Late update for April 30-May 1.

April 30: We got up early (5:30AM departure) to go wildlife spotting. We saw plenty of bison, elk, and pronghorn antelope but no wolves or grizzlies. Stopped by the Yellowstone Center for Resources to pick up bear spray and vests then headed down to Gardiner Basin to start sampling. It was windy but not too cold.

Collected soil cores at Cinnabar, Stevens Creek, Reese Creek, and the native Remnant to test a  new soil respiration method. On the way back to the lodge we saw a herd of Bighorn Sheep rams.

May1: Slept in a little later and met up with Doug Frank from Syracuse University and his field technician Pete at the Yellowstone Center for Resources at Mammoth Hot Springs. We headed out to the Lamar Valley to haul fencing for animal exclosures. The National Park Service is interested in determining what the effect of increased numbers of bison in the park is having  on grassland productivity in the Northern Winter Range. The Lamar site is a mesic (moist) site and we hauled fencing to a xeric (dry) site near Crystal Creek.
Collected more cores from Cinnabar for a urea titration experiment. For dinner we had stir fry with rice noodles.