Day 6!
I had one of the best days ever today! It started out like the other days here; get up at 6, eat breakfast at 630, get our equipment ready and hit the forest trails by 8. Only today started off different as we were accompanied by our videographer Lucas! He was a welcome addition to our crew. We made it through the Water Trail in record time since we were so familiar with the terrain by now. We arrived at our spot on the trail where we had to leave the beaten path and forge our own path.
We entered the forest going towards culvert Creek. We cut a switchback down a steep embankment and dropped down into the water. Our plan was to follow the creek until we arrived at a confluence, where Culvert Creek met up with our unnamed stream. I took the point and led the way, scouting ahead for obstacles, and making sure my partners new of any obstacles, slippery rocks, and deep pools. Every step had to be calculated, there was no room for carelessness.
We eventually made it to our stream. We soon heard loud crashing water off in the distance. We listened and looked, and eventually we spotted it: a 12 foot high waterfall off through the trees! We were so pumped up to have found it since it wasn't marked on the map. We decided that this would be our area to take out kick samples. We climbed past enormous boulders and down trees to get up to the waterfall. Up there we rested, gathered ourselves, posed for what seemed like countless videos and photos lol and did our three samples in the area. I am sure Lucas got some fantastic footage, he was very excited to be where we were.
Once we completed the three samples, which again went great as we got a variety of specimens, we decided to push forward up Culvert Creek to take a chance to see the waterfall marked on the map. We had been wanting to see it for a few days so it was a relatively easy decision to go for it. I led the way once again and brought up upstream until we found where the stream met the trail. I really surprised myself, I led with so much confidence! Once we got to the trail we all cheered, it felt like we really accomplished something big.
We took a break in the stream, sat on the rocks and ate our lunches. It was a great spot to take a break and Aldwin, with his "eagle eyes" as he like to call them lol, spotted monkeys in the trees high above us! We watched in awe before it briefly turned to horror as we witnessed a monkey appear to fall from a tree before grabbing onto another one below. Once we realized the monkey was ok we had a good laugh about the ordeal!
Once our break was over we attempted to get back on the trail, only to discover the trail on each side of the stream was overgrown from disuse. We had to go back the way we came. The journey back was fun but mostly uneventful. Except for when we all got spooked when a spider the size og my fist darted out from under a rock! We got back to the Water Trail, climbed back up and made it out of the forest. WE met up again at 2:45 for ice cream, as is the Stream Team tradition. Our field work was completed, and the rest of the day was ours. I spent it doing homework and exploring the grounds. This was my best day yet and again, I look forward to tomorrow.
We entered the forest going towards culvert Creek. We cut a switchback down a steep embankment and dropped down into the water. Our plan was to follow the creek until we arrived at a confluence, where Culvert Creek met up with our unnamed stream. I took the point and led the way, scouting ahead for obstacles, and making sure my partners new of any obstacles, slippery rocks, and deep pools. Every step had to be calculated, there was no room for carelessness.
We eventually made it to our stream. We soon heard loud crashing water off in the distance. We listened and looked, and eventually we spotted it: a 12 foot high waterfall off through the trees! We were so pumped up to have found it since it wasn't marked on the map. We decided that this would be our area to take out kick samples. We climbed past enormous boulders and down trees to get up to the waterfall. Up there we rested, gathered ourselves, posed for what seemed like countless videos and photos lol and did our three samples in the area. I am sure Lucas got some fantastic footage, he was very excited to be where we were.
Once we completed the three samples, which again went great as we got a variety of specimens, we decided to push forward up Culvert Creek to take a chance to see the waterfall marked on the map. We had been wanting to see it for a few days so it was a relatively easy decision to go for it. I led the way once again and brought up upstream until we found where the stream met the trail. I really surprised myself, I led with so much confidence! Once we got to the trail we all cheered, it felt like we really accomplished something big.
We took a break in the stream, sat on the rocks and ate our lunches. It was a great spot to take a break and Aldwin, with his "eagle eyes" as he like to call them lol, spotted monkeys in the trees high above us! We watched in awe before it briefly turned to horror as we witnessed a monkey appear to fall from a tree before grabbing onto another one below. Once we realized the monkey was ok we had a good laugh about the ordeal!
Once our break was over we attempted to get back on the trail, only to discover the trail on each side of the stream was overgrown from disuse. We had to go back the way we came. The journey back was fun but mostly uneventful. Except for when we all got spooked when a spider the size og my fist darted out from under a rock! We got back to the Water Trail, climbed back up and made it out of the forest. WE met up again at 2:45 for ice cream, as is the Stream Team tradition. Our field work was completed, and the rest of the day was ours. I spent it doing homework and exploring the grounds. This was my best day yet and again, I look forward to tomorrow.
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| Our waterfall |
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ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear you are all having a great time! Thanks for all the Facebook posts and the blog link so we can keep up with you. High of -5 here in MN today - enjoy the warm weather! Oh, and AWESOME pics!!
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