Tuesday, May 1, 2012

27. Time Traveling with Forest Giants

A group of BIOL180 students took a trip to Quinault Lake over on the Olympic Peninsula on Sunday.  It was a time to get away from Seattle for a few hours to learn about old-growth forests, their ecological processes, and to see first hand the diversity and intricacies of life and how the line between life and death is often blurred.  We came home a little tired, very much soaked, and a bit more humble about our place in the wider scope of things.

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But first, we had to get there.
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Then we got to see these beauties. 
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The perfect overcast skies. So dreamy.
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Learning about logs. We like logs because they give new plants a better chance for survival.
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These grooves are made from beetles that laid eggs in tree bark. 
Once the eggs hatch and the beetles leave their nest, we get a beetle gallery.
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plant identification
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snack time!
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Home at last.  Riley makes a wonderful dinner with quinoa and soup.  
After the much needed refuel, we headed to the Neptune to see James Morrison.

I definitely felt rushed to take pictures during the hike.  We were trying to cover so much ground in a short amount of time, that I didn't have a chance to get all the shots I wanted. It was a cycle of stop, quickly snap a picture or two, and running to catch up with the rest of the group. By the end of it, I'm out of breath with only a handful of okay photos to show. But that's okay because it means I was busy paying attention to the learning that was supposed to be going on, right?

I still haven't explained the time traveling part of this post, but I really should be doing my homework right now...
An explanation will come sooner or later. Cheers.

2 comments:

  1. Lake Quinault is beautiful. I remember the trip I went with Ben Shelby and Bryan and we got incredibly lost on a mountain called Colonel Bob. I wish it was quicker (and cost less in gas) to get there...there is nothing like a pacific northwest rainforest anywhere else in the world. We also saw one of the biggest red cedar trees in the world! i wish i had a nice camera back then though...future trips=necessary

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  2. we should go back! perhaps our next great adventure?

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