Wet, Sweaty, Stinky and Smiling

Things I don't like about field work...
Taking a shower in the morning is pointless
Working in all kinds of weather, good, bad or very bad
Its impossible to make a phone call
We are always dirty
Ticks

Things I like about field work...
Taking a shower in the morning is pointless
Working in all kinds of weather, good, bad or very bad
Its impossible to receive a phone call
Its acceptable to wear dirty clothes to work
(ok, so I can't find anything good about ticks)

The other day I was eating my lunch in the swamp, unknowingly at the time resting my leg in an old pile of bear scat, with gnats swarming around my head and with more parts of my shirt wet with sweat than dry, and I still sighed and looked over the endless hay scented ferns and thought, "yeah, I still like my job."

One of my goals this summer was to get a realistic taste of working in the field, day after day and I can say, I think I have accomplished that. Some days are trying, but on the few occasions where I'm working indoors for some reason, I find myself longingly looking out the window. I am surprised to learn that just because one likes to be outdoors for recreation does not automatically mean one likes to be outdoors for work. This might be obvious to some, but before this summer, I never considered this view.

Possibly some of this reflection on field work comes from my change in projects. The peregrines are out on their own, hunting and fending for themselves and making long flights in preparation for migration. So last week I spent my last day as the 'bird lady' and switched to a project inventorying rare plants for a deer impact study. This project is a secondary assignment to fill the rest of my time here, and although I find it interesting, I wasn't jumping up and down about the change. It is a chance to do some botany work and see a different part of the park. Our site is a swamp- sounds exciting, right? Well, it is actually quite beautiful with short shrubby looking gray birch and lots of mounds filled with tufts of tall grasses. My feet are never dry but at least they are the only body part that stays cool.

Amongst all this swamp-wading, I have found time to recreate outdoors. I'll share some pics of the epic backpacking trip of the summer with Emily, Mike and another summer worker here in the park, Andy (not to be confused with the one and only Andy- often imitated, never duplicated) . The trip was filled with tons of 'I guess you had to be there' kind of moments. I attempted some more miles this weekend, but the T-storms decided otherwise. I figure if I'm going to be in a wilderness accident, it better be from doing something hardcore, not just getting struck by lightening in SNP like a big dummy.