Unity, Joseph and Mount Howard

After Hell's Canyon, we spent a few nights along the North Fork of the Burnt River working on ecology with Suzanne Fouty and Mary O'Brien. We spent two days taking transects of the river and looking at potential beaver habitat and the viability of supporting beaver in the area. Spending two days on the river looking at plant life really changed my perspective on the health of riverine ecosystems. It made me realize there is a difference between health and biodiversity and aesthetics.

After three nights on the Burnt River, we returned to Enterprise and are now occupying a barn on a private ranch outside of Joseph. We've been talking about swimming in Wallowa Lake all week, and were excited to return to Joseph. Yesterday we rode the tram up from Wallowa Lake to Mount Howard and spent the day doing mini-projects on alpine eosystems. Following the data collection, we climbed to the top of Mt. Howard and enjoyed the view of Aneroid Lake and the drainage that flows into Wallowa Lake. It was windy and frigid at the top, but we enjoyed the opportunity to stop and admire our surroundings.

Upon returning to the parking lot, we all piled into the suburbans to return to the ranch. Initially, it seemed that the weather had foiled our plans of swimming, but our courageous leader Jay made the call to stop at the boat launch. We all ran down to the water, shedding our clothes along the way, to jump into the lake at 60 degree outside temperatures. The initial shock literally stole my breath, but as we splashed around and tried to wash the last weeks grime off our bodies, it made us feel alive - we were laughing, screaming, splashing and flailing for as long as we could feel our toes. What a great place to be!