With my time at Rocky coming to an end, I've decided to allocate this blog post as a reflection of my summer. Prior to coming to Rocky, I knew my summer would be great. I'd be living in the mountains, conducting research, making friends, all...
So far, my experience at Rocky Mountain National Park has been absolutely amazing. Going into the internship, I knew that I would enjoy my time here, but I didn't know just how much I'd love it. While there are tons of great aspects about working...
Now that I'm a bit over halfway done with my internship, I've become much more familiar with the park. On weekends I explore different parts of the park while on weekdays I explore more of Wild Basin. Since I've been here, I've had the chance...
This summer I will be conducting Visitor Use Impact Monitoring as a member of the Continental Divide Research Learning Center (CDRLC). ROMO is one of the most visited national parks; for that reason the park is always looking to improve its sustainability and resilience- that's...
Now that I'm settled in, my initial awe of giant mountains has subsided a bit. By no means am I saying these mountains are any less gorgeous, I've just gotten more used to them. Having driven- and worked- throughout ROMO in these last two weeks,...
Hey everyone, my name is Will Tsai and welcome to my blog! I am currently a student at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa majoring in Environmental Science and Political Science. Prior to Des Moines, I grew up in Portland, Oregon where I first fell...
Yesterday, I hiked to Rocky’s only remaining glacier, Andrews. We began our day by meandering around a few neighboring lakes: Nymph, Dream, Emerald, and Haiyaha. Then, we headed south towards the Loch, and started the climb up to Andrews. The trail wound its way through forests...
Last Friday I shadowed the Fire Effects crew to write an article about their work. The focus of their work is monitoring the effects of prescribed burns on vegetation, yet, they also respond to fires, amongst other things. With this dual role comes a need to be ready for...
Last Tuesday, I hiked up Eagle Cliff to photograph the U-shaped valley and lateral moraines that are Moraine Park. As glaciers moved through Moraine Park, they produced the distinctive U-shaped valley by eroding rock. As glaciers melted, they left behind rock piles, called lateral moraines. Rivers...
Rocky’s glaciers were once incredibly massive. A mere glance at Moraine Park will tell you that. They’re small now; so small that only one, Andrews Glacier, is still technically a glacier. To be considered a glacier, an ice mass needs to be large enough to...