Hi Everyone!
I wanted to write and give an update on the research project to those of you who have expressed interest in keeping up to date on our progress. Grace (my research assistant) and I made it to Lander, WY last Thursday night after 3 long days of driving west from New Haven. Since then we’ve been busy making sure our gear is organized and all logistics are in place for this project. We’ve weighed out 80 pounds of food for the next month, calibrated and re-calibrated our research equipment, organized resupplies and acquired skis, sleds, stoves, sleeping bags and the rest of backcountry gear we’ll need for the next month.
We’re hoping to drive to Pinedale, WY tomorrow to try to get into the field Thursday but it all depends on conditions. Our most recent scout reported back patchy snow between 9,000-9,500’ and full snow coverage above that zone. This was from slightly further south in the range so snow-line could be a little lower. Our initial plan was to head up to Deep Lake (10,200’) via the Big Sandy Trailhead (9,200’), but right now road access ends 7 miles before the trailhead. We’re working with the forest service to adapt to conditions and may now be heading in from the Dutch Joe Guard Station. We’ll just have to see. The good news is that this means we should catch snowmelt on schedule. We’ll keep you posted on our status and are excited to get into the mountains.
Stay tuned for a text message from us from our emergency communication device if you’ve asked for this – we’ll be sending periodic updates from the field with our GPS location. Once you have this text you can respond at any time to get in touch. I’ll be turning the device on at least once a day at 4:00pm to see if we have any messages. We have unlimited service and solar chargers so don’t hesitate to reach out if you want more information on our progress.
Best,
Taylor