Today started like any other with our usual 7am wake-up call but followed with a critique of our site intervention projects. The project required us to create a gateway for the town of Cody, Wyoming to unite the old town with the cultural center. Eager for the day, everyone ate breakfast and got in the vans for another day of the unknown. The trip to our destination was about a 45-minute drive; most students slept. When we arrived at Mammoth Hot Springs, we ate lunch then we split into groups. Gary and Julie took a group on a small hike so we could learn how to document vegetation plots an area of the Park. Michael and harland took students to the original Stone Arch at the North entrance to Yellowstone and then to watercolor Mammoth Hot Springs.
The weather was perfect today, making it easier to take on the tasks that Gary, Julie, Michael, and harland had planned for us. Plotting is something that we have never done before so it had its ups and downs, literally - the first challenge was dealing with the harsh 14% slope. Once we got to the area we were assigned to a plot, we had to find out latitude and longitude with the GPS units, the direction of the slope, and a 25-foot radius circle including all of the vegetation.
Our time with Michael and harland consisted of a small lecture, a 30-minute sketch, and a watercolor. We did our 30-minute sketch at the original entrance to Yellowstone built in 1903, which contains a time capsule placed by former President Teddy Roosevelt.
We had limited time to complete the watercolor postcards at Mammoth Springs and travertine terraces, but Michael and Julie feel that they are some of the best watercolors to date. I guess we are improving!
When we arrived back to the hotel, everyone dispersed for dinner, before taking over the hotel lobby and a room in the basement in order to finish our drafting assignment that we started in Minneapolis. Many stayed up until two and three in the morning putting all the finishing touches on their drafts. It was a long and tiring day for everyone, but we are proud of the work we have accomplished!
ROB AND ANDREW
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