Healthy Rocky Mountain Forest
Fire Suppression In the early 1900's, the United States started a war on wildfire. Fire suppression became federal policy to combat wildfire in order to protect both western towns and as well as…
Alpine Tundra
Alpine Tundra in the Colorado Rockies Alpine Tundra This is what the top of the world feels like. Herds of elk quietly munching the alpine tundra's grasses and forbs, which have finally been…
San Luis Valley, Conejos RIver
A Good Map No car-camper should leave the house without her DeLorme Atlas/Gazetter, one for each state she travels through. The Delorme Atlas gives a girl information about where the federal lands…
Red Lake stream
Red Lake tail stream Day One; Southern Colorado At the crack of dawn we piled into the truck and headed north to Colorado via Chama, Northern New Mexico. We stopped to camp just across the border…
Bug hat
My Check List is Complete First aid kit (hope I never need to use it). Bug hat (decided to leave it behind... hope I wont' need it). Hope I DON'T NEED. Bug repellent. Bear repellent (REALLY hope I…
The Adventure awaits
The Alaska Highway Adventure Awaits image by Marguerite Mauritz Driving to Alaska? How far and How Long? Am I crazY? I begin my journey north to Healy, Alaska on Monday, June 20th. My husband…
Arctic Dreams
The First Step is to Dream Arctic Dreams, a MUST Read A lot of the fun in adventuring is to dream about where you might go, what you might see and who you might meet along the way. For me,…
Field Site in April
Field Site in April Catching Snow Early April is the beginning of the research season for Dr. Mauritz and her team. She and her team return to Alaska to shovel the snow off her research plot,…
hike the Sandias
Dr. Mauritz and Karen hike in the Sandias All the Way From Northern Arizona University Marguerite is the research scientist that I will be working with in Healy, Alaska this summer. In the…
Karen and Permafrost tunnel
A fellow trekker asked me what the highlight of my Fairbanks orientation has been. Even with a mental haze induced by an intense week of 12 to 14 hour work days and a late 1:00 am flight home, my…
Karen holding Squirrel
Too Cold for a Desert Rat For a desert rat like me, from New Mexico, Fairbanks, Alaska in February curls the hairs in my nose and chatters my teeth. But yet, Fairbanks, is still balmy compared to…
Fairbanks in Winter
A Blanket of White As you may know, winter in Alaska means snow. Here in Fairbanks, the snow is not piled high, just inches really, but the streets are permanently icy, because the cold prevents…