On our second class trip, we visited the Rainier National Park and explored areas within the park. We visited two places a day for three days, totaling out to six places. We traveled in Vans and worked in groups in order to get the most area covered in a day. Compared to the trip out to the coast, this trip was much more enjoyable. The cabins we stayed in reminded me of various family trips in the past and gave me a sense of comfort when we were at home base. We also watched three documentaries about Climate Change. They were; Chasing Ice, Gasland, and The Beasts of the Southern Wild. I hadn’t seen any of them before and it was very interesting to get these different takes on Climate Change that each one had.
On day one, we first visited the Cougar Rock Campground, which was closed at the time. We had to walk in and hope that a ranger didn’t kick us out. But, no one ever did and we were able to make our observations in peace. I liked this place much more than I expected to. There were a lot of trees that were growing with a very curved base. I am not sure if this is to find sun or to try and get out the snow pack that came in every winter. The only down side to this place was the vast amounts of pollen that was just everywhere. Being allergic, I didn’t fare well. Our second site on day one was the Twin Firs trail. It was a great trail, at least the amount that I got to see. I had nearly lost my phone there when it fell out of my pocket when I had sat down to take notes. I will definitely be going back just for this trail.
Day two, we visited a portion of the Nisqually River that we had dubbed “Upper Nisqually”. It was actually pretty loud here, with the water running rather quickly over and around the large rocky debris that littered the area. We were in a U-Shaped Valley. One of the walls had signs of large amounts of movement down the hill, giving me a possible source to some of the rocks around. There were huge chunks of granite that were just sitting around, it was a sight to see. I found a little sword fern growing a sort a crevice area, surrounded and covered by rocks, giving it some protection from the huge gusts of wind that would howl though the valley. Our second site was up near the Paradise Lodge. It was pretty packed for a Monday and there were people from many different nations. The variety of languages spoken and written throughout the lodge was impressive. I hiked up a bit in the snow and found a tree well that was large enough for me to sit in and I decided to take my notes there. A tree well, is an area around a tree’s truck were the snow isn’t as packed. The snow also melts here first, looking as if the trees are radiating heat.
Day three was the last day of field study that we did. Our first site for the day was an area we dubbed, “Paradise 2”. It was a road near the Paradise Lodge that was closed to car traffic, but open to foot traffic. We ventured down the road and took like the view. It was beautiful. To our left was a huge rock face and to our right was a very steep hill that didn’t look too fun to fall down, so I stuck to the road. One thing that was really cool, was seeing a waterfall that ran to the Nisqually River, but it was still half-covered with snow. So, you could see the top of it, and then it would run behind/underneath the snow. You couldn’t see it, but you could hear it, which was the cool part. The second site of the day, and the last one of the trip, was Narada Falls. Narada Falls was a popular stopping point on the way up to the Paradise Lodge. There was still some areas here that were covered in snow, including the way down to the main viewpoint of the Falls. It was a pretty steep hill that, without the snow, would have been fairly easy. You might be able to see the problem here. There were a couple of falls, and not the attraction. It was a pretty good ending to a pretty good trip.
We had work groups in order to compile our thoughts with those around us.
You can visit my group’s page here.
Members include; Erin Sherrer, Sequoia Meyer, Amanda Pratt, and Myself
Here are the notes that I took throughout the trip.
