Myranda Sloo, Carleton College. Photos by Adam Spencer, Round River Instructor.
It only took me a few days to realize that it’s almost impossible not to live in the present up here where cell service is nonexistent, and wildlife is abundant. Rather than scrolling through social media or watching TV, we spend our free time playing card games, playing ultimate frisbee in the field down the road, and listening to the endlessly entertaining stories of our instructors. In the past week, I’ve paid closer attention to my surroundings than ever before and I haven’t used the internet at all (I hope my family isn’t too concerned). There is something seriously meditative and rewarding about being completely immersed in nature, hearing nothing manmade, and seeing wildlife in its natural habitat.
Rain beams over Atlin Lake on the summit of Treeline Mountain.
As this was my first time doing fieldwork, I was excited and a little nervous to familiarize myself with the environment, hike the (seemingly) endless mountains, and observe ecological processes that I had never witnessed before. In the past two weeks I’ve learned how to identify most of the plants we see on a regular basis, I’ve learned how to differentiate between birdsongs, I’ve learned that Atlin is a great little town, I’ve learned that ultimate frisbee is really fun, and I’ve learned that chess is more interesting than I had originally thought. So basically, I’ve learned a whole lot in just two weeks, and I’ve learned things I didn’t even know I wanted to learn. That’s really wild. Of course, this wouldn’t be possible without a flexible schedule, the ability to study in any environment, the emphasis on being outdoors and truly absorbing everything that Atlin has to offer, and the incredible people who are on this journey with me, as well as those we meet along the way.
Living with nine strangers in a place most of us have never been before is truly a once in a lifetime experience. It’s been really fun to get to know my instructors and fellow students since we all come from such different backgrounds and have unique interests, and yet we’re all so passionate about conservation efforts. For some people, it feels like I’ve known them for a lot longer than just two weeks. It’s been the perfect combination of serious conversations about conservation biology, friendly competition in frisbee and card games, and an endless stream of sarcastic comments. That’s what I call my kind of people and my kind of place.
Hiking down a ridge after doing ungulate fieldwork.
Another lesson this program (in congruence with the beautiful Northern British Columbia wildlife) has taught me: timing is everything. Now it’s not like I didn’t already know this, but studying ungulates really emphasizes this and Sunday (July 7th) was the perfect example. We left the house at around 8:45am to do fieldwork in my favorite place (thus far), Ruby Valley. Before even arriving at our destination, we saw a mother black bear and her two cubs on the side of the road. Later, after parking and getting ready to hike, we climbed for 10-15 minutes up the first ridge and immediately saw a mother stone sheep and her lamb. It was decided that this was a good spot to conduct an ungulate survey since we had a 360° view of the surrounding mountains and valleys. Within our 30-minute ungulate survey, we saw a total of 32 sheep; including a group of 12 and a group of 17 that were both on the move with multiple lambs in tow. Never before had I seen that many animals just doing their thing in the wild, unbothered by anything manmade.
Couldn’t take our eyes off all of the stone sheep!
The day just got better from there. After seeing all of the sheep, we saw a caribou about 100m from us and then a bunch of marmots hanging out on a rock pile. Satisfied with our ungulate survey spots, we went home and spent the majority of the afternoon playing cards. Hearts is currently my favorite card game. Later in the day, and I mean way later since the sun goes down at 11pm, I went on a run with one of our instructors and we saw a porcupine up ahead of us on the road. This was my first time seeing all of those different animals in the wild and it was such a cool experience. Since day one I’ve been super excited to see a grizzly bear in the wild and I’ve been told I’m in the perfect place for that to happen. If that happens, my life will pretty much be made.
The marmots staring at us, just as much as we were staring at them.
It’s crazy to think that it’s only been two weeks but at the same time I can’t believe that two weeks have already gone by. Hanging out in Altin, climbing mountains, and conducting fieldwork has been pretty great so far and it’s safe to say that I already don’t want it to end.