Nerdin'

Nerdin' is one of my favorite pastimes. The classes that I've been taking this semester seem especially conducive to nerdin', because they involve extensive plant I.D., tree aging, GPS, and maps. It's been a tough call to determine which of my classes is nerdier. 

But then my Maps and Wilderness Navigation class took a trip to Flagstaff (I had pics but sadly my camera is M.I.A.) and we went to the USGS Space Center, and then had a library archive tour.  Our nerdy little hearts were so happy to learn from George the Geologist while he told us about the lengthy process of mapping the Grand Canyon-- he spent months surveying and tracing the complex geologic features. This is the dragon map that he made:

Probably the coolest thing I've learned in Maps and Nav is that non-GPS folks are referred to as 'muggles' by the GPS/ geocacher community. You have to be careful to hide your GPS while in public for two reasons. One is that you will look too nerdy (my textbook actually told me this), and Two is that you can't let the muggles see you when you are using your GPS and trying to find a geocache.

We all look super nerdy trying to use our GPS units, but we try to embrace it.

But probably unsurprisingly, my favorite things to nerd about are herps.

The tail end (pun intended) of lizard season was a couple of weeks ago, so I was lucky to find a few of these scaly guys sunning outside of my house. I had yet to touch one, so I ran back and forth in my PJs trying to grab one, and finally trapped a larger one in a box and scared it enough so that it stopped moving. I felt bad for a sec, but holding a real live lizard was way too cool. In my herpetology class last spring we only had gross preserved specimens to study. This is a million times better:

While continuing nerdin' on this lizard, I looked it up in my herps of AZ book. It's a Ornate Tree Lizard!

And see that spot of blue on the side? That's how you can tell that it's a male. Nerd-tastic.

Over the hills and far away

My dad came out to visit me for a few days, so we took a lil road trip. We headed over Mingus Mountain on a long road full of switchbacks to the small town of Jerome. Elevation 5,246, founded in 1876. Because I know you wanted to know!

Here's the crazy road:

And a necessary dorky picture:

The town of Jerome itself is quirky and touristy at the same time. It's an old mining town, and all of the buildings are basically clinging to the hill.

I was a fan of this staircase: 

But I think the main draw of this town was the view. You can just see it through the buildings in this picture... there is some gorgeous geology in the background! It looked like the layering in the Grand Canyon.

After we had our fill of wandering the artsy streets, drove down to the old copper mine. Apparently it is the largest wooden headframe still standing, and its purpose was to haul ore up from the mine. 

Here is a view down the mine, all 1,900 feet! I spit down it and it was the coolest.

Then we played around on the old mining equipment:

Jerome... we give it the AC stamp of approval!

Winter Wonderland... in AZ

What better way to spend a Saturday morning than driving on crazy back roads in trucks blasting country music, marveling at the snow-dusted mountains, and throwing many snowballs (all instead of doing field work)?

Pros and cons: Airport edition

I travel on planes pretty often, so you would assume that I am pro at airports and catching flights. You would be very wrong in this assumption. I seem to be incapable of having a smooth airport/plane experience. Either I get picked for extra screening, or I sprint around the airport with my frame backpack and act frazzled. Or there was that one time that I got on the wrong flight. Turns out I was waiting at the wrong gate, and there were two flights to Bangor at 9 pm that night. Why I so stupid??

This weekend I was traveling back to Prescott from DC and stupidly had a half an hour layover in ATL (never do this!!). The airport is huge and I had to sprint through two terminals only to easily get on my flight and wait around while other late people just strolled in. Then I almost missed my shuttle and got stranded in Phoenix.

But I still love flying because you get views like this:

And you get to be places that you love:

With the gimps that you've been missing:

It was a wonderful weekend with camp friends in DC, and we even squeezed in a trip to the Cove. Now it's back to school. I'll put on my teenage mutant ninja turtle hat and go to class now.

Happy Halloweeeen!

Mepps

My housemate Noah bought some stylin' hats at the D.A.V. a while ago. And for some background, the D.A.V. is this magical thrift store where you can find whatever you are looking for for under a dollar, depending on the mood of the lady who rings you up. I've figured out the trick though. When I wear my hair down I get major discounts (Major Discounts!), so I guess she's a curly hair fan. Anyway, the point is that Noah and I have matching hats and this has spawned a couple of fantastic twin days! The first one happened by accident, except for the hats.

The second one was planned out way in advance.

We don't know what 'Mepps' means. It is the great mystery.

And now a word from our sponsors!

General Studies

General Response

Major Beetle Kill

Major Impact

The Ruth Fire

I finally found it! It being 'My Spot', and 'found' meaning I had to go there for my Fire Ecology class anyway. I hadn't been actively looking for a spot, but now that I have found It, my spot it shall be! I'm envisioning it as my place to draw, daydream, reflect, learn, and relax in the sunshine. Oh! I haven't even shown you what it looks like. Here:

Just a barren hillside, I know what you're thinking.


Look a little closer:

Nothing like mullein to make me feel at home.

Juniper sap!

It's quite beautiful and calm. The hill sort of reminds me of the Bald, which is maybe why I like it so much. Ponderosa pines are surrounding the fire site which is a bonus because I think they are my favorite tree species. And there are signs that a possible hobo has been camping at the top of the hill... so that's exciting.
Next time I'll bring my binocs to do some birding.
Stay tuned for the actual latin names of the species pictured-- I'll learn them in class tomorrow!

General Management Plan!

Sometimes I get bored in class. Especially classes that are four hours long, like my block course in Park and Wilderness Management. I occupied myself by writing down all of the "Major" and "General"-isms that were said by people in my class. This is an entertaining game that I learned from How I Met Your Mother. Of course, it was picked up at camp and we couldn't get through a staff meeting without endless salutes. And once you start something, it is hard to stop! We created a monster!

So here is a summary of what I learned over block:
General Feeling
General Land Office
General Idea
General Trend
General Question
General Plans
General Stuff To Bring
General Yahoo Behavior
General Public
Major Conservation Group
Major Barn Was Burning
Major Form
Major Points
Major Concentration
Major Battle
Major Thoroughfare
Major Hike
Major Undertaking
Major Management Thing
Major Lookout Point
Major Conclusions

Imagine saluting to all these higher-ups! I will obviously continue writing these down in class. And post the best ones.