Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Welcome To My Weblog

For those of you who don't know, I will be working in Katmai National Park in Alaska this summer as an Interpretive Park Ranger. Thanks for coming to my blog, I am going to try to keep it updated pretty frequently. Some posts will be diary-type stories of what is going on with me, and many posts will be more educational narratives where I try to share all of the fascinating things I am learning with the rest of you.

A couple rules: first of all, if you do come here and read something, please comment. I do not have phone access, so the only way I can communicate with people back home is through the internet. So please take the time to leave a comment even if it is only "cool I read this" or "that was lame ginger". You don't even have to create an account with the site just remember to put your name at the end if you don't. Most importantly, I would love to answer any questions you have so please ask me anything and everything that comes to your mind when reading. That way I will know someone is actually reading this and be encouraged to keep writing. The second rule is keep it clean, we might have some kids reading this so if you want to get wild hit me up at myspace (which I can't access until next week).

My first post will be a somewhat saucy account of my feelings about arriving in Alaska, but if you're not sure what is going on don't worry; my next post will be general information about where I am (Katmai National Park), what I am going to be doing and why it is so cool.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mase, I got to your weblog and it is fantastic! Keep it up! Mom

Anonymous said...

Hi, Mason. Sounds cool, but what are you interpreting? How long and deep your gashes are from being mauled by a grizzly or how blue and numb your fingers are from frostbite? Do the bears speak Spanish? -Owen

Mason said...

Hey bud, Interpretation means you are like a Park guide I will be explaining in great detail everything I will be interpreting. Send me your email, and your dad's too I figured he might be interested in all this.

Unknown said...

My email is owenrupert@quality-aggregates.com or ocrupert@gmail.com but I hardly ever use my gmail account. Is it warm where you're at or are you up in the mountains?

Anonymous said...

Hey Wildman, wazzup? Did they teach you about the bears? I heard that you are supposed to wear small bells on your shoes (it is a sound not found in nature) and carry bear pepper spray. You should also learn to look for bear signs; tracks, scrapes, wallows, poop, etc. that lets you know they are in the area. You can tell its bear poop by the little bells and it smells of pepper spray....Have fun! --Uncle Steve

Mason said...

Haha thanks Uncle Steve your tips are definitely right. We don't wear bells but we really do clap and call out "hey bear" all the time when we hike around. Kind of makes you feel like a doofus but you don't want to surprise one. As far as the signs, its kind of ridiculous because they are everywhere. You cant go 20 feet down a trail without finding tracks, scat, piles of salmon bones, day beds they have dug, etc. I guess that makes sense because the trails we are walking on are bear trails -- go figure. And we will have pepper spray, but luckily no one has had to use it in years. Lets hope it stays that way.

steve said...

Mason,
I think you going to have a summer you remember when you are my age.

Anonymous said...

This sounds exciting! When you were back in high school, did you ever think you would actually use a little knowledge of biology someday? I'll check in from time to time to see what you've learned. There will be an exam later. Ms. Weitzel

Mason said...

Ms. Weitzel - Great point, as you could probably tell from my nodding head I never expected that I would use biology and now here I am surrounded by it. I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of all the fascinating things around here I am learning. I will keep you posted.

Anonymous said...

Hello BEST LOOKING guy in Alaska,
Too bad you're so far away :).I'm sure the wildlife enjoy you're presence. Happy to hear about your adventures. Are there a lot of visitors? How many rangers at the camp? Sorry, I won't be visiting. Bears and I have an understanding we're not good company together! Looking forward to keeping in touch.....Paula

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