So you're going to Nepal for the mud?

When I first visited the University of Arizona just over a year ago I talked with Peck (now my advisor) about a potential project coring lakes in Nepal to get a high-resolution drought record. That conversation and others that followed were enough enticement for me to move to Tucson and commit what seems to be most of my future to a PhD. Over the last year I have been developing scheme after scheme for a field season in the Himalaya. The current lake list no longer includes any of the sites from my original list and even though Luke (my lab mate) and I fly out in three days we still aren't really sure how many of the sites we will be able to visit. Among the many unknowns is whether I'm going to be able to update this blog. I have been told that the cell network in Nepal is remarkably extensive so I am writing this in a fit of optimism (okay, mostly procrastination) after reading about how easy it is to swap out SIM cards in Nepal. When we reach Kathmandu, I will be able to let you know whether or not this blog is going to work out.

 Right now I’m hoping to split our time between two study areas, one in Midwestern Nepal which is super remote and was described to me as medieval by the only native Nepali I know. The other region is centered around the popular Annapurna-Kali Gandaki trekking region. I have spent many a pleasant hour perusing topo maps and flying over satellite imagery in Google Earth searching for the ideal lakes. It turns out finding small lakes (~40m diameter) is really hard even with good satellite imagery. If you are anywhere near as much of a cartogrofreek as I am you might enjoy checking out my map of target lakes linked to this site (yes, I’m quite proud of my new word I slyly snuck in there). Warning! Doing digital flythroughs of the Himalaya can be addicting and you may experience an intense urge to travel somewhere with real topography.

 It has been pretty crazy here the last few weeks getting together all the supplies, finishing coursework, and most importantly, learning how to core lakes. Fortunately, we a have a native Nepali who works in our department and owns a trekking company in Nepal. His company “Himalayan Experience” is in charge of most of the logistics. This has certainly made my life a lot less stressful. Based on how hard putting my parts together has been, I can't imagine the state I would be in if I didn't have them for the logistics. I’ll try to update this blog with news and photos from the field whenever I can. I doubt I’ll be able to upload as many photos as I did on itsbetterbybike but since Luke is a professional landscape photographer, perhaps we can make more out of less. As you may have gathered, I’m really excited about this trip (and a wee bit nervous). Stay tuned to for more lake mucking news.