Hart Prairie Preserve, Day 4

Sure enough, I slept really well after river kayaking yesterday and didn’t wake up until 6:30 AM, a bit later than I’d planned on. But that was in plenty of time to have a leisurely wake-up and make it to breakfast.

Our itinerary today called for a morning trip to The Northern Arizona University’s School of Forestry. We were fortunate to meet several grad students who gave us tours of their labs and talked about their research. So much good is going on that we generally never hear about!

And these folks are really well versed in what they do. Their work with forest environment and growth, soils management, human factors in fire prevention and recovery, forest mapping, and insect study will form foundations for real-world applications. Such study will also help us manage the natural world and the human-nature interface. Of course, you have to have a baseline to know what’s changing, and their work is helping to develop that baseline.

One example of a real-world application is in the insect lab (probably not what they called it, BTW!). Ash borers are very destructive to forest trees, and they’re working to develop a way to know if and how severely a tree may be affected. They’re developing equipment to detect the sounds of the insect munching on the tree. With this information, those trying to save the forest will be able to identify specific trees that would need to be taken out to preserve the health of other trees. Interesting, no?

We got a hands-on demonstration of some of the equipment used to do their research and actually did a tree-boring. The tree-bore caused mixed feelings for me, as it feels destructive to the tree but it provides needed information. Our guide assured us that, as long as not done too extensively, a healthy tree can easily deal with such a core sample being taken. Have to admit…the core had a lovely smell!

We had lunch at the facility, which is really beautiful. Should have gotten a picture of the lobby but didn’t. Too busy gawking, I guess! 🙂 But Joann came to the rescue and sent me this one she took:

And this was a perfect opportunity for a group picture, so we lined up in front of the building to do that. I asked Ashley to take a picture with my phone and she got a really good one!

The plan for the afternoon was a trip to the Walnut Canyon National Monument and hike among the cave dwellings there. Several of us decided to skip that and head back to Hart Prairie. My plan was to go out and spend time taking pictures. Unfortunately, clouds moved in, and by the time I got out into the field, there was only an occasional sliver of sun. And then it was totally overcast. So not many pictures today. I did get one of aspen trunks that I like that I got with one of the last bursts of sunlight.

Tomorrow we’re up early to do our last hike…the Grand Canyon south rim. This hike is the reason I brought my hiking poles. Should be some good pictures tomorrow. I hope!