Our travel went great, and everything was seamless. All of the participants made it, along with all of our luggage. The weather was also very cooperative. Brittany enjoyed her first plane flights ever.

Just before our early departure from RDU
Once we arrived in Bozeman and started driving toward Yellowstone, we started seeing wildlife almost immediately. The list includes: magpie, raven, elk, mule deer (and maybe white tailed deer), bald eagle, pronghorn, bison, and duck.

We didn’t get many close ups of the wildlife we saw today… but we looked a little wild after a very early morning, hours of travel, and trying to cram ourselves and all our stuff into our rental cars!
The geology is also amazing! We saw all three rock types on our drive (sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic), and the mountains are very beautiful. There is also evidence of past glacial activity and landslides.

Blaire checking out some pronghorn in front of Devil’s Slide, which is a great example of uplifted sedimentary rocks and igneous sills.
It is really exciting to see the biology and geology here, especially since it is so different from what we are used to in North Carolina. We had our first team meeting to share our first impressions and goals, and we started to form bonds with each other before breaking for dinner. We have settled in to the Mammoth Hot Springs area and are eagerly awaiting our first full day in the field tomorrow.
19 COMMENTS
Jerri Aiken
1 year ago
What an incredible experience! Have fun!
MLK Class
1 year ago
We love the wildlife you told us about, and we would like to hear about the plant life. We really enjoyed the pictures, it looks like the team is going to have a fun and educational adventure! We would love to see some pictures of the wildlife. We are glad everyone and their luggage arrived safely!
Justine
1 year ago
We are so glad you made it safely! We will begin sharing these updates with Ms. Valgus’s class!
Megan Davis
1 year ago
AUTHORFrom Mrs. Valgus: First Graders, You know how we enjoy hiking when on our field trips and in the woods around our campus? You would have loved this hike to Trout Lake! We used special snowshoes to walk in the deep snow. When we arrived at Trout Lake it was completely frozen over and dusted with snow! We saw animal tracks all along the way, including some very large wolf prints.
Josie
1 year ago
Wow! Looks so cool!! Have a great time!!!!
Josie
1 year ago
Looks so fun!! Hope you all have a great time!! Stay warm👍
Josie
1 year ago
Hope you all have have a great time!! Have you seen any wildlife?
Megan Davis
1 year ago
AUTHOR(From Mom) You would be mesmerized with all of the creatures that we are seeing on the landscape, Josie! Between sunrise and sunset on our first day in the park, we’ve seen bison, elk, raven, moose, coyotes, america dippers, common goldeneye, mallards and mountain goats. I think you would have most enjoyed watching the red fox in the meadow hunting subnivean creatures.
william
1 year ago
Hi Ms. Dawkins!
Blaire Dawkins
1 year ago
Hi William!!
Mary Beth Barrack
1 year ago
Hey Megan, Wow, it looks like you are off to a fabulous start on this Yellowstone in Winter adventure! What a wonderful hike the first day! Take lots more pictures! Love to see everything going on with you guys. Nice that the animals are cooperating with you! LOL! 😊❤️😘
Megan Davis
1 year ago
AUTHORLove you Aunt Mary Beth! The animals are DEFINITELY cooperating so far!
Ava Thach
1 year ago
Ms. Peele,
I am looking forward to the pictures and you coming BACK!!!P.s.I hope you have a GREAT time!!!
LOVE AVA!!!
Leslie Peele
1 year ago
I miss you too! Check out the blogs from yesterday! We had so many wildlife sightings! I wish all my friends were here to share this experience with me! You would LOVE all the animals!!!
Barron Allison
1 year ago
I know that Yellowstone stores a wealth of geologic and biologic features. Is there something about Earth’s past or, at least, the past of the North American continent that scientists can learn from it?
Gretchen Miller
1 year ago
Hi Barron! Yes, there are rocks here that go back quite a way into Earth’s history, including fossils. There are even petrified trees!
Lauren Rambeau
1 year ago
Professor Miller,
What an incredible opportunity! It must be really neat to see all of the three rock types so close together. Which of them is the most abundant there?
Gretchen Miller
1 year ago
Hi Lauren! It depends where you are in the park. Volcanic rocks dominate the caldera area, but there are a lot of sedimentary rocks outside the caldera.
israel
1 year ago
hi