August 10, 2019

Fen-tastic Adventures in Wapusk National Park

This morning, we woke up later than usual (almost 8 o’clock). Then we ate breakfast, which was delicious. We had eggs, turkey bacon, and hash browns. Then, we set out on an adventure. At first, the rainy weather was dreary and the cold weather chilled our bones. At the fen, we collected our data, doing various types of plant identification, along with probing to discover the thickness of the active layer and DNA to investigate the microbiome. Another adventure began after the fen. We set off towards our first fox den of the trip. However, we were delayed by some caribou, who observed us as we observed them eating their lunch. We proceeded onwards, and finally reached our destination. Julie and Jill enlightened us to the habits of arctic and red foxes, and we observed the impact the fox den had on the surrounding environment. We collected soil samples, then headed back towards Nester One. On our way, we stopped at two archeological sites: a hunting blind and a chute tool-making spot. We learnt the significance of these sites from Jill, and hiked onwards. We reached Nester One in the late afternoon and soon enjoyed dinner: a delicious snow goose soup prepared by Jill, chicken seasoned by Julie, and scrumptious salad. After dinner, we played another round of our group bonding game Salad Bowl (a game a bit like charades) and enjoyed another evening together. We can’t wait for tomorrow!

-Arenal (Baltimore) and Leanne (Winnipeg)