Final Entry: Discovery Park. Coordinates: -122.41175, 47.66575. 6/3/12

After reviewing my coordinates and determining that the location was in Discovery Park, I set off to explore my designated area. The weather today was mostly overcast but still bright and a lower 50 degrees. There was a slight breeze blowing that brought a chill with it. Upon arriving at Discovery Park, I followed a trail that went deeper into the park en route to my location. The surrounding flora consisted of lots of stinging nettle, sword ferns, and large big leaf maples. A little ways down the path, I noticed a strange group of light orange spheres attached to a dead tree branch. The small balls looked to me like some type of slime mold or fungi. Also, I was curious as to what the small clusters of foam on branches and stems of shrubs were. I observed multiple cases of this “spit-like” substance on my journey to my designated coordinates. I determined this foam was most likely due to spit bugs or froghoppers that hide in the spit that also provides insulation. I was nearing my location when I stumbled across what looked like a bright white oyster mushroom. This mushroom stood out in the understory dominated by lush green stinging nettles, salal, and salmonberry.
After about a ten minute walk, I approached my assigned location. The surrounding area consisted of a parking lot and a street running along a patch of forested area. This patch of forest was my spot to explore. It was situated in a small ravine that dipped down with a stream running through it. The stream fell in a mini waterfall from a drainage pipe and continued on through the ravine. The stream created an ambient trickling noise which I enjoyed while exploring my surroundings. The patch was made of almost entirely big leaf maples that created a canopy over the ravine. There was one particularly large maple rising from the center and branching many times from the center. The homogeneity of the tree life struck me although I did notice a lone western red cedar on the outside recesses of the ring of big leaf maples. The trees were covered in different types of mosses and the ground was littered with dead maple leaves and woody material. The soil itself was very moist and dark colored and collapsed easily under my feet. The understory was dominated by giant sword ferns and stinging nettles. The understory was shadowed by the canopy of trees and the stream was lined with exposed tree roots and small stinging nettles. I sat and listened to the stream for about half an hour and took note of the species surrounding me. I was proud that I had been able to identify the majority of the plants I had seen, although the area did only host a handful of species. I heard birds chirping overhead that I presumed to be robins and chickadees based on their calls and I sat back and enjoyed nature in solitude.

Posted on June 5, 2012 12:15 AM by twitwer