Last week my fellow Carson City interns and I had a little respite from the heat of sagebrush country in mid-august and traveled up into the mountains.   Our mentor was attending a workshop in the Bishop area, and we were able to make the journey south with him, drop him off, and venture out to collect seed and vouchers for a return seed collecting trip later this fall.  A collection permit issued by the Inyo National Forest allowed us to venture onto their lands and into the John Muir Wilderness!  We ended up spending two days in the Seirras and two days in the White Mountains.  The highlight of the White Mountains was the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest.  The trip was capped off by an impromtu outing with the workshop’s leader and White Mountian botanical expert Jim Morfield.  It was very exciting and informative to botanize with someone with such a wealth of botanical knowledge.

Other than the trip south, we are busy plugging away at the fire rehab monitoring that needs to be completed.  With the deadline for completion just over a month away, there is never too much down time here in Carson City!

-Aaron