Meet the Team

    Introducing Sarah Nalven of Team Microbe. Sarah has been so busy these days that she is frankly hard to find with a spare minute, but nevertheless, here's Sarah!

    Species Journal

    Hannah on hike
    Hannah hiking along the Atigun River on the way to Atigun Falls on a day off.

    Sunday is everyone's day off. It was another beautifully sunny and warm day which made everyone anxious to get out on hikes and further explore some of the mountains in this area. I ended up on the hike to Atigun Falls. It was very Lord of the Rings like in terms of green valleys with craggy mountain peaks. There aren't really any trails in the Arctic, simply not enough visitors to make any. If you happen upon a slight resemblance of a trail it is most likely due to some animal repeatedly using that same path.

    Lauren in the valley
    Such big beautiful green valleys, I'm loving it!

    Atigun Falls
    We made it to Atigun Falls! The water goes through a rock arch as it falls through!

    We traveled about 2.5 miles across the tundra, sticking to the higher ground to try and minimize the wet soggy tussocks, and hoping for fewer mosquitos. We were somewhat successful, we resorted to bug shirts and bug spray to help keep from being eaten alive. The group consisted of myself, Hannah of team Land-Water/team Microbe, Mike of team Land-Water, Arianna of team Photo, and Sally the PI of team Limnology (the study of physical characteristics of inland bodies of water aka lakes in her case).

    Tundra nap
    Lauren takes a tundra nap, it was glorious.

    While we didn't see any animals on the hike we did see this amazing waterfall at our destination. The day was even nice enough for a lunchtime tundra nap.

    Hannah and Mike
    Hannah and Mike look so small in this massive wide open landscape.

    Willow ptarmigan species journal
    Species Journal by Morgan Wagner

    Author
    Date
    Location
    Brooks Range
    Weather Summary
    Sunny, warm and beautiful
    Temperature
    62ºF
    Wind Speed
    5mph

    Comments

    linda

    I 've always thought that there is nothing more wonderful than a nap in the sunshine. But you make that sublime surrender to shut-eye on the expansive tundra almost a transcendental experience. Overwhelming peace. Oneness with with earth and sky.But then, I can fall asleep in the (transcen) dental chair.
    I loved this entry, Lauren
    Sweet dreams.
    x