What a wonderful weekend! When we first arrived to the Nature Bridge campus on Lake Crescent and I saw the massive mossy maple trees and damp woods of a most brilliant green color I knew we were in for a treat. Having grown up on the Olympic Peninsula I was excited to make a trip over there with this class to learn about the area's ecology in a educational manner. While I've spent many a day on the trails in this part of the state I have never really been able to accurately identify the abundance of plant an animal life, aside from the more obvious specimens. While learning how to properly identify the various life in these ecosystems is certainly fascinating what I enjoyed the most was learning about the life cycle of the majestic old growth forests, and how humans and the environment in general affect these woods. The rain was pouring down on us heavily Saturday, but that didn't prevent me from enjoying as much time outside as I could.
Walking the trails provided ample opportunities to locate and identify all sorts of plant life, and to simply take in and enjoy our surroundings. After being lectured on the life cycle of forests we were given time to hike around on our own, I chose to hike to Marymere Falls and then up Mount Storm King. Here are some standout photos taken on the hikes.
The woods outside the Nature Bridge campus were teeming with plant life, lichens covered the trees and a green hue dominated all vision. In this particular shot, there are heavy amounts of red alder and big leaf maple growing in what was likely an area logged by humans many years ago. We learned that red alder often dominates areas logged by humans, and that in the long run this is highly beneficial for the soil as it is a nitrogen fixer.
Marymere Falls crashes down into the creek below.
We spotted this mule deer doe on the hike up Mount Storm King.
Madrone were frequently seen hiking up Mount Storm King, and they seemed to grow in abundance as we got into the higher elevations of the forest. This is likely due to their shade intolerance, because the forest becomes less thick in these higher elevations they are better able to find areas where sunlight is plentiful, thus surviving.
We found this rather interesting specimen and identified it as a manzanita shrub.
Massive Douglas fir such as this were found all around the Lake Crescent area. The bark of the Douglas fir seems to lose a lot of its deep ridges in its old age starting near the bottom, as you can see here.
It was wet, foggy and windy at the viewpoints along the Mount Storm King trail but that didn't stop us from savoring the view of Lake Crescent.
At some points of the Mount Storm King trail salal shrubs dominated the under story of the forest. This is most likely due to the soils in this part of the woods being less nutrient dense, making unfavorable conditions for shrubs like western sword fern which dominate the nutrient dense soils of the lower elevation forest.
A small but beautiful fairy slipper orchid was growing on the side of the trail.
A mallard duck on Lake Crescent. This mallard was kept busy by frequent intruding mallards who seemed intent on putting the moves on his female, squabbles were often loud and involved this one chasing the intruding males away. The competition for a mate is very obvious in these situations, and much like in the human world things can get a little hairy when others threaten to take your place.
After a little bit of searching along the lake shore we located a mallard nest with 8 eggs, the season for ducklings draws near!
Licorice ferns growing on the trunks and branches of big leaf maples were a common sight in the forest.
After a long day of hiking in the rain we were all ready for some dinner and warmth. Dinner was a simple yet delicious pasta meal that satisfied a justifiable desire to feast. Cheer was in the air as classmates reminisced about what we saw on our day out on the trails, it was clear that everyone was enjoying their experiences and excited for the next days activities. Following a short lecture on some of the history of this region many of us retired for the night, enjoying a much deserved rest.
For those of us who desired more nature experiences over sleep, a bird watching event took place in the woods beginning at 6:30am. While it was chilly, the rains of Saturday seemed to give way to a calm and peaceful morning with a few clouds in the sky. There are few things more pleasant than waking up to a beautiful forest filled with the songs of many different birds, and this morning certainly delivered just that. We wandered through the woods whilst the bird experts among us identified each song as it came. Songs from steller's jay, reset nuthatch, chickadee, robin, pacific wren, varied thrush, brown creeper, townsends warbler, and the song sparrow were all identified. Many of these birds were spotted and in some cases presented us with a clear glimpse of them. Overall the bird watching experience was a lot of fun and helped bestow me with a new appreciation for the varied and beautiful songs of these creatures, in addition to the know on how to identify and locate the birds within the forest.
Following breakfast I took some time to relax by the lake. I grabbed my sketchbook, a mug of hot tea and sat down on the dock and decided to sketch the landscape I saw. Crescent Lake is remarkably beautiful with its deep blue color and stunning mountain surroundings. Like much of the surrounding geology, Lake Crescent is a result of ice age activity when glaciers carved out the valley which would eventually fill with water. This gives the lake a beautiful fjord-like appearance. The lake is also exceptionally deep, with depths as low as 1000 feet having been recorded. Although the lake lies entirely within the Olympic National Park there are slopes where visible clear cutting has taken place as noted in my sketch. Aside from this eye sore the surroundings seem quite pristine and made for a lovely place to sit and bask in the glory of the natural world.
Later that morning we packed everything up back into the vans to make our way to the Salt Creek tide pools. Having visited these tide pools as a child I remember seeing a variety of colorful and squishy sea life and was excited to rekindle this sense of childlike wonder with the aid of my instructors. With the tide low and the skies clear of rain we began our exploration of this wonderful marine environment. At first it was difficult to locate any exciting species along the rocky shore, muscles and a variety barnacles dominated the rocks at first, but as one went out further on the rocks the fascinating creatures began to appear. Starfish of all shapes, sizes and colors could be seen, in addition to funky anemones, spiky urchins and a plethora of marine plant life.
The rocks here were home to many barnacles, here we see some Dall's acorn barnacle.
Pacific goose barnacles could also be found among the muscles and rocks.
Algae's were also a common sight, here we see some Pacific rockweed.
Dead man fingers
Soon enough the marine mollusks and invertebrate started appearing, here we see a few mossy chiton.
A rather large gum boot chiton.
At times the amount of sea urchin's seemed a bit overwhelming. We learned that sea otter populations in this part of the straight of Juan De Fuca had been largely devastated by hunting for the fur trade, and when the otter population isn't present to eat the urchins their populations explode. As a result many of these areas lack strong algae forests. This is a clear example of a tropic cascade, where the makeup of an ecosystem is severely altered by the disappearance of one of its major predators.
I found this tide pool to be particularly stunning.
A great close up shot of a giant green anemone.
Some tide pools had many anemones.
A beautiful and large ochre sea star.
Many sea stars could be seen attached to the rock sides in the lower tidal zone.
The ochre sea stars seem to come in a variety of colors, this one was a brilliant purple.
A tiny pacific blood star sits in an old muscle shell.
This large sunflower star was tucked tightly between the rocks.
A raccoon prowls along the rocky shore looking for a tasty morsel, a clear example of predation in this habitat.
This large sea stack on the beach is a testament to the powers of erosion, and the determination of these trees and shrubs to continue thriving even when faced with an isolated spot.
After spending several hours exploring these beaches it was once again time to pack our things and hit the road to return to civilization. Although many of us were rather exhausted and ready for the comfort of our homes once again the trip was a wonderfully fun an educational experience.
