Long time no sea....

Catch up with us on our last two months of travels, won't you?

Rocky mountains and local snow shoe-ing wildlife below....

This wile coyote made his presence known long enough for a few camera snaps, while the rest of his pack slunk away into the forest...

Unfortunately, on our most fortunate of hikes our camera batteries decided to call it quits. At least the cell phone back-up allowed us to capture proof of the moose as well as mountain lion tracks we followed ~ 1/2 mile down the trail.

Emerald lake was blistery cold but worth the snowshoe to see such grand peaks up-close, even if for just a few minutes...

A little finch watched as we left the mainland for the rainbow state in early March... 

We went from temperature extremes of -30°F to 80°F in less than two weeks!

It wouldn't be a Ben and Carrie Tracks post without a sunset picture now would it?

 

Safe to say we've had a fair helping of snorkeling all around the island....the green sea turtle shots above were taken in Shark's Cove along the North shore.

Our journey begins this weekend for the NW Hawaiian Islands  (see post below)... and while we have enjoyed our time in Oahu, we have no qualms at all about leaving civilization and the hustle and bustle of Waikiki shown in the picture above.

Inconceivable!

You might recall our very first blog post 

about working in the most remote place within the lower 48 United States; areas of the Teton Wilderness during Summer of 2009 working with moose.  Now we can truly say we are headed to one of the most remote places in the world....

Starting in March, we're off to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to work 
with the endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal for 6 months! 

 Photo Credit - Wikepedia.  We'll have our own pictures soon enough!
 
As Monk Seals inhabit multiple NW Hawiaiian islands, 
we will be living and working on separate (tiny!) islands;  
Ben at French Frigate Shoals and Carrie at Laysan Island. 

On Laysan Island, Carrie, living in a tent, will have no contact with the "outside world" other than a few minutes on a satellite phone each month.  This means Ben will be getting a crash course in blogging and tend to the upkeep and updates from life on French Frigate Shoals :)

Laysan Island - photo credit google map

French Frigate Shoals - Photo credit google map

We are absolutely elated and can't wait to share 

our newest adventure with all of you...
- we're ready to leave stat!
 When March rolls around, then we'll be off to Honolulu for the first 3 weeks for training before we set sail to our islands. 

(3 Day Boat Trip to French Frigate Shoals and 5 to Laysan)

But first, we're headed back to Rocky Mountain National Park's 
wintry wonderland for some fun in the snow.  

The main goal of the project is the recovery of the seal's population. For more information on the Hawaiian Monk Seal check out the following links:

NOAA Fisheries Protected Resources

Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center