Day 4 Personal Refelections

I hope that all of our blog followers are enjoying the information so far. Everybody is having a great time. I have gotten sick, so today I was unable to participate in the morning activities, but as the morning dragged on I felt a little bit better so I was able to go to the National Elk Refuge as well as the art museum. While visiting the art museum, I was amazed to see that all of the actual wildlife pictures were taken by my dad's freind's brother, Thomas D. Mangelson. When we went to the elk refuge, our group borded a sleigh and we embarked into the fields. I got many good pictures that you will be seeing soon. A special thanks to that special person, you know who you are.
-Shane Jimenez

So, today was pretty cool too. We went to the elk refuge and got up close and personal with the elk. The smell was incredible. My favorite part by far was the art museum next to the elk refuge. The paintings were amazing, but the photography was what was really stunning. The photographer, Thomas D. Mangelsen, had some sick photos of animals and landscapes in Alaska. I'm definitely going to look up some more of his work. I of course learned a lot about the elk population in the Jackson Hole area and about conservation as a whole. Tomorrow we're focusing on snow science and learning more about how to judge snow stability, type, and behavior. So...that's about it. Later! ;)
-Marcel Gaztambide

Third day at the camp and we capped it off with the theme of this week (which is sustainability) and tried to base our actions on being aware and focusing on how our actions affect others. Tomorow, my group and I are heading over to a hot spring to study the foreign life that has started to make the spring their home. We will then study the water and its behavior to make sure that these new animals don't dominate the surrounding habitat from other animals that call that land home.
-Davis Pope

Today we went snow shoeing and had to make different forts. This showed us how humans can be a complicated system. We also went to see the elk from a sleigh. I got some crazy good footage-Discovery channel quality! We also got to go to an art gallery, and we really got an idea of the compassion for this area that some of the artists in the past had. We finally got back and just before dinner we relaxed in the cabin where there were a few rap battles I will never forget. Having a great time. Can't wait for tomorrow's project day!!!
-Alex Grunerud

We went snow shoeing today again. We learned more about complicated systems. We also went to the elk sleigh ride. We then went to an art gallery that had some amazing art. Snow shoeing was great. Having a great time.
-Chris Leither

Today was my favorite day so far. We went snowshoeing in the morning and made forts with our clan (mine was the Hello Kitty Island Adventure :) with Pat, Alex, and Alex) and combined with other groups to make a town. That was pretty fun. It was to show us how people could be a complicated system. Then we went to the elk refuge and took a sleigh ride to look at the elk. We also saw a couple of coyotes on the ride. They were pretty stunning. The art we went to see afterward was stunning too. I'd definitely like to go back to that place. I'm having so much fun here. Can't wait 'till tomorrow!
-Sam Simpson

My favorite part of today was playing a game where we were separated into different tribes and we were given supplies to build a shelter. Then they gave us different scenarios and each of the tribes were given different strengths and weaknesses. From this we had to trade with the other tribes and I ended up getting traded from the cool team to team poop shack (yes those were the real tribe names), because I was a hunter. It was a fun acvtivity, cannot wait till tomorrow's research project.
-Mathew Kestle

Today was pretty fun. It was a lot more relaxing than the previous days in that we snow shoed for a little while, then we went to an art museum, and finally went on a sleigh ride. I am really looking forward to tomorrow and the research project we are doing. We are going to a hot water spring and studying the tropical fish that are there and the temperatures of the river that the national forest service needs in order to tell if the indigenous fish and other species are or might be threatened by the tropical fish. It's cool because it will be used by the forest service and it is different from what all of the other groups are doing.
-Tyler Perry

Today we went to a nearby campsite where we had to make our own "colony" and tried to sustain it. It was hard at first because we needed to make shelter, and the person running the project divided the labor so that everyone had a task that they were responsibile for. The next thing that happen in our "colony" was that people started to get diseases. We needed to find the doctors in the other "colonies" and find some way to trade with the colony for the medicine. In the end, we were able to support a colony and finish out strong with healthy (and not sick) people. This was one of the most fun things that we have done so far.
-Collin Yoshinaga

Well, I have to blog and, by reading everyone's posts, I see that everything has been covered. My village was legit, I built a sickynar fort and mastered the boot dance. I took pix in the sleigh and learned many things about the elks. I slept in the van, and ate a lot of noodles. I'm really excited for tomorrow; I just wanna ski.
-Stevie Strehl

Today was really fun, I especially enjoyed building our own communities during the 1860s and deciding what we could trade/barter and how to regulate our population and carrying capacity for the land. I also really liked the sleigh ride because we got so close to the elk and learned a lot from the guide. I hope that we have a lot of fun skiing tomorrow, if the weather permits.
-Alex Baker

Today we went to the elk refuge and also saw the art museum. The art museum was amazing. Most of the art involved wildlife that is in the Teton area. There was one particular painting that really intresed me. In it were three rams atop a massive mountain and there was a scene of a majestic mountain range in the background. The picture was painted mainly using blues, whites, and light pinks. At the elk refuge, we saw many elk, and we also saw two coyotes. This was so cool to see, seeing as I have never seen a coyote before. It was an awesome day.
-Thomas Hanlon

Today we woke up and went snowshoeing in the morning to a campground where we did an activity. The activity was to create a hypothetical village in the mid 1800s with our family and a small amount of supplies. We were then given scenarios which we had to deal with, with respect to the welfare of our community. These involved food shortages and the spread of disease. After the activity, we visited the elk refuge and the art museum, both of which were amazing. My favorite part of the museum was a hallway where they had photographs of landscapes and animals taken by a local.
-Matt Brzowski

I don't really know what to say in this blog. Everyone has pretty much covered everything that happend to me today. However, I did experience the exciting adventure of trying on kid's costumes of a bison, moose, elk, and a bald eagle with Ellen. It was surprisingly entertaining...however, we may have been a little slap happy after 2 exerting days and staying up late and giggling over absolutely nothing. Overall, this trip has been a blast. The company is great, the activities are a blast, and the scenery is breathtaking. I have had a great couple of days and look forward to two more incredible ones.
-Natalie Warner

My favorite part of our day today was the museum we went to. OK, yeah, elk are fun to look at, but not for very long. The art museum had incredible paintings, photographs and sculptures of nature scenes. I admit, I also experienced the exciting adventure of trying on the kid's costumes. I even left a little piece of art of my own in the children's museum for future generations to admire. We've all discussed how each day here at TSS feels very long but, "As a whole it's gone by really fast," Natalie quoted earlier at dinner. It's a great program here and an experience that will stay with us forever.
-Camille Overmoe

The higlight of my day was the museum. There was so much art. All of it was amazing. Being able to walk between exibits and look at wildlife art was so cool. Also, to then go and see some of the elk that inspired these artists was incredible.
-Patrick Griffin