Last Survey of the Season

Morning light

The museum has been trying to squeeze in the last field survey of the season before the weather turns cold and nasty. A few weeks ago when we were picking dates, there were really only two days that were going to work for both Ryan (my field assistant) and I - October 6 and 7. I was worried that by October we could be having frequent nasty storms. I need not have worried for those two dates (see sunshine and glassy waters in our photos), but it's a good thing we got the survey done when we did. Tonight a big storm is rolling in.

We surveyed a lake on our way to our final destination, and then got dropped off in a bay. We spent one night, and got picked up the next day on the other side of the bay. I'll admit that it was a little chilly and we never got direct sunlight on our second day, but without wind and rain a little cold is very manageable. There were some fantastic bear trails to follow in the woods most of the way, and even though we saw lots of sign, we didn't see any bears up close (we saw two from a distance on the beach). It was a very successful archaeological survey to boot - located two previously documented sites and identified five new  ones.

Keller (our pilot) waiting for us on the lake

Best field assistant ever

Looking for charcoal in the soil probe

Our camp site on a spit