Everyone was ready to go when we got to meet Mike Rosekranz our guide.  Off to Mammoth Hot Springs we went.  The day was absolutely beautiful with blue skies and sunshine and let’s not forget the mountains with their snow tops.  You have to be here to experience it.  As I was looking at the mountains a beautiful Bald Eagle flew over the Gardiner River. (Perfect).  I couldn’t have staged it better.  Mike did a wonderful job talking about the geology connection to the flora and fauna and tying in soil and water ph..  He really helped us all understand the importance of the abiotic influencing the biotic.  It is really nice talking about these components while in a field setting rather than just a text book.

Yellowstone played the unexpected at lunch as several of the students found wolf, coyote, and red squirrel tracks in a light dusting of snow.  Mike took us on a short hike along the Yellowstone Grand Canyon.  I always like to hear the student’s “awe” when you see something so beautiful and all the forces it took to carve it out.  If you look carefully, way at the bottom of the canyon is the Yellowstone River which flows all the way to Williston, North Dakota to meet up with the Missouri.  What a small world it is when you find something that connects with your home base (ND).  My friends the Terceks, Mike being a climatologist and Asyea (his wife)  advocates for what we need to do to make our environment better for our future, gave a wonderful presentation on climate change based on science.  It is amazing how rapidly it is changing at Yellowstone.  Their message was positive about what we can do.

Asyea was my very first guide I had at Yellowstone and inspired me to keep bringing students out to Yellowstone.  Now it is 11 years later.  She helped my first class see wolves for the first time.  There is nothing more thrilling.  I always request that they share their experience in backpacking into the Trident, the most isolated spot in the lower 48 and it is in Yellowstone.  Mike’s bear stories are always a hit. Asyea’s closing narrative on the backpacking experience with slides is so inspiring that you walk away knowing that we have to preserve this part of the world.  Some of my first students I took to Yellowstone teared up after hearing her and Mike share their experience.  I even have to admit, I was choked up when I heard their story  and saw their pictures for the first time.

I did not see the Waipiti Wolf Pack today but will try tomorrow.   Mike our guide continued to help me remember that their is always something to learn about this incredible place. Thank you Mike!  In education we often talk about Place Based Education…..well here it is.

I am doing these blogs because I ask the students  to do them daily….why not the instructor? Until tomorrow……

Gary