Fall has arrived. The trees lose their leaves, outdoor\nactivities die down, and the vitality of summer begins to fade. It seems like a\nfitting time for my internship to end. Like many endings, this one is\nbittersweet. In less than two weeks I\u2019ll be leaving the charming town of Lander,\nWyoming to make the long haul back to Cleveland, Ohio. I am excited to see\nfamily, and friends, and to move on to something new. Despite the stigma that\nhas stuck with Cleveland since the Cuyahoga River caught fire\u2026multiple times,\nit is a pretty great place (the watershed is much cleaner now). Anyway, I will\ncertainly miss Lander. There are many places that I would feel some resistance\nto leaving after five months of creating memories, and building bonds, but\nLander will always be special to me. As I first set eyes upon this storybook\nsmall town I felt a nostalgic, comforting warmth sprout inside of me. A handful\nof old buildings, historic landmarks, and a view of the Wind River Mountains provide\nthe town with an unnecessary, yet welcomed boost in charisma. The weathered and\nwild appearance instill a sense of wonder about the events; proud and profoundly\nsad, that have shaped this place. Lander has just enough people to have a \u201cMain\nStreet\u201d, a small strip of downtown. Most businesses, a few restaurants and\nbars, and a movie theater provide just enough excitement to pull people out of\ntheir cozy living rooms when the weather is not cooperating, or the vast swath\nof natural beauty that extends for miles beyond the town in all directions when\nsunshine is infinite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was surprising to me how outdoorsy a community of people\ncan be. In the months when there\u2019s not too much snow to leave your house, most\npeople use their free time for camping, fishing, hiking, climbing, biking, and\nin the fall, hunting season begins. I consider myself a somewhat adventurous,\nnature-loving person, but the people in Lander are on a different level. If the\nweather is nice, it can be assumed that everyone is outside. Some indoor\nactivities cease to exist in the summer. Businesses even shorten their hours to\naccommodate for the lack of\u2026business. Bar trivia no longer exists, an evening\nyoga class is nowhere in sight, and one gym that I looked into joining closed\nat 7pm on weekdays and was closed for the weekends \u2013 summer hours. It seems\nlike even after a long day of work, people just want to ride their bikes or\nhangout up in the mountains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While I feel like a sloth compared to the people here, I am\ndefinitely going to miss all of the opportunities that the landscape has to\noffer. Granted, the winters are long and cold in Wyoming (maybe that\u2019s why\npeople are so active when they can be), the majesty of nature has no rival\nanywhere near Cleveland. Sinks Canyon State Park, only a 10 minute drive away,\nwould be a gem in Cleveland. In Wyoming it\u2019s just a drop in the bucket of\nmagnificent landscapes. I will long for this wild land, and the sense of\nfreedom it provides. If I want to get away from people, all I need to do is\ndrive out of town. In 5 minutes I\u2019ll see sagebrush, open land, blue skies and\nmaybe some pronghorn; a landscape that immediately puts me at ease. Once I\nleave here, I won\u2019t be able to wake up, and on a whim, drive to see the vivid colors\nof fall beneath the awe-inspiring snow caps of the Tetons. Even if a hike here\nfails to provide a moose, or bear sighting, the chance to walk amid these\nbeautiful mountains makes the day an unfaltering success. The wonders are not\nlimited to Wyoming. A long weekend makes a good time to trek to the bordering\nstates of Utah, Colorado, Montana and Idaho (There\u2019s a lot more to Idaho than\njust potatoes). Even before I came to Wyoming, the forested parks in Cleveland\noccasionally provided a peaceful retreat from the stresses of life, but I was\nnever really drawn to them. I fear that living surrounded by the picturesque\nlands of Wyoming has created something in me that will leave a void once I\ndepart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All in all, I had a great experience in Lander. I learned a great deal about range land management, the ecology of South-Central Wyoming, and Wyoming in general. My position as Range Monitoring Intern pushed me out of my comfort zone and exposed me to a new realm of natural wonders, people, and experiences. I would recommend this experience to most people, regardless of their background. I\u2019ve gotten to know myself better, and feel as though I have lived life right for the past 5 months. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Fall has arrived. The trees lose their leaves, outdoor activities die down, and the vitality of summer begins to fade. It seems like a fitting time for my internship to end. Like many endings, this one is bittersweet. In less … Continue reading