Summer Fellow, Hannah, Shares About Her First Week Out in the Field

By Hannah Pardee, 2018 Heather Campbell Chaney Fellow and Colorado College student

My first week at PLT has given me the opportunity to meet the amazing staff and get a better understanding of the work being done.  It was great to get out of the office on Monday to visit the Sand Creek property with Darcie (Communications and Community Outreach) and Candice (Director of Land Stewardship).

On the way,  we drove past the green fields surrounding the Tarryall Creek, and Darcie and I marveled over the lavender Iris growing in abundance.  Meeting landowners Jane and Jim was lovely. They graciously invited us into their cabin and gave us a tour of the property, one that has been part of the family for generations. Though I came away from Sand Creek with a dozen new mosquito bites, I could just think of Psalm 23:5, “My cup runneth over.”

I got to visit my second property a few days after the first.  Lee Derr, long-time Palmer partner and one of the annual property monitors, took me along with Candice and Deanna (Office Coordinator) out to Stratton Open Space.  Lee familiarized me with the local flora - scrub oak, mountain mahogany, and blue flax - and noxious weeds - toadflax, thistles, and olive - which made my little botanist heart very happy.  The most incredible thing we saw, though, was a Cooper’s Hawk hunting its prey; we may have distracted the bird, though, as he did not catch the songbird he was after.

I am excited (and to be honest, a little nervous) to try my skills with the GPS system as I head out to monitor properties on my own next week.