MMN State Conference in Columbia

June, 2024
by Caitlin Custer, Class of Fall 2023

Sharing a few scenes from day one of the statewide Missouri Master Naturalist conference in Columbia in June 2024. My first activity was a hike through Rock Bridge Memorial State Park — the Sinkhole Trail — with Marilyn Toalson. Marilyn was fantastic guide, sharing story after story of the land her family donated to the park, from pointing out grooves in the rock made by wagons, to transporting us back in time to the two-story dance hall her family built on a rocky outcropping.

In the evening, a larger group gathered back at the trailhead to watch bats emerge from Devil's Icebox cave. First, a biologist brought several bats for a bit of show and tell. From there, we hiked in about half a mile and silently watched bats awaken and fly out of the miles-long cave.