June 15: field (after)
sooo.... internet day is here again! Let's see... Mount St. Hellens. We went for 3 days and camped/slept in the car in various places. Day 1 consisted of the Ape Cave Lava Tube. It was about 3 miles long and pitch-dark and awesome! I took pictures and videos, but that whole DARK thing means that you can't see much.
We came down that ladder... into the DARK.
The hot gases remelted some of the outer surfaces of some of the rocks in the wall. SHINY!!!
That's my partner, Erika. Lava tubes are safer than actual caves for beginners cuz there's usually only one shaft. Very hard to get lost. We were definitely channeling the Mines of Moria throughout this whole trip... some of the walls are so nice and straight and the ceiling is perfectly arched... it looks man-made!
An 8-foot lava-fall that we had to climb down. Think waterfall... only LAVA. ^__^
Not hard to imagine that these caves were made by lava flows... woot for goopy lava!
We camped probably 5 or 6 miles from the summit of Mount St. Hellens, but on the back side, which looks just like any run-of-the-mill mountain.
The back-side of Mt. Saint Hellens, from our campsite.
We then drove out to the first of the visitors' centers and did some hiking in the wetland-thingie behind it. The next day we drove out to the Johnston Ridge Observatory, which is where I went with my family when we went to Washington... I think that was the summer after 9th grade. Unfortunately, a very thick fog had set in and we had a heck of a time driving there, and then couldn't see the mountain. Wall of white. Very exciting.
There's three-quarters of a volcano there, I swear!
Then we hiked the 2.5-mile 'Hummocks Trail' that goes down by the river that channeled all the mud-flows away from the mountain (Toutle River). That was cool, especially because it was below the cloud-bank, so we could actually see stuff. The 'hummocks' are little hills that are actually huge house-sized chunks of the old mountain that the debris avalanche left behind... which is just AWESOME.
Sometime in there, on one of the many roads we drove on, there was a Canada Goose pair with like 5 babies... ON the road. As we came up behind them, mom (I assume) went to the shoulder right away, but dad (again, assumed) was like "NOOO! We can outrun them!!!" and kept right on trucking, 5 babies in tow. Babies got tired and went to the side with mom, but dad was still going. He eventually got airborne, and you KNOW that mom was like "I TOLD you to PULL OVER!!!!!" They were adorable and hilarious!
When we got back to the bunkhouse, Erica (our boss) was there to help us set up Two Point (the previously snowed-in high elevation site). The snow had cleared, so we were able to get it set up and then camped there and banded the next morning. Most exciting bits were all the Western Tanagers, a Red-Breasted Nuthatch (totally CUTE), and 3 gorgeous male Lazuli Buntings.
Lazuli Bunting.
Since then, we've been trucking along, banding every morning at our different sites. We had to do Rattlesnake Springs twice because of rain, and almost had to do Two Point twice because of wind.
Red-Naped Sapsucker, a member of the woodpecker family.
Very bitey. And claw-ey. And pecky. Our hand were a mess of tiny puncture wounds after these guys... and we had 2... one of them twice!
Spotted Towhee, related to the sparrows. Check out the awesomely evil red eyes!
The crown jewel of Western Tanagers. Photo by Erika Taketa.
A female Western Tanager. They don't have the red heads, but she's got a leeeetle bit of orange on her forehead.
Another Golden-Crowned Kinglet.
Glamor shot of a Warbling Vireo.
Female Brown-Headed Cowbird. Lauren says they're evil. They steal hats and SOULS. And possibly eat small children. But they're nest parasites, so I guess it's ok.
Black-headed Grosbeak. Erika finally got her to stop biting her finger long enough to skull her. These guys are true sadists... I really think they get off on the pain they cause. ;p
Internet, groceries, post office and the ranger station copier are on the agenda for this afternoon. Tomorrow, we do our last site for Period 5, and then we start right into Period 6 because Erica's got to go home for a few days. On Wednesday, our Forest Service liaison (Vicki) is coming with us to get to know the process better.
Erica (our boss) assures us that we should start getting babies in the next couple of weeks. SO TOTALLY EXCITED!!! I cannot even imagine the cute overload that would be baby chickadees. ^___^
We came down that ladder... into the DARK.
The hot gases remelted some of the outer surfaces of some of the rocks in the wall. SHINY!!!
That's my partner, Erika. Lava tubes are safer than actual caves for beginners cuz there's usually only one shaft. Very hard to get lost. We were definitely channeling the Mines of Moria throughout this whole trip... some of the walls are so nice and straight and the ceiling is perfectly arched... it looks man-made!
An 8-foot lava-fall that we had to climb down. Think waterfall... only LAVA. ^__^
Not hard to imagine that these caves were made by lava flows... woot for goopy lava!
We camped probably 5 or 6 miles from the summit of Mount St. Hellens, but on the back side, which looks just like any run-of-the-mill mountain.
The back-side of Mt. Saint Hellens, from our campsite.
We then drove out to the first of the visitors' centers and did some hiking in the wetland-thingie behind it. The next day we drove out to the Johnston Ridge Observatory, which is where I went with my family when we went to Washington... I think that was the summer after 9th grade. Unfortunately, a very thick fog had set in and we had a heck of a time driving there, and then couldn't see the mountain. Wall of white. Very exciting.
There's three-quarters of a volcano there, I swear!
Then we hiked the 2.5-mile 'Hummocks Trail' that goes down by the river that channeled all the mud-flows away from the mountain (Toutle River). That was cool, especially because it was below the cloud-bank, so we could actually see stuff. The 'hummocks' are little hills that are actually huge house-sized chunks of the old mountain that the debris avalanche left behind... which is just AWESOME.
Sometime in there, on one of the many roads we drove on, there was a Canada Goose pair with like 5 babies... ON the road. As we came up behind them, mom (I assume) went to the shoulder right away, but dad (again, assumed) was like "NOOO! We can outrun them!!!" and kept right on trucking, 5 babies in tow. Babies got tired and went to the side with mom, but dad was still going. He eventually got airborne, and you KNOW that mom was like "I TOLD you to PULL OVER!!!!!" They were adorable and hilarious!
When we got back to the bunkhouse, Erica (our boss) was there to help us set up Two Point (the previously snowed-in high elevation site). The snow had cleared, so we were able to get it set up and then camped there and banded the next morning. Most exciting bits were all the Western Tanagers, a Red-Breasted Nuthatch (totally CUTE), and 3 gorgeous male Lazuli Buntings.
Lazuli Bunting.
Since then, we've been trucking along, banding every morning at our different sites. We had to do Rattlesnake Springs twice because of rain, and almost had to do Two Point twice because of wind.
Red-Naped Sapsucker, a member of the woodpecker family.
Very bitey. And claw-ey. And pecky. Our hand were a mess of tiny puncture wounds after these guys... and we had 2... one of them twice!
Spotted Towhee, related to the sparrows. Check out the awesomely evil red eyes!
The crown jewel of Western Tanagers. Photo by Erika Taketa.
A female Western Tanager. They don't have the red heads, but she's got a leeeetle bit of orange on her forehead.
Another Golden-Crowned Kinglet.
Glamor shot of a Warbling Vireo.
Female Brown-Headed Cowbird. Lauren says they're evil. They steal hats and SOULS. And possibly eat small children. But they're nest parasites, so I guess it's ok.
Black-headed Grosbeak. Erika finally got her to stop biting her finger long enough to skull her. These guys are true sadists... I really think they get off on the pain they cause. ;p
Internet, groceries, post office and the ranger station copier are on the agenda for this afternoon. Tomorrow, we do our last site for Period 5, and then we start right into Period 6 because Erica's got to go home for a few days. On Wednesday, our Forest Service liaison (Vicki) is coming with us to get to know the process better.
Erica (our boss) assures us that we should start getting babies in the next couple of weeks. SO TOTALLY EXCITED!!! I cannot even imagine the cute overload that would be baby chickadees. ^___^