11,000 Feet In Elevation and Climbing

(Songs of the Week: “Roddy” by Djo and “Topdown” by Channel Tres)

Hey guys! The tundra is breathtaking! Every time I am up here, I try to appreciate the environment that I am in and take it all in. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of walking around up here. Especially when I get the cool chance to see a marmot or traveling elk. My favorite part of my internship has been being able to explore such unfamiliar terrain; it is a different world in the tundra and I count myself as lucky to be able to work here everyday. I would definitely say that being able to understand the tundra has been one of my favorite parts of the internship. I used to be intimidated by the environment and how harsh it is (especially coming from Texas, where it is 100 degrees in the summer), but the more time I have spent up here exploring, I’ve learned to not only respect the tundra but also to understand how fragile it is. Most of these wildflowers are slow-growing and can survive in extreme weather conditions, but they are not able to survive repeated trampling by people. This field of wildflowers is a really great example of how beautiful and fragile the tundra can be. Unfortunately, I was only able to get to this field of wildflowers after following a social trail. But it’s through my own experiences up here that I have learned how to properly appreciate the landscape and protect it.