Branson Field Laboratory

 Living Conditions & Facilities

Dining Hall Exterior	Dormitory for Women	Classroom- Laboratory	Sleep on bunks with cloth mattresses	Cafeteria Serving Line
Dining Hall Seating	The Camp	Wind River Mountains	Hiking near camp	Swimming hole

Facilities

The laboratory is housed in log buildings: dormitories, a new dining hall and kitchen, shower houses with abundant hot water, etc. A dormitory for women with indoor plumbing was opened seven years ago. Free laundry facilities and detergent are available. A large classroom-laboratory with large tables and computer facilities is available for evening work, and a student lounge with a fireplace is available for indoor socializing. You will sleep on bunks with cloth mattresses. Students and faculty take their meals together, cafeteria style, in the dining hall. We can make limited accommodations for those who do not eat red meat. Students are not responsible for any aspect of the camp's food preparation or maintenance.

The physical setting of the camp is rustic. Resident wildlife ranges from occasional moose and bighorn sheep to abundant mule deer. The camp is on an island surrounded by two branches of the Popo Agie River, a rapid trout stream flanked by the cliffs of Sinks Canyon. The border of the wilderness area of the Wind River Mountains is a fifteen minute walk upstream, and although we will keep you busy on most Saturdays, some may be free for hiking in the back country. Sundays are free except for an occasional evening lecture; everyone is free on July 4th to take in local festivities, including a parade and regional rodeo. Sports at the camp include volleyball, horseshoe pitching, fishing, rock scrambling, and the like. Lander, about 10 miles downstream, is a pleasant and progressive Wyoming town with excellent medical facilities and reasonable shopping and banking facilities.

Daily Routine

Days start early at the Branson Lab. Breakfast is at 6:30, and we leave for the field at 7:30. We travel to local field sites in 15-passenger vans. Generally, the field day ends at 4:00, and after a brief stop in town for shopping and to replenish lost bodily fluids, we return to camp for dinner served at 6:00. Most nights of the week are taken up in preparation of maps, cross sections, reports, etc.; however, we include a few evening lectures. To give the cook and kitchen crew a break, the dining room is closed on Saturday nights. Vans are used to take students into Lander on Saturday nights for dining and recreation. Students who wish to travel on weekends should bring their own vehicles.