Day 15: Headed Home

7/31/11

We got on the road a little before 7am. And while we were really sad to have the trip come to an end, our spirits were lifted by the spectacular view we had driving away from Gatecliff. The mountains in the distance mixed with the morning light and high fog made the landscape look like waves. It was amazing. We pretty much drove the entire day. Other than heavy traffic in a few places and worries about one of our tires losing pressure, our ride back went smoothly. It felt weird coming back to campus after being in such remote places, but we were all excited to begin lab work on the samples we collected.

Gypsy and Pepper the morning we left. Gypsy wanted to be like Pepper so badly and tried anything and everything to get close to her. 

Our view heading out from Gatecliff. 

The mountains looked like waves!

Day 14: Gatecliff

7/30/11

After eating Liz's amazing lemon zest, beer, and blueberry pancakes, we headed out to look for pellets. We strategically camped right next to Gatecliff Cave, so we didn't have far to go. We had some difficulty finding raptor pellets, but lagomorph pellets were everywhere. Despite our inability to collect raptor pellets around the rock outcroppings at Gatecliff, we were able to see some amazing pictographs inside the cave areas. We went back to our camp for a leftover posole lunch and decided to relax for a while, nearly everyone took a nap in the shade around our camp. Later in the afternoon we hiked up towards an aspen grove we saw earlier in the day. There ended up being a natural spring in the stand of aspen, making for a pleasant change in scenery. We returned back to make a stir fry dinner. After dinner we enjoyed a Dutch oven cake with peaches on the bottom made by Tony. It was a bittersweet evening, though. Since it was our last night in the field, we went around the campfire sharing the highlights and low points of the trip ("high-low"). The highlights greatly outweighed any problems we had on the trip and we were all sad to be leaving.

The view from where we camped at Gatecliff.

Our campsite with the Gatecliff in the background. 

Inside the cave, largely filled in by amberat or crystalized rat urine (dark brown areas).

Native American pictographs.

Close up of the pictographs. 

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Liz's hand next to a Native American's handprint from thousands of years ago. 

Hiking back to camp, collecting lagomorph pellets on the way.

Fossilized coral found near Gatecliff. 

Gatecliff.

Gypsy taking part in our after lunch siesta.

Inside the aspen grove, christened "Anne's Aspen Grove" for Anne's love of aspens.

Anne among the aspens. 

Day 13: The Best Laid Plans....

7/29/11

Because we only had a few hours of driving to get to our last locality,  Liz kept remarking how great it was going to be to get to our campsite in the early afternoon with plenty of time to set up camp and cook dinner. Unfortunately, we passed through Ely, Nevada without replenishing our water supply. This wouldn't be too big of a deal under normal circumstances, but since we were in a part of Nevada where we could drive for hours without passing through a single town, it was a bit of a problem. We got really excited when we saw signs for a petroglyph recreation area, hoping there would be water. When we pulled off the highway, however, there was a big sign reading: No Water. Because a lot of us had never seen petroglyphs before, Liz and Tony left us to hike around and see the rocks while they drove to the next town about 40 miles away to get water. It was nice to be outside, but it was really sad to see that a lot of the petroglyphs had been vandalized. Liz and Tony got back a little over an hour later. We got back in the cars and headed towards Gatecliff, our last site. While driving on a dirt road, one of our tires went flat. So not only did our good start get delayed by a lack of water but also by a flat tire. At this point dark thunder clouds had rolled in. We were all certain we'd be changing the tire in the rain, but we managed to fix the tire and get to our campsite before the rain hit. After our experience at Thunder Camp two days prior, we were ready to set up camp in the rain. Liz made some amazing posole (a perfect dinner to warm us from the cold, rainy weather) and we all huddled together to eat out of the rain and lightening, which proceeded to strike the mountain directly above us as Liz told us horror stories of people getting struck by lightening. The rain stopped at the perfect time and allowed us to continue setting up our tents in the beautiful valley adjacent to Gatecliff Cave.

Petroglyphs. 

The view from our 'hike' around the petroglyph recreation area. 

A collared lizard Jonathan caught. 

Our flat tire under the gathering thunderclouds. 

During a brief break in the rain Daniel carried around hor d'oeuvres. We kept it classy.

Day 12: The Tree of Life

7/28/11

Due to the unrelenting thunderstorm and an overall lack of sleep, we got a rather late start. Anne, Daniel, and Jonathan did, however, make a delicious breakfast smorgasbord. The heat of the day only added to the collective fatigue, so we decided to prospect for pellets in the rock outcroppings surrounding our camp. After a few hours of looking with little success, Liz took refuge in the shade created by a large juniper, which was quite fortunate because she realized that the tree was used as a raptor perch and had an abundance of pellets and bones underneath. It was the perfect find; we were able to cool off a bit in the shade while simultaneously collecting bone samples. After continuing, we started to worry that little Gypsy was getting overheated. We started to get creative to make sure she kept up with us. We were all exhausted and incredibly hot when we got back to camp in the late afternoon, so we decided to pile into one of the cars, crank up the air conditioning, and drive to Smith Creek near Crystal Ball Cave. It was like an oasis in the middle of the desert. We all waded in the water and enjoyed cooling off. On our drive back to camp, we were lucky enough to see a golden eagle cooling itself atop a telephone pole. We ended up eating a late dinner, but we were just glad we weren't huddled under our sun canopy to try to stay dry as we had the night before.

Making breakfast at Thunder Camp. (Notice the gourmet sandwiches being made by Liz...we ate extremely well on the trip)

Looking back at Thunder Camp.

Thunder Camp.

Collecting bone samples in the shade of the juniper perch Liz found. 

Liz and Anne collecting bones in some interesting rock outcroppings. 

Liz carrying Gypsy in her backpack so she didn't have to walk too far in the heat. 

Taking a breather in the shade. 

By the time we got back to camp, Gypsy was really tired and resembled a rag doll.

Smith Creek. So refreshing. 

Crystal Ball Cave above Smith Creek.

Daniel holding a horned lizard Liz caught on the way back from Smith Creek.

The beautiful backside of the horned lizard.

A golden eagle cooling itself in the shade created by the top of a telephone pole. 

Day 11: Thunder Camp

7/27/11

Today also consisted of being in the car for prolonged periods of time. But on the bright side of things, we got to see some beautiful landscapes as we drove from Colorado towards the Utah-Nevada border. After driving through several summer thunderstorms on the way, we were greeted by ominous black clouds at our campsite. Liz agreed to start making dinner while the rest of us rushed to put up our tents before the rain hit. Unfortunately, most people weren't able to even get the rain flies on their tents before the coming of the wind, rain, and thunder. Looking back on us setting up camp, it was almost comical. We were all frantically running around trying to get our things out of the rain and attempting to put up our rain cover in the wind and rain. We decided to appropriately name the campsite Thunder Camp after the thunder and lightening that continued through the night. Despite struggles with the weather, we were still able to have a great taco meal.

As we headed back to Utah from Colorado the landscape changed drastically. 

Gypsy was ready to get to camp after a full day of driving.

We had a "puppy stop" at a rest stop in Utah. The view was amazing.

Daniel trying to teach Gypsy to fetch like Pepper. 

Jonathan holding Gypsy. 

Daniel and Jonathan playing with the dogs.

Driving into thunderstorms. 

"Thunder Camp" right after it stopped raining.

Day 10: Signature Cave

7/26/11

We left the hotel to meet with Dr. Steve Emslie at Western State College before heading off to Signature Cave outside Gunnison, Colorado. We hiked for about a mile and a half, including a stream crossing, to get to the cave excavation site. The was nestled in a beautiful valley at about 10,500 ft. And while a 1.5 mile hike doesn't seem too strenuous, it was the first hike in Gypsy's 7 week old life. But she did great following us down the trail. Once inside Signature Cave (named for a signature left inside, likely belonging to a seasonal miner in the late 1800s) we put on hard hats and headlamps and ventured inside. Once inside the first chamber, Steve gave us a tour and explained the research that was being done inside the cave. For an added adventure, some of us decided to crawl into the next chamber. For those of us who had never caved before, it was incredible being inside a completely dark, silent room. On the hike back, we were able to find an abundance of pika pellets, which was exciting. As soon as we got to the cars it started to rain. By the time we drove to the next locality, the rain seemed to only get worse, so we decided to head back to Gunnison to have dinner with Steve and Dr. David Meltzer of SMU, also working on the project at Signature Caves. All in all, it was a great day!

Crossing the stream on our hike to Signature Cave. (notice Gypsy being carried by Liz in the foreground)

Signature Cave.

Emma and Jonathan just inside the entrance to Signature Cave.

Emma after crawling through the small passage to the inner cave. 

Daniel inside the excavated chamber.

Dr. Steve Emslie explaining the different strata inside the cave.

Steve inside the first chamber. 

Jonathan crawling his way towards the inner chamber.

The passageway was rather narrow...

Anne climbing her way out after Jonathan.

Eating lunch outside the cave. 

Gypsy napped on a rock while we collected pika pellets.

The valley where the cave is situated, next to what remains of a miner's cabin from the late 19th century.

After a hard day's work, arguably the hardest yet in her short life, Gypsy crashed in the car while we ate dinner.