mojave wildlife

desert tortoise, rattlesnakes, kangaroo rat (cute), quail, jackrabbits, etc.

desert road trip

bye bye ut

hides

finishing up a week-long primitive skills workshop as part of survival school staff training. i chose hide tanning as my course.

did two deer hides.
steps: scrape off flesh. soak in lye solution. scrape hair and epidermis. rinse. scrape flesh side again to remove membrane. soak in brain solution. wring out, stretch, rack it up and soften til it's dry. smoke treatment. (smoking the hides will ensure that they stay soft even if they get wet later).

now gotta decide what to make out of these.

WFR

stepping outside the classroom...

Finished the recert class for wilderness first responder. Did lots of good scenarios-- various trauma and medical emergencies, and how to deal with them in the back country.

Now a week vacation before more staff training at the survival school.

almost home again

this is my last night in new zealand. and might be my last trip here, at least for free through antarctic program. i might be done with the ice, for a while anyway.

flying back to the states tomorrow. looking forward to seeing friends and family again.

en-zed

back in new zealand. hiked the routeburn track earlier this week. great views, and also enchanted mossy beech forest(early one foggy morning).

then spent some time at friends' place on the west coast. they have a 1 year old. very cute and fun to be around a wee one. was unusually hot and sunny. so much so that they were worried about running out of water (they use rain catchment system and normally there's far more rain than what they need).

now back in chch. soon will travel around northern end of the island with a friend. haven't been to that part of nz yet. don't know exactly what we'll do or where we'll go. lots of day hiking. maybe no sea kayaking after all so i can give my shoulder a break and let it get all better.

one last trip

not a bad way to end the season.
filming pond algae in hidden valley.

almost done. again.

wow, i'm leaving the ice two weeks from today (weather permitting). hard to believe all this time has past.

crater

got to go up to the crater today. so cool. the plume obscured the lava lake much of the time, but every once in a while i could see the red glow. and although this has been a mellow season with no bombs being shot out (so far), it did make some impressive noises while i was up there. kinda sorta like the sound when a big wave comes and drags the rocks along the beach as it rolls back in to the ocean. kinda. but not exactly.