by jstilesoe
April 3, 2008 in Field Trips
Join us May 31 through June 1 to Ashfall Fossil Beds Historical Park. Trip will include viewing a 14 foot mammoth skeleton at Nebraska State Museum, exploring and camping in Niobrara Park, and visiting the fossil beds. Open attachment to view itinerary and costs. Don’t forget that family and friends are welcome.
by Randy Dix
June 11, 2007 in Field Trips, KABT News
Randy’s campsite at campground #3
Josie’s Tent
several members gather at the hatchery to take a tour of the rainbow trout facility ran by the Missouri Conservation Commission
Josie and Harry “model” excellent student behavior .
Trout in the cave at the spring source.
Looking up to the clift above you can see the fault line that is responsible for the spring.
Josie stands in front of the building constructed by the CCC of the 1930′s
Fingerling trout
Tiffany and Daughter viewing preserved sac-fry.
Harry takes a magnifyed look at the sac-fry
Josie feeding the big trout in the spring pond.
This is at least a ten pound trout.
Tim the park naturalist organizes the stream walk.
There must be something pretty interesting in the water.
by jstilesoe
June 5, 2007 in Field Trips
The Roaring River Field Trip took place June 1-3 with KABT Members Randy Dix, Harry & Charlotte McDonald, Shari McDougal & family, Tiffany Richard & family, Josie Stiles, & Bill Welsh attending. Friday night began with thunderstorms but the rest of the weekend was beautiful weather! Saturday morning some members began fly fishing and others hiked the Devil’s Kitchen area.
Randy had the pleasure of teaching many of us how to fly fish. I was assigned to practice casting in my backyard. 
Once you cast I learned there is a fine art of snagging the fish, which I have yet to do. Tiffany’s 7 year old daughter had no problem learning how to cast the rod.
Saturday afternoon we toured the Hatchery and learned that Rainbow Trout have a stage in their life cycle called a swim-up fry and need to be fed every hour for 6 weeks! I am glad I don’t have that person’s job! We learned that approximately 290,000 trout are released each year and the hatchery sustains these trout by feeding them 600 pounds of food each day.
After the Hatchery Tour we had the privilege of going to an area of the river and seining for fish, crayfish, and whatever other organisms we could collect. We collected several different species of fish, invertebrates, and an endangered crayfish species. The Williams Crayfish is light in color and rapidly declining in the area. After each of us saw the crayfish our tour guide Tim released it back into the river. Once we left this part of the river the rest of the evening consisted of more fishing, a campfire, and S’mores!
Sunday morning some members went to the Nature Center to participate in the Habitat Hike before leaving. It was nice enjoying the outdoors, other teachers’ company, and seeing the kids have fun while learning about nature. If you missed the Spring Trip this year mark your calendars for next year’s Spring Trip to Ash Fall Nebraska. Don’t forget you can bring your family!
by jstilesoe
April 27, 2007 in Events, Field Trips
THIS June 1, 2, and 3 KABT will be traveling to Roaring River State Park. To make your camping reservations go to www.mostateparks.com and click on Make Your Reservation Now or call (877) 422-6766. Campground #2 still has the following campsites open as of this post: 106, 108, 110, 111, and a bit further away are the double sites 91/92 and 87/88. KABT members have reserved Site 115 and 116 on Campground 2 thus far. On each site 2 tents or 1 pop-up and 1 tent with a maximum of 6 people and two cars at each site. Go to their web site and look at Campsite Capacity if you have any questions. If Campground #2 is full then you can try to make reservations at Campground #1 or for those of you that don’t mind living on the edge you can go to Campground #3 on arrival, which has first come/first serve sites. To view campsites click on Research Your Campsite.
For those of you that would rather not camp visit this site for a room or a cabin. Http://www.roaringriverresort.com
Itinerary will include fishing, hiking, and canoeing. The Nature Center is near the campsite as well! I am trying to schedule a tour of the hatchery and will then post a more detailed itinerary. Email me at jstilesoe@olatheschools.com if you have any questions.
PLEASE COMMENT ON THIS POST if you are planning on coming and if you would like to canoe. I am waiting to make reservations to canoe until I hear from a few more individuals. Thanks!
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