Mendocino
19 May 2017, by Diana Tataru
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- this morning we awoke on our private deck
greeted by Delta birds, rising sun, and banjo plucking
a magnificent cup of coffee and breakfast
the water at our feet slowly rippling
our thoughts
gentle warm flow
splash - paddle - slide
packing a van isn’t half bad
when you’ve got your funky friday clothes
and friends.
Chris asks us to take less bathroom breaks on the road
but our wild bladders can’t be tamed
lentil salad lingers as we bump tunes
and cry to podcasts.
but as we pull into the deep forest, drive along a cliff
silence overcomes
sweet sunny meadows, cool water
old growth canopy
dunk - swim - snake
icy water invertebrates
have you ever ever seen a dragonfly emerge
from its creepy crawly cocoon?
pizza, salad, laughter, learning
campfire congregations of smore-like proportions
my friends, we’ve made it!
- this morning we awoke on our private deck
20 May 2017, by Julianna Valdez
Today, just as other days have been on field quarter, was amazing. So many laughs in the sun and water. It always surprises me how fast the days go by when we move so slow. We remember to smell the roses, interview the roses, key the roses, and paint the roses. I have so many beautiful snapshots in my head of today. Snapshots of single file lines through plains of silver haired grass and green ferns. Snapshots of headstands and cartwheels on the lawn of an empty house. Snapshots of lizards, or binos, or Iris’ in hand. I believe it's the curiosity in these snapshots that make them so beautiful and ingrain them so deeply into my mind.As always, we made many stops today. Our first stop Rozy taught us about rivers. She and Daniel explained to us the complexities of the river and its delicate system that is essential for so much life. At our second stop we had a keying party. We sat in circles under the trees, Jepsons in laps eager to take in all of the mysteries of these new plants. Full of wonder and at times frustration when their mysteries refused to reveal themselves. We learned about the age old mycorrhizal connections from Taylor and parasitic plants from Sophie. On our third stop we journaled and swam in cold waters that were entirely refreshing and laid out on the rocks to dry. On the journey back to camp we stopped at a beautiful house with apple trees and a hammock. Headstands and other acrobatics were practiced on the fresh green grass. We stopped again when we found a dead yet perfectly intact mole on the trail. Chris held it up to us and we all took turns touching it's fur and admiring it's funny paws. We finally got back to camp and had delicious Tom Kha soup for dinner and s’mores for dessert. Today was long and short, slow moving and all together exciting. I can't wait for another one tomorrow.21 May 2017, by Morréa Grillo
Today was an epic “spin the wheel” adventure in groups of fours, along the Conger Trail in the Angelo Creek Reserve, in Mendocino. We all spent the day in our own unique journey of wonder and noticing the forest around us. Douglas Firs towered over us as we pondered on why they are here, where the Manzanitas and Madrones have gone, and how fire impacts all of this. Fire succession and suppression were hot topics. Before we embarked on our own journey of asking questions and making observations, we heard presentations from Zoe on the old-growth forest around us, and Savita’s presentation on Epiphytes. Afterwards, as we hiked up to the ridge, the forest at Conger Trail went from Sequoia sempervirens (Redwoods) to Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas Firs) to Madrone and Manzanita and dispersed oaks at the top. We saw evidence of history in a bear claw digged into an old Madrone tree, in fire burn marks, and in dying Doug Firs. Our group noticed the burn marks on an old Madrone growing into the road, and hypothesized that if the burn marks are only on the outer layer of the madrone, the fire must have been after this road/trail had been built, meaning that the fire was relatively recent. These moments of realizations and epiphanies are fulfilling feelings. This exercise reminded me about the power of curiosity. How simply our own questions and our own observations can bring us to so many answers we would not have even known existed. Nature and its succession teaches a lot. Collective wonder and observation teaches us a lot.
22 May 2017, by Sean FitzHoward
Today was a glorious day outside filled with little creatures and magical plants. We started off our morning with a presentation from Chris about river ecology. Then we all grabbed our journals and collecting equipment, and headed to Fox Creek. We used nets and plastic containers to collect organisms that live in and around Fox Creek. We saw aquatic invertebrates, like the Caddis fly, as well as Pacific Giant Salamander larvae, juvenile Steelhead trout, and even a scorpion! Then we walked down the Wilderness Lodge road to a new section of the Eel River. We all plopped down on the smooth rocks of the river’s floodplain, and didn’t have to be told twice to start eating lunch. Naturally, the topic of Beyonce came up, and I learned that Ryan is a big fan of Lemonade. After eating sandwiches and leftover curry, some of us looked at a Pacific Chorus Frog, while some wadded into the water to study eddies and vortexes. After about an hour there, we hiked onto our third and final stop; Elder Creek Falls. There was a giant Canyon Live Oak overhanging the shore, with its mass of intertwined roots exposed. Here we journaled, and some of us went on a hike to find rare orchids. We saw Calypso Orchids, and one ghostly white Pinefoot plant, which is in the Ericaceae family. There was a heated debate over whether it was indeed a Pinefoot plant, or a Gnome plant. In the same spot, Chris found a micron pen buried in the dirt, a remnant of last year’s Field Quarter!
Most of us headed back to camp around 5pm, where we keyed flowers while cook crew prepared us an ~amazing~ meal of potato leek soup and and pretzel buns (a truly delightful culinary experience, thank you cook crew). After dinner we all met around the campfire, passed around a tub of Redvines, made s’mores, and listened to Ana and Stassya’s presentations. Then we continued our conversation from last night about conservation, and the complexities surrounding it. We also brought in the theme of social justice, and discussed how it’s important to take into account the experiences and struggles of all people, and acknowledged that it takes a certain amount of privilege to even discuss environmental issues. The sun set quickly and the fire burned brighter as we all shared out thoughts. Slowly people trickled off to bed, resting up for our next day in Mendocino.
23 May 2017, by Tara Johnson-Kelly
We started the day by splitting up into small groups to study local tree species as we made our way to the White House, a decrepit white mansion from the homesteader days. The trees we focused on included Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menzeiseii), Big-Leaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum), White Alder (Alnus rhombifola), Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), California Hazelnut (Corylus cornuta ssp. californica), Madrone (Arbutus menzeiseii), Mountain Dogwood (Cornus nuttallii), Oregon Ash (Fraxinus latifolia), Garry Oak (Quercus garryana), Black Oak (Quercus kelloggii), Canyon Live Oak (Quercus chrysolepis) and the Interior Live Oak (Quercus wislizenii). When we reached the White House, we dissolved from our small groups to take a break from the heat and eat “First Lunch.” Many students climbed a tree up to the second story of the house and wandered around. Others took out their Jepsons and started keying the foxgloves that were growing in the meadow in front of the house. A small group lead by Ryan Carle tried to find a Lazuli Bunting that was calling from the nearby trees. First Lunch ended with a presentation by Dylan Huntzinger on the Cahto peoples of the region, followed by a class picture on the front porch of the White House. We then hiked single-file along a crumpling trail to the confluence of 10-Mile Creek and the South Fork of the Eel River, where Chris Lay helped us cross some rapids to a gravelly beach. We had Second Lunch here and many students took advantage of a deep swimming hole with a giant boulder across from the beach. An osprey circled above us a few times, offering students a chance to practice identifying unknown birds. While swimming in the deep pool beyond the beach, someone spotted a dead lamprey lying in the muck of the river bottom. Sean F. and Eric M. tried to dive for it but couldn’t quite reach it. Chris Lay noticed the struggle, swam over, and dove for it. It was a triumphant moment when he breached the surface, dead lamprey in hand. He swam over to the beach, and once close enough threw the sickly blue, rotting carcass at the swarm of students that had gathered to watch. Finding a dead lamprey was a great teaching opportunity, especially since Jess (pictured above) gave a presentation about them earlier in the week. After everyone got their chance to gawk at and poke the dead lamprey, Rozy B. briefed us on our activity for the day: to calculate the discharge of 10-Mile Creek, the South Fork of the Eel River, and the confluence of the two. Students split up into groups based on where they wanted to sample the river and measured the width of the channel using tape measures, the average depth of the water using a measured and marked branch, and the average speed of the stream by timing how long it took an orange to float a given distance. After this exercise, the food crew headed back to camp to prepare a delicious meal while the rest of the class froliced in the swimming hole.24 May 2017, by Serena Cosway
We got to sleep in an entire half hour! Breakfast from 7:30 to 8! It was a wonderful day with spring in the air at the Angelo Reserve. I emerged from my tent to find two deer munching on the tasty grass of the Fox Creek meadow by Daniel’s tent. I made my way over to breakfast to talk with my friends about our plans for today. Today promised to be an adventure, all of us preparing for our niche hunt! Some of us chose banana slugs, spiders, birds, flowers, and even the mule deer that lived just outside my tent. I spent the day following a mule deer with Zoe and Sarah, chasing a mother and her babies stealthily around tents, trees, and the Fox Creek. As 5:30 pm came, we were all eager to share our stories with one another. It was a wonderful campfire where everyone was given space to share about their adventures. It was a magical and transformative day for all!
25 May 2017, by Sheyna Holmes
Today was do-it-yourself natural history day, as it was our last full day on the reserve. We started the morning with a quiz that was composed of big picture questions that we had discussed over the trip. These included concepts of the river systems and tree dispersal. We then answered questions about specific species we learned during this trip, including trees, oaks, and wildflowers. Chris’s daughters Laurel and Brooke even made a special part to this quiz: a poem about the chinquapin tree. After the quiz, we graded it all together and then had to decide what to do for the day. Many people stayed at the cabin, keying plants in the sun and watching the deer walk by. Others went on hikes. Some to Black Oak Mountain, others on a river walk up Elder Creek, to Elder Creek Falls, and some to the confluence of 10-Mile Creek and the South Fork of the Eel River. We all had to meet back at camp by 4:30, where we continued to key plants and enjoy the sunshine in the meadow. Today was a special day because it was Chris’s birthday! Before dinner, we all went around sharing our favorite memories with Chris and the amount of love in this group really brightened up the evening. We had a delicious pasta dinner and the cook crew (aka the Shloop Shloppers) made a special carrot cake for Chris’s birthday. We hid in the dark in the cabin waiting for him to enter, and then we all sang hoppy birdy in the candlelight that revealed only smiles and sweet happy faces. After this, a researcher on the reserve, Phil, came over to take some people herping along Fox Creek. As they were leaving, a barn dance broke out in the cabin. Tables were moved and Rozy, Jack, Ryan, and Camille played music and the kitchen floor became a dance floor. Ryan called a short dance and we skipped and dosey-doed around the room with big smiles. A massage train began outside and people slowly started to wind down and go to sleep in the meadow and the cabins. What a great last night :)
