quickly. When the Aspen changed color, we decided it was time to go find out where the Swallows went. We are headed South.

WORKING AT ARAPAHO

Our work truck, a 2011 Ford F250 4 X 4
Once a week we take the truck out and get it REALLY muddy doing water flow readings (CFS) at the many flumes located within the Refuge irrigation network.



North Park Phacelia is an endangered plant found only in Jackson County, Colorado. It is found in less than 10 locations with two sites having significant numbers, both found within the Refuge.
Our project was to conduct the annual plant survey. To accomplish this we located 100 preset monuments using a Garmin GPS unit along with a metal detector. Once the monument is located we lay out a PVC grid. We then count the phacelia as well as all other plants within the grid.



We spent a morning last week helping the biologist capture and band song birds. Several kinds of birds were captured in large suspended nets. To the left is a Yellow Warbler.







The birds are measured, weighed, sexed, banded and released.






To the left is the biologist holding a Warbling Vireo


Just outside our kitchen window is one of many Refuge Tree Swallow houses. We have enjoyed watching the birds raise their babies and now the family enjoys sitting on our hanging flower basket.

ARAPAHO NWR, WALDEN, COLORADO

We arrived at Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge on June 22. This 23,000 acre Refuge is located in an intermountain glacial basin south of Walden, Colorado. This high desert basin, situated at 8400 feet, is approximately 35 miles wide and 45 miles long. From our site, we can see mountains in all directions. The primary focus of the Refuge is providing environment for nesting and migratory birds.


REFUGE HEADQUARTERS OVERLOOK

During our first two weeks we made repairs to the boardwalk on the half mile nature loop. Over the winter boards become loose and the boardwalk was in general need of sprucing up. We also learned and have begun to help with the annual vegetative sampling. This project is performed in June and July of each year. The task involves locating transect monuments placed randomly about the refuge using a Trimble GPS running TerraSync. We then record the type and size of vegetation found within a 30 meter tape.

LUPIN

Walden is the moose capital of Colorado. We visited the Moose Viewing Visitor Center located within State Forest State Park.

COLUMBINE - COLORADO STATE FLOWER

Fish Creek Falls just outside of Steamboat Springs.

Alpine Visitor Center at the top of Rocky Mountain National Park.

BACK ON ALL FOURS

We returned to Wichita Mountains NWR on Tuesday, April 5. Virginia's knee surgery on April 11 in Oklahoma City to reattach her ACL and repair the damaged meniscus went well. They kept her overnight to make sure there were no blood clots this time. She is getting around pretty good on her crutches and leg brace. She seems to be recovering fast with the help of three times a week physical therapy. Kurt is keeping busy driving the invalid around.

To help add to the drama, Wichita Mountains was in the midst of a wildfire accidently set by Fort Sill practice bombs the day we returned from surgery. We had a couple days of strong south winds that blew straight at the headquarters, village and RV pads. We hitched up the truck and we were anticipating evacuation. Fortunately the winds switched as the fire bore down to within a mile of us. They brought in helicopters and fire crews from all over the country to battle it. The fire is now out, but the whole state of Oklahoma is on standby, since there has been no significant rain in six months. The long dry grass is just a fire waiting to happen.

Winter 2010

We are back in Alamo volunteering at Santa Ana NWR through March 2011. The grapefruit is good this year, as usual, as are the early (Mars) oranges that we prefer over the Navel oranges also available in December. We are still getting them direct from the grower, Thompson's Orchard.

Our year didn't turn out as planned. In early June, Virginia stepped in a hole while working at Wichita Mountains NWR and damaged her knee. The ACL was completely detached and had torn another ligament. On June 23 while preparing for work, large blood clots from the knee passed into her lungs. She was airlifted to specialists in Oklahoma City. After a week in the hospital, thankfully, all is well. Unfortunately, because she was on blood thinners, surgery to reattach the ACL has been postponed until April, 2011. She is getting around almost back to normal on the knee and with the help of a knee brace, hiking and biking again. We ended up staying at Wichita Mountains until November 4 and plan to return beginning in April for knee repair in OKC. Federal Workers Compensation has covered all costs. Of course this has been an ongoing headache since nothing seems to work efficiently when dealing with the Department of Labor.

WE WISH YOU A

MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND A

BLESSED NEW YEAR!

MIGRATING NORTH

We arrived at Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge on May 10 after stops in Austin and Dallas. We were assigned a 1986 Army Truck (M1008) acquired from Fort Sill.
Our job here at the Refuge involves using a hand-held Trimble running ArcPad to collect GPS features along the boundaries. After a day of field work, we have learned how to upload the data to the server and reconcile it using ArcMap and ArcCatalog. We also correlate the pictures we take with the appropriate GPS features. It has been very interesting defining our project maps, downloading to the handheld GPS unit, gathering new data points and photos, and then uploading back to the desktop server to see the revised aerial maps in the GIS database.

Traveling North from Santa Ana beginning April 28, we seem to be experiencing Springtime over and over. This is our first visit to the Wichita Mountains in the Spring. The Mountains are adorned in green and covered with wildflowers. We have seen many of the animals tending to their newborns.
We will work here through the month of June at which time we plan to migrate further north into Colorado.


We have seen several copperhead snakes besides this one. They are quite common here on the Refuge, along with several types of poisonous rattlers.

Winding Down at Santa Ana

Three mornings a week we rode the range in our trusty Government 4-wheel drive. Working for the Lower Rio Grande Valley NWR, we sometimes drove up to 200 miles in a day to maintain and post border signs, install gates and repair fences. The Refuge extends from Falcon Dam to the Gulf of Mexico, covering 275 miles along the Rio Grande River. To date there are 115 distinct parcels of land, covering 90,000 acres and still growing.

La Sal del Rey (the salt of the King) is named after its principal geological feature: a 530-acre salt lake. Salt has been mined at the lake since aboriginal people occupied the land. The salt trade represented one of the first commercial enterprises by the Spaniards in this part of what was once Mexico.




We were pleased to be part of a team of volunteers charged with the task of building a handicap accessible bird observation deck at La sal del Rey. The deck took about three weeks to complete with 6-8 volunteers working each day.
In late March the NBC Today Show visited Santa Ana NWR to do a segment about RVers who volunteer for the National Wildlife Refuge System.