Pack Forest and Mt. Rainier National Park

March 31, 2012

Pack Forest
We arrived at the UW Pack Forest near noon with a bit of sunshine, but still chilly. We went out on a short walk on a muddy trail from the morning rain and came back for lunch. Afterwards, we were in groups of 10 or so and set out to explore. My group and I spent a lot of time looking at the small things that covered the ground as opposed to focusing on larger conifers or deciduous. At one point, we saw a long-tailed vole that was moving under the leaves searching for food. We all gathered around to take pictures and it didn't seem to be scared. It had very small eyes and apparently not a very keen sense of smell. Only when it creeped up to a knee of a classmate did it turn away, back to its food. We also saw a tree, I believe a big leaf maple (flowers are edible), filled with vertical small holes as a result of sap suckers. We trekked on to find a red alder. Its edges on leaves are serrated and at this elevation as well as distance away from a city and it is a nitrogen-fixing plant. I learned most of the trees in general will be covered in lichen. Lichens are intolerant to pollution because they are actually made up of two organisms in a sense. There were also many, many stinky bobs around as well as step moss. A little closer into the trail, we found an ant mound near a swamp. I'm not sure what type of ants they were, but they seem to be small with a pretty large mound. (see observation notes for more information)

Species List:
Lichen, golds dusk
Moss
Scotch broom
Salal
Sword fern
Western white pine
Douglas Fir
Western Red Cedar
Western hemlock
Big leaf maple
Sweet colt's foot
Red alder
Yarrow
Stinky bob
Cleavers
Early morel
Black cotton wood
Deer fern

Mt. Rainier National Park
After a short hike at Pack Forest, we piled into vans and drove into Mt. Rainier National Park. We stopped at Longmire to hike the Trail of the Shadows. There were snow on the ground and the temperature was still in the low 40s, but sunny with little clouds. The area is a small hot spring with the ground often looking orange due the iron and carbon dioxide gas. The area also looks as much the same as it was when the Longmire family horse-backed through it in late 1800s. I wondered how that could be possible, that it should be heavily covered in conifers at least by now. Later on, i came across a sign that explained most plants in the area unlike skunk cabbage for example actually cannot grow in rich mineral areas. The iron is therefore what kept the trees and shrubs from taking over. We saw a stump of what was left over of a douglas fir that was hit by lighting, it bore a vertical black ash trail on the side. The trees farther into the distance were large in size, possibly a couple hundred years in age, as old as the national park. We didn't hear many bird calls probably because it was only very early in spring. It was a short hike overall of about a one mile loop. The history of the place was amazing and it's always a joy to be in the fifth established national park of the U.S.

Species List:
Yellow cedar
Mountain Hemlock
Western hemlock
Follios lichen
Western Yew
Alaska cedar
Skunk cabbage
Shelf fungus

Posted on May 1, 2012 05:09 PM by lhuynh10