by Evan Foster, of the University of Vermont 

Talus Pika data collected, Daurian pika data collected, vansemberuu data collected, and waterfowl data collected. It was finally time for the last stage of data collection: camera retrieval. The summer program’s students placed 25 cameras throughout the Horidol-Saridag, and our task was to retrieve all of them. It was a big task, but we were ready for the difficult challenge.

In order to get all of the cameras in a timely fashion, as we had a time crunch (no surprise), we had to split the group for most of the days. In some very rare cases, we had to split the split group. However, this only happened on special occasions usually involving following tracks. Most of the days were split into two different hikes: the long hike and the short hike. We rotated through these in order to give the long hikers from the previous day a rest. It was unfortunate that all ten of us couldn’t stay together for the whole process, but each split group (sometimes each split split group) went on some remarkable adventures together. The end of the day was filled with excitement as we talked about our adventures with each other. Those little moments when we would share our stories in the ger (yurt) while the fire cracked and sparked as we refueled our bodies with Nyamka’s food, are the moments that we will all hold onto.

This is one of those stories that was told in the ger:

It was the first hike, and the group was The Backseat Boys (KT, Jerm and me) featuring Bob (Chris). This was a very, very, very long day. The plan was to retrieve the furthest cameras from camp, but other things ended up happening. We woke up extra early in order to get a head start on the day (definitely Bob’s idea). So, at 7:00 in the morning, we stuffed our faces full of peanut butter and oats and headed down to cross the freezing Mungash river. When we got there, our boots came off and our trusty crocs went on. With thoughts of warm hot tubs in our minds, we marched through the cold, flowing water. The actual crossing of the river wasn’t the bad part, it was getting out of the water that was rough. Once our feet and legs exited the water and entered the cold world of the wind, it got pretty chilly. With stiff and cold feet, we all got our socks on and laced up our boots. Off we went with much, much colder feet. Now, when we got back to camp later that night, we found out that the temperature was around -7°C at 8:00 in the morning. We left at 7:00 in the morning, an hour before that reading was taken, which means it was a lot colder. However, we didn’t need this information to know that it was cold out. One look at either my crocs or Jerm’s showed you how cold it was because of the rocks that were glued to the bottom after stepping out of the river and onto the rocky riverbed. We were in for a very cold morning.

We continued on, pushing ourselves to walk through the snow and keep our bodies warm. Our feet propelled us forward as we were making great time, but the cold was still lingering in the air. Now, there’s an art to layering. You want enough layers that you stay warm, but not too many that you start sweating profusely. There’s a motto that us students like to live by: be bold, start cold. So, we did that. We were bold and delayered that thick, puffy jacket that trapped in all the heat and walked into the cold air.

Two minutes later…

And the puffy was back on! Don’t be bold! Stay warm! Lesson learned. When it gets to be nose- hair freezing, you wear that puffy jacket! So, with our puffy jackets and frozen noses, we traveled up the riverbed.

Super puffy KT!

After about an hour of walking, we were fast approaching our first destination. Bob gave KT the GPS so that she could guide us to the camera. Before long, we were standing right next to the tree with the camera on it! What a sight! Also, at this very moment the sun was starting to emerge over the mountains so feeling was coming back in our toes and fingers. We were in for a good day.

The day continued as planned with our fast pace toward … WAIT A MINUTE! What is that?! Five toes, two-by-two trot, claws, that’s a wolverine track! Wow! Our faces lit up like candles, momentarily ignoring the cold. Now, we had two important options that we needed to precisely consider in order to determine the best course of action. We could either continue on with our fast pace or follow the wolverine tracks. We sat there thinking about wha…ohh, and there goes Jerm! Okay, so we decided to follow the tracks!

Winston the Wolverine tracks feat. Jerm’s hand.

Winston was the newly given name to the wolverine. Winston’s hobbies include trotting through knee-high snow, eating lots of meat, traveling A LOT, and occasionally pooping. We were super interested in the pooping part. If only we could stumble across a fresh pile of wolverine poop; a dream that we all held in our heads. The DNA lies in the poop, we all thought to ourselves! So, in order to spearhead some Wolverine Foundation work, we decided to take it upon ourselves to find a poop and deliver it to the Wolverine Foundation’s executive director. Luckily, we had her as one of our instructors; Rebecca. So, off we went in search of the rare Winston poop to bring back to Shiluus camp.

After a couple hours of following Winston’s tracks and no poop, we were beginning to realize that there was not enough daylight to sustain our addiction of following wolverine tracks. The hard decision to head back in the direction of the second camera was eventually made. We said good-bye to our friend and headed back towards where we came from. We retrieved the second camera with no issues and continued on to a meadow where we planned on relocating one of the cameras. Our stomachs were growling as we approached the sun-filled meadow. Okay, so instead of writing about what lunch was like here is a picture (top) of Jerm’s foot and (bottom) of Bob touching Jerm’s foot:

 

Once our feast of hard apricots, canned fish and peanut butter was over, we set out for the last camera. Bob informed us that we had a steep uphill, and then the camera would be right at the top. Psych! When we got to the top, we saw that there was a huge ravine on the other side. So, down we went! Scree skiing! Since the ski season was fast approaching, we decided to get a few practice runs in at the local scree hill.

Photo of the Backseat Boys after successfully screeing down.

The final camera was almost in our grasps. After only a few minutes of walking, we were there! We felt accomplished by our long day of following tracks and retrieving cameras. So, with our hearts full and the excitement high, we started heading back to the beloved Shiluus camp.

Ten minutes later…

Okay, soooo quick change of plans. Winston’s back! Again, we found ourselves on a hot pursuit of the all mighty wolverine poop. Winston was following an animal trail that traced the edge of a cliff which led to the riverbed down below. Tracks on tracks on tracks! Our determination never died as we eagerly searched around the path for a sign of poop. As our eyes were scanning every inch, something strange came into our view. There was a large wooden contraption leaning up against a pine tree. Wait a minute! This is the core zone, there isn’t supposed to be any human activity here. But, wait! Could this be? POOP! Just underneath the large wooden thing, was a beautiful pile of poop. We all got our faces down there to get a good whiff to see if it had that distinct wolverine poop smell. Ahh, we finally did it! The dream had come true.

Jerm getting close and smelling that good poop!

Well, we did it! The poop was found, the cameras were retrieved, and the memories were stashed. After almost 12 hours of trotting through the woods together, we started our journey back to Shiluus camp. It was a near six-kilometer hike back as it was fastly approaching seven o’clock. Our strides lengthened as we hurried along the path walking in a single file line. The landscape around us started turning into a dark maze, but our eyes were quickly adapting.

As we walked back, the streaks of moonlight seeped into the forest showing us where our feet should land. There was a simple acknowledgement between all of us that no words were needed. The landscape took ahold of our mouths and was speaking for us. The river was flowing, the moon was shining bright, and the trees were swaying in the wind. Everything was exactly where it should be including the four humans silently wandering through the forest.