Mid-

Here we are, already mid-way through the seventh week in LVNP, and it seems like just last week I was passing through Salt Lake City en-route to Reno to meet up for the start of our research. We've spent two weeks each at Butte Lake, Manzanita Lake, and Crags campgrounds, and tonight we move to Juniper Lake. This will be the first time we visit the southeastern part of the park, and I'm excited as I've heard it is some of the most beautiful country in the park.

The new camera I got for my birthday last Saturday received its fair share of use this past week. I am ecstatic with the results, such as the photo above of Lake Helen's incredibly clear, glacial-blue waters.

Unfortunately, we climbed this mountain for no real purpose, as after Andrew finishes perusing this map, he comes to realize it is Mt. Helen, not Bumpass Mountain. The views were worth the scramble up and down, however, and soon we were over on top of Bumpass for the correct repeat photo location.




The camera takes incredible close-up shots, as well as landscape shots. One of the most enjoyable features is the simple ability to manually focus the lense, something I've desired for years. Still, more practice I do require before truly magnificent shots can be taken. The camera is capable of far more than my current level of skill and understanding can produce. I am having a blast learning how to use the new and complex features available to me, however, and have managed a few presentable shots.


This weekend Evan Lawley will once again join us for a couple days of work. We will likely be harvesting core samples of trees as well as doing several fuel plots around the Juniper Lake area. So far we have completed over 110 fuel plots and ~45 photos, not too shabby for just the two of us with occasional assistance. As my understanding of forest ecology has improved, my interest in the subject flourishes similarly. The idea of fire as a natural element of the forest has become more and more second-nature as we visit plots of different tree species and topographic configuration. These two variables, incredibly interdependant, are similarly intriguing. I hope to upload several maps of the park in the next week or two, one simply topographic with features and trail names, and another depicting species type across the park. This past couple weeks saw us working more with Tsme (Mountain Hemlock, Tsuga mertensiana) than in the past, when we largely saw Jeffery and Ponderosa Pine, Western White Pine, White and Red Fir, and Lodgepole Pine dominating our plots. We have also completed a number of brush and shrub field plots, which contain little to no trees, and thusly take far less time to complete. Mountain Hemlock grows mainly in the upper elevations, roughly above 7000', and so we have been hiking amongst snow quite often even in mid-July. Tsme grows in gnarly clusters of trees, some remaining only a few meters tall for fifty to one hundred years because of the depth of snow and intensity of the weather. The trees can reach heights exceeding 20 meters, however they never grow quite as big as the Pines and Firs which dominate the overstory at lower elevations. So as per the usual day-off routine, we must now accomplish our food shopping for the week. If I have a chance I'll post again before heading to Juniper Lake, if not, fairwell until next week, thanks for reading, and feel free to leave comments!