Chattermarks

The sheer power of water was apparent in the North Cascades this last weekend after a recent Pineapple Express hit the Northwest. Warming temperatures combined with a significant amount of rainfall fell onto several weeks worth of snow in the Cascades. Consequently, mountain creeks filled to the brim and several landslides covered Highway 20, closing a stretch of this road between the towns of Diablo and Newhalem. Several M.Ed. graduate students and our graduate coordinator were staying at the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center and in the town of Diablo, and got to see this dynamic shift in nature first-hand.

At the Learning Center, the recent weather demonstrated how quickly land is shaped by water as we watched Sourdough Creek quadruple in size Sunday afternoon. This was an amazing shift to see as Sourdough typically runs as a trickle in late summer to a swiftly-flowing mountain creek in late spring. Sourdough Creek runs next to the Learning Center’s parking lot under a “Texas dip,” a removable piece of roadway designed to prevent washout. But this road feature was barely recognizable as the creek filled with brown, fast-running water that undercut the bank, causing large chunks of earth to collapse and wash away into Diablo Lake.

» Continue reading Natural Shifts in the North Cascades

When I awoke the other morning to see a forest of snow-covered trees, I felt just as excited when I made the same discovery as a child in the winter season. A fresh layer of snow had fallen overnight, changing the already beautiful landscape of the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center into a wintery scene. It appeared to have only snowed an inch or two at the lower elevation, but I was just as happy as if it had snowed more.

The snow always lifts my spirits and I am compelled to get outside and play in the white stuff. Coincidentally, my fellow graduate students and I had previously arranged to spend the morning searching for animal signs and exploring our backyard near the Learning Center together before we departed for Thanksgiving break. With newly fallen snow, we were not sure if we would find many obvious signs of activity from our wildlife neighbors. We were fortunately proven wrong, and surprised at what we found.

» Continue reading Exploring Winter’s Arrival

This is a time of transition.

The warm summer season is changing as rapidly into a drenching autumn as is my progression from the residency with North Cascades Institute to the academia of Western Washington University. As the leaves of vine maples alter their hues from green to orange, I find myself pulled from the slow-paced grandeur of North Cascades National Park to the fast-paced flurry of the city of Bellingham.

It seems as if during these transitions there is no definitive line that is crossed from one season to the other, no time to look back, only to move forward into the next, into another.

But even as the final two quarters of my graduate residency are about to commence and, in only a matter of six months, conclude themselves as well, I find myself already looking back, gazing out onto the memory-scape of this landscape, of this past year’s journey when I called the North Cascades my home. Here, I came full circle.

(Title) Waving goodbye to my North Cascades home (Above) Welcoming Bellingham

» Continue reading Coming full circle in the North Cascades

What is a summit experience? For the 10th cohort of graduate students,  in NCI’s residency program, the 9-day backpacking trip that culminated their first quarter of graduate school was a summit experience, both literally and figuratively. This year the cohort split into two groups, with six students and one instructor with each group. Team veg started on the East Bank Trail of Ross Lake, climbing Desolation Peak on their fourth day. Team bourbon started on the west side of Ross Lake, hiking through old growth forests and over Big Beaver Pass. On the 5th day, Gerry Cook of the National Park Service met us with the MULE to transport each team to the other side of the lake. Team bourbon then hiked Desolation Peak and backpacked out along the East Bank Trail.  Unfortunately, an injury on team veg necessitated an evacuation. The team decided to stick together and continue learning about the North Cascades through front-country camping experiences in the Methow Valley. While the two groups had very different experiences, all students finished their trips elated, exhausted and in desperate need of showers! Here are reflections from each student about the experience….

» Continue reading Summer’s summit

Summer has finally arrived at the Environmental Learning Center! Diablo Lake has regained its characteristic green color, peregrine falcon fledglings are learning to hunt near the dam, a new fawn is sporting spots around campus, and the tenth cohort of graduate students have begun their academic journey.

Cohort 10 at Diablo Lake.  Field journaling with Libby Mills (above).

Cohort 10 began classes in Bellingham on June 22nd. The eleven students who are enrolled in the graduate program come from a variety of backgrounds, ranging from education to environmental science to multi-media studies. Their summer coursework consists of three classes: Introduction to Place-Based Education, Resource Issues in the North Cascades, and Cultural History in the North Cascades. These courses are interwoven into a series of field excursions in the region, supplemented by readings, projects, and discussions in classes at Western Washington University.

Students learn about mycorrhizae from Brandi Stewart, cohort 9

» Continue reading Welcome graduate cohort 10!

The North Cascades Institute Staff and Graduate students have spent weeks packing food, preparing curriculum, shuttling canoes, calling students, organizing camping gear and finalizing lessons in preparation for the first of two Cascades Climate Challenge Programs.  On June 29th twenty students from around the Pacific Northwest met for the first time at Sea-Tac Airport to began their three week journey through the North Cascades.

The first few days have been full of nerves, laughs, smiles and lots of questions as the group prepared for their first camping experience with their new community. Already these students have learned how to set up camp, use different types of media to capture their experience, explored trails on their own, and met with North Cascades National Park scientists and rangers focusing their attention on the impacts of climate change on this alpine ecosystem.

» Continue reading Introducing the 2010 Cascades Climate Challenge Team!! (Part 1)

Most of the current North Cascades Institute graduate class – “C9” – participated in another year of the Bellingham Ski to Sea race over the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

The competition between the staff member team and the graduate student team has grown since last year. Some would even go as far as to call it a rivalry. Putting aside all the pre-race build up, the friendly competition between the teams made for an amazing race.

Being a graduate student myself, I won’t let the cat out of the bag about which team prevailed. Let’s just say, there’s always next year. By far the most amazing part of this event was the teamwork.  With seven legs consisting of cross country skiing, downhill skiing, running, road biking, canoeing, mountain biking, and sea kayaking, group cohesion was essential. Both staff and grads rose to this tremendous challenge. Congratulations to both teams, and to everyone who participated in this wonderful event. On behalf of the graduate class, I want to thank all of those who let us borrow gear, assisted us with transportation, and cheered us on.

(Title) The graduate student team takes on Ski to Sea (Above) The mass start of the cross country leg

» Continue reading Taking on the Ski to Sea

Spring is here and it was time for the North Cascades Institute cohort-ions of the ninth - C9 graduate students - to take our spring retreat on Sunday, May 23rd through Tuesday, May 25th. With itinerary in place, gear packed and risk managers appeased, it was time for our departure and to get peninsular at Olympic National Park.  

Day 1—After a nice drive across Highway 20 to the Keystone Ferry on Whidbey Island, we quickly found ourselves enjoying a refreshing sea breeze. The cohort arrived in Port Townsend and made a b-line for the nearest brewpub. Oh graduate students. I quickly found myself at the Water Street Brewery sipping down a smooth locally brewed Irish Stout and enjoying my company. 

 

(Title) Justin McWethy sets up camp at Boulder Creek Hot Springs (Above) Rebecca, Justin, Brandi and Mike pause for a goofy pose aboard the Keystone Ferry

Corey and Justin enjoying some cheer at the Port Townsend brewpub

» Continue reading From the Cascades to the Olympics

The celebration of my 28^th year happened over the second half of the Instructor Exchange last weekend. For those unfamiliar, Instructor Exchange is a fun-filled, long weekend with our fellow environmental education instructors from Wilderness Awareness School (WAS) and Islandwood. We hosted the first half of the Exchange in January and now it was our turn to visit them.

The Exchange stated with a sunny and beautiful early morning drive. When we arrived at WAS we were greeted by a gang of smiling instructors who seemed happy for the company. Wilderness Awareness School is a woodland community of environmental instructors who focus on community building, survival skills, awareness, education, appreciation of nature and are, by far, the most skilled naturalists of us all.

To start things off, we commenced in Malalo Yu Chui – The Lair of the Leopard – for a ceremonial fire and story telling. After hearing the yarn of the school’s founders, we were given our nature names.  I am now known as Destroying Angel in some circles of friends. We departed Malalo to a trickster transformer series of lessons demonstrating diverse teaching styles on fire making, bird talk, tracking, and animal signs.  The highlight of the first evening was a wild and locally-inspired pasta dinner, which included salmon and a pasta sauce made of dandelions and stinging nettles.

(Title) All instructors participate in a bow drill exercise, Photo by Martine Mariott  (Above) Introductions were held at Malalo Yu Chui at Wilderness Awareness School, Photo by Erin Fowler

» Continue reading Our visit to Wilderness Awareness School and Islandwood

A flit of gold. A flicker of green. Soft song notes from within a tangle of blackberry vines. A surprising whoosh of hovering wing-sweeps, mere inches above ground.

Birds. They are some of the Skagit Valley’s most compelling and charismatic creatures. In winter, the Skagit farmlands teem with all kinds – song birds, raptors, shorebirds, local and migratory waterfowl. You need not have fancy equipment nor years of experience to be a birder here. What it takes is the curiosity to know more and the patience to practice deep observation.

(Title) Graduate students of Cohort 9 extend their birding eye on the Skagit flats (Above) The Hayton Reserve is one Skagit Valley location to go bird watching

» Continue reading Becoming bird observers