Written by Jocelyn Ng (Colby College)
Experiencing something new is always difficult to describe. Like your first week of high school or college. It’s just so difficult to write about because there’s just so many things that happen. The start of this six-week summer program in northern British Columbia is no different: we’ve been doing numerous hikes and discussing several articles, while learning about the ecology of this land, learning about the Taku River Tlingit (TRT) and their history, and, of course, having some fun. In this post I’m going to share some highlights of our first week, while (hopefully) keeping it short and sweet.
Before I start, I want to briefly introduce myself. My name is Jocelyn, and I’m from Hong Kong. I am a rising junior at Colby College, Maine (here we go mules!) back on the east coast. My major is biology with a concentration in neuroscience, and I have two minors: Environmental Studies and Creative Writing. For the past five summers, I’ve done research in the cellular/molecular biology and cognitive psychology areas, so this summer I wanted to do something different. I’ve always loved spending time outdoors and have been very interested in conservation efforts. Round River in northern BC seemed like the perfect opportunity to get outdoors, still do science, but also get some new experience.
Once we arrived in Atlin on Friday, things started to pick up. Right away, we were having lectures in the morning and going out into the field right after. On our first full day, we hiked up Monarch Mountain and quickly learned many plant species in the area.
The arctic lupine was one of my initial favorites (and still is!) because it has a distinct color and has a pretty cool name. This hike was so far the only one where there was a trail to follow – the next three hikes (Johnson Range, Ruby Mountain, and Sentinel Mountain) all required bushwhacking, something I had never done before. Moving bushes and leaves out of the way was definitely nerve-wracking at first, but after some time, it got kinda fun. Once in a while, I would get hit in the face with a small subalpine fir branch – it was more funny than anything.
At Ruby Mountain a few days later, we were lucky enough to see some Stone sheep and woodland caribou walking around and grazing on lichen and small plants. The highlight of this hike was definitely when two female woodland caribou walked right up to us while we were having our lunch. They were merely 15-20m away from us and were curiously looking at us while we looked at them.
Caribou on Ruby Mountain (photo by Susie Dain-Owens).
The day after hiking Ruby Mountain was a much-needed rest day; it also happened to be Zach’s 20th birthday. We had a quick morning lecture on birds by Susie, and then Ellie, Briana, and I explored Atlin.
Atlin Mountain and Atlin Lake
We walked down by the water and grabbed some coffee/tea from the Atlin Mountain Coffee Roasters trailer. Afterwards, we checked out the courthouse art gallery and bonded with this cute dog, Bowza. We spent the afternoon at the beach, playing some good old Rocce rock (like Bocce ball but with rocks), initiated by Zach, and went in Atlin Lake for a quick dip. After dinner, we even had delicious cupcakes and watched a movie at the Teen Centre. I think it was all in all a good active rest day.
Yesterday was Canada day, so before we went out into the field, we got to experience the parade not once, but twice! Atlin is small enough that we were able to walk to another intersection to see the floats go by a second time. Being born in Canada, I felt some pride seeing all the Canadian flags around, but I had never celebrated the day. Some of the floats included the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police), St. Martin Hippies, and the Atlin VFD (Volunteer Fire Department). One of my favorites to watch was the pony that was pulling a small carriage as well as two dogs. Unfortunately, we were unable to enjoy Canadian cupcakes on this special day, but we succeeded in collecting some sheep scat samples afterwards.
So far, this six-week (now five more weeks!) program has been a blast. It’s been awesome to learn from Susie and Will, the leaders, while hanging out in the field. They definitely know a lot from previously co-leading this trip. Below is a picture of their cooking skills coming in handy on Sentinel Mountain! By the way, the broccoli and mac ‘n cheese were super tasty.
Something I’m looking forward to that we haven’t experienced yet is getting the opportunity to talk to Taku River Tlingit (TRT) people. Round River Taku is not only about conserving land and animals within the land, but also collaborating with the indigenous people that first settled in the land: the Tlingit. I think it’s pretty amazing to be able to hear the many successes by the collaboration between TRT and Round River in the many protected areas near the Taku River.
Before I finish my post, I do have one last thing to add. If you are reading this and are on the fence about doing the Taku Round River program, don’t be. Apply, and you will learn so much out in the field. And the summit views are just a bonus.