Mar 31, 2012 Pack Forest, Eatonville, WA

The first stop of our field trip was at the Pack Forest located in Eatonville, WA, just roughly 45km from Puyallup. Latitude: 47.14; longitude: -122.49. The weather was much better than I had expected. Rainy, but mostly just sprinkles. 42℉ and humid.

We first spent a little time walking along the trail, observing the local ecosystem here. Douglas fir and hemlock were the dominant trees here. Judging from the fact that there were some Scotch brooms present in the open grassy area, there must have been some sort of human interventions here.

What caught my eye first were the moss-like dangling objects on some trees. These plants are lichens, not moss. They are very unique because they are formed by a symbiotic organism (fungus) with a photosynthetic organism. Thousands kinds of lichens have been seen all over the world. Chances are there can be several types of lichens on one tree. It is almost like a little ecosystem on a tree trunk or a tree branch!

*See more details in my written journal 1

In addition to douglas fir and western hemlock. Species such as red alders and western white pine can also be found here. The lower shrubs we observed includes sword fern (which is very common to see in a western hemlock-dominant ecosystem), Indian plum, as well as salal.

*See more details in my written journal 1

In the afternoon, we arrived at Mt. Rainier National Pak and began the exploration along the Trail of Shadows. The national park is located in Longmire, WA with latitude of 46.75 and longitude -121.81. It was very sunny in the afternoon, which exceeded far better than my expectation. As the snow has begun to melt in this season, the temperature felt even lower and more humid in the woods.

Along the trail is the old growth forest stand, where conifers such as the western red cedar, douglas fir, and mountain hemlocks are the main species here. The heavy amount of moisture in this place and the number of mt. hemlocks growing on decay logs point to the fact that this is an old growth forst.

We also saw more species as we arrived at the thermal spring. For example, we saw this tiny, bright-colored species on a small log (which is called "Oomycetes"). They reminded my of the orange-flavor vitamin gummies that I used to eat...
In addition, we also saw the lipstick cladonia.

Again, see written journal for more detail

From lickens, fungi, to ferns and conifers, we saw the distinctive culture of each ecosystem that we visited today.

[Species List]
Old Man's Beard (Usnea longissima)
Parmelia (Parmelia saxatilis)
Oomycetes
Lipstick Cladonia (Cladonia bellidiflora)
Morel mushrooms
Sword fern
Indian plum
Salal
Oregon grape
Douglas fir
Western hemlock
Western white pine
Red alder
Western redcedar
Alaska cedar
Pacific silver fir