Nyam-Ochir, the ranger that was with us on this quest, riding his horse. Picture by Rhiannon Henderson
by Elliot (Eli) Parkin, of Westminster College
I want you to ponder the concept of field research. What does it mean to participate in collecting data, and how does it transform you? Those that have done field research and/or collected data have their own experiences and stories. All these experiences have transformed us in some way. Maybe it has changed us physically, psychologically, spiritually, or have given us meaning to keep doing field research for the rest of our lives. This blog will relay our experiences during the Fall 2018 semester with the Round River Mongolia program. I will narrate these accounts as a participant in this group of devoted college students with two experienced instructors and a Biagal Khamgulagkh (Mongolian word to describe a ranger and means, Protector of Nature).
This adventure starts out at our base camp, Shiluus Camp. Located outside the soum center of Ulaan Uul, within the Horidol Saridag Strictly Protected Area, a hundred meters away from Mungash River. We had risen earlier than our normal time with excitement for our backpacking research trip to one of the drainages to the south. Mother Nature had us waiting patiently at our base camp with snowy weather patterns, making our instructors nervous about accomplishing data collection on northern/alpine pikas and snow lotus. We finally got our opportunity to collect data at a high elevation location, and we were all excited, but we were worried that our vehicle wasn’t going to arrive on time, so one of the instructors led half the group to a nearby talus patch to gather more data for the northern/alpine pikas research.
Evan excited about finding a plant in a small cave. Picture by Taran Tucker.
After lunch, we got into our vehicle to travel to our starting location; some people filled with energy after gathering data, and some fully rested from waiting three hours. After a two hour drive we got ready to hike the rest of the way to set up. One hour later, we arrived at a mostly dry, slightly larch covered, grassy pasture with a nearby stream for a water source, and in range of a lot of potential pika and snow lotus research sites. This pasture would be our camp site for the next five days of research and data collection.
Heading back to our camp site after a long day of working and walking through the golden snow of larch needles. Picture from Rhiannon Henderson.
To sum up, these five days of collecting data on pika and snow lotus involved us waking up at seven in the morning with the light of sun, but the warmth not reaching us due to our camp being enclosed with mountains in all directions. The sun took its time to get in a position that would warm our encampment. These mornings could be ones that your boots would freeze from the sweat within or the moisture that had absorbed into the leather from crossing marshy and snowy areas. The breakfasts were warming and provided with adequate nutrients to start the day. It is great to enjoy those warm meals while being in the cold of early morning and drinking freshly boiled water with your peers with the desire to start working. The work could be taxing from the inclining hills of talus, balancing your every step, observing your safe distance between individuals, collecting data in good sites, and sharpening your sense to judge your surroundings.
Pika scat. Photo by Taran Tucker.
We enjoyed a nice lunch on the high faces of mountain sites, overlooking a lovely environment of trees, mountains, ovoos (sacred stone cairns), rivers, snow slopes, marshy areas, dry forests, and acres of talus. Lunch contained dried fruit, canned fish, raisin bread, biscuits, fried bread, and trail mix. After filling our stomachs, we went back to work looking deep in holes of talus to look for pika scat or hay piles; peeking through cracks to find snow lotus or tagging them and analyzing the vegetative edge of sites.
As the sun started to set, we would start back to camp and prepare dinner. If we had separated into two groups, we talked to one another of our experiences at our different sites and our struggles throughout the day while dinner was getting ready. If we had been together the whole day, then we would talk about the thoughts that we had about that day or different subjects about our lives. Every day had new stories to tell and brought us much closer to one another. Dinner would bring us warmth as night started to rush through the sky, giving us a beautiful view of all the stars as we surrounded the blazing fire, and dined on delicious food that we were craving from a long day’s hard work. As we finished dinner, we basked looking at the stars, wondering about things in our lives, discussing the plans for the coming day, and reflecting on the day.
Evan, Chris, and Eli working on data collection at one of the pika sites. Photo by Taran Tucker.
We had our struggles on this quest from minor injuries, simple sickness, blizzards, balancing on talus, changing weather, and not knowing what mother nature would test us with. These were easy struggles to overcome every day for us and learn from them. These struggles were necessary for us to go through our own transformations, reflecting about our lives, and carrying on lessons that were taught from these experiences. The most important lessons were to have trust in your comrades, respect mother nature as an equal, absorb the knowledge that nature is showing you, and that everything will work out.
Evan and Tarran working on one of the Pika site. Evan holding his fist in triumph and Tarran still searching. Photo by Rhiannon Henderson.
Thank you for reading this narration of our experience, and may you be able to take your own chance to begin on an adventure. Also, I like to wish my comrades, instructors, Nyam-Ochir, and the other rangers with my deepest gratitude. We all learned from one another and created deep bonds that will always be with us. I respect you all and I hope for the best for everyone.