Journal Entry 8

4/15- Toutle River Sediment Retention Dam and Coldwater Lake Trails
Farther along the Spirit Lake Highway moving toward Mt. St Helens, we came across a road with a small trail at the end called the Toutle River Sediment Retention Dam trail. Here I saw some redwood sorrel, palmate coltsfoot, and herb Robert, along with significant amounts of moss or lichens coating the trees. It was very interesting how thick the moss or lichens were on the trees, as it hung like fur from the tree structures. We climbed the side of the hill until we reached the clearing where the dam stood, and we walked to the end and looked out over the Toutle River.
Later, we drove further down the Spirit Lake highway to Coldwater Lake, where the Lakes trail loop went around the lake. We walked just about a mile and a half around the trail, then headed back in the interest of time. However, on that short stretch we saw some very interesting plants. The climate in this region, for whatever reason, which I would most likely attribute to the 1980 eruption of Mt. St Helens, is very dry. The large trees have been slow to return, so the climate is small shrubs and brush. Most of these are very dry and the animals I found in the area, a bird and a butterfly, were both well camouflaged to the dusky, brown-red setting.
We then drove just a few more minutes down to the head of the Hummocks Trail, which was far more woody, but still crossed through portions of dry land that was reeling from the volcano’s impact. However, here there was also a lake where we saw some black and white ducks, evidence of many beavers and even saw a beaver swimming from afar. There was also a toad, numerous birds, and deer droppings.

Publicado el mayo 1, 2012 06:45 TARDE por keenan44