Well I promised a blog talking more about Pingree park so here it is (before I forget)! Just to bring everyone up to speed as far as what Pingree Park is, it’s basically a month long class up in a very remote area Northwest of Fort Collins. Natural Resource majors get to memorize grasses, forbs, shrubs, trees, and animals. We also got to learn about compassing and GPS and some of the ecosystems found in Colorado.
I’ll be honest, I flat out did NOT want to go. I procrastinated for 3 years until, finally, I could not postpone it any longer. I was a super-senior and getting married a month after the class was offered, so I knew it would be harder to take the class once I got married. I didn’t want to go mainly because of how inconvenient it was. A month long class, in the middle of nowhere (they only had one computer with SLOW internet and no cell service), and it cost me a total of about $3,000. Of course after missing a months rent, paying for credit card bills, having someone take care of my pets it would have cost me about $4,000! I hated Pingree Park from the bottom of my heart and I even looked into other classes that I could take to replace Pingree Park. Those classes would have pushed my graduation until the following year!
My final year it just so happened that I moved back into my parents house so I could do an internship with Jefferson County. So. I sucked it up and registered. I continued to dread this class because of how intense it sounded, and the parties, and late night studying. My fiance was none too pleased that I would be gone for a month, but he knew it had to be done. Finally, the day came and I packed my bags and drove the hour and a half to get to Fort Collins. I decided to save gas and wait for a shuttle van which took another hour to get there. From campus it was another hour and a half to get to Pingree Park. I chatted with a few other people in the van, just small talk really. I zoned in and out as I thought about who my roommates were going to be. Were they going to be partiers? Potheads? Lazies? Am I even going to pass this class? How am I going to plan for the wedding while I’m up here? As these worries and fears crossed through my mind, a mountain top caught my eye and this is what I saw…
This is what I saw when I drove up
Sheer. Beauty.
I couldn’t help but smile! I suddenly felt all of my worries and fears and insecurities fall away and I knew that I would fall in love with this place. Dropping everything to be away for a full month was difficult, but it wasn’t impossible. Once I got up there I couldn’t wait to go hike and explore and bask in the beauty of the mountain’s shadow.
One of girls in the van turned out to be one of my roommates and we tried to find our cabin together. She was a hyper but enthusiastic Watershed major who played in band. I breathed a sigh of relief! My other roommate was a gamer and a Wildlife major (yeah, we’ll see if she even uses it). Whew! Another sigh of relief, another nerd! I was even more estatic when I saw what the cabins looked like!
The Main room
"The Sanitarium Ward"
Rather than this being an inconvenience, it was turning into an adventure! As the days went on I started going to bed earlier and earlier because of how jam packed our days were. They even had extra things going at night and for the first week I decided not to do them because I didn’t want to wear myself out. By the second or third week I thought “I’m only up here once…DO IT”!
We learned about ecosystems, communities, wildlife, vegetation, and forest management. I was in heaven! I loved being fully summersed in natural resources and it was all the better that I was in the middle of nowhere. I didn’t even miss the internet or my cell phone! I was FREE! I saw all kinds of wildlife, moose, deer, weasels, nighthawks….you get the idea. We learned how to measure tree stands in a forest, vegetation cover in riparian areas, and the delicate nature of alpine zones.
This is us on "Mountain/Shrub Day". One of my roommates is on the right
This is us on "Riparian Day". Roomies in the backround also
All of us collecting measurements on "Ponderosa Day"
View of the "Mummy" on "Lodgepole Day"
Enjoying the view on "Alpine Day"
How do I pose in all this gear!
I did alot of extra activities like hiking and chainsawing. Yes, chainsawing! It was alot of fun even though it was very very hard work. We even felled a tree or two 
Receiving instruction
I did a TON of hiking as well! I was able to experience wildlife, great trails, and even getting a little lost!
This cute pine squirrel followed me all up Denny's Point trail
Just in case you get lost reading the map...
Emmaline Lake!
Surprise Pond
A storm coming in
Clouds covering the Mummy like a blanket
I even had a close encounter with a moose! I had to hide behind a telephone pole (they have poor eyesight) and thankfully he just walked right by! I ran so fast from that spot back to the cabins and I could hear him bellowing in the distance.
I went back the next day and found his track right on the trail!
The telephone pole that I hid behind, he came from behind those bushes!
To summarize, this class started out being the thorn in my side, but ended up being the best experience of my life! I wanted to live up there and I was heartbroken when I finally had to leave. The class was stressful, the tests were terrible, and some of my classmates drove me crazy….but those things didn’t matter when I was in the shadow of the mountain.
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Nah, I’m not that worried, and I think people laugh at me anyways. Though I am starting to feel the time crunch, I really want to finish this Christmas stocking for this year. I always forget how long cross-stitch takes, though it is turning out better than I expected. Kudos Dimensions (a popular needlework company), they’ve done a really great job with this pattern.
