First, you should know this adventure involved a bright orange hard hat and ridiculously heavy and ungraceful hip waders.
I spent today out in the field in the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company lands observing the progress of road improvements and in-stream habitat improvement projects on the Bottom Creek. I will be writing a case study brochure about this project site later in the year.
The most interesting site we visited was a series of ten engineered log jams that had continued to “recruit” more logs and downed trees in the wet fall and winter seasons of 2008. Before this project, the stream bottom was bedrock not providing salmon spawning or rearing grounds. The idea is to slow the water down and give a chance for gravel to fall out and to add complexity to the stream, adding pools and runs. The success of an engineered log jam is measured by the change in area of riffle gravel (which is ideal salmon and trout spawning ground – where they lay their eggs) and the change in area of pools (which is areas of calmer water where “alven” – young salmon and trout – can live for their first year before going out to sea).
Unfortunately for everyone’s olfactory glands, there were at least two dozen coho salmon carcasses along the stream. But that is a good sign that the salmon are able to travel this far up stream (this site is at least 40 miles from the ocean) and were a good size meaning they must have had a good life out in the ocean before coming back to spawn. In other news, I saw lots of elk, bobcat, and raccoon tracks and Jon actually found a naturally-shed five-point elk antler.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Movie Review #1 (a.k.a Marlon Brando is Awesome)
Guys and Dolls, 1955
Samuel Goldwyn’s 79th of 80 productions is a great musical that has you laughing, tapping, thinking, longing. And definitely don’t look away from the screen because you might miss one of Marlon Brando’s cavalier entrances and first lines…::Hat across the chest, “Excuse me, do you take sinners here?”::… And did anyone else know Brando could sing and dance? And I just haven’t seen anyone rock a dark blue pin stripe suit better than Frank Sinatra. I guess they just don’t make movie stars like they used to...
The songs and costumes of Sinatra’s girlfriend Adelaide are surprisingly scandalous but a fitting contrast to Brando’s challenging love interest, Sarah Brown, a Salvation Army Sergeant. The interior sets were minimal but realistic but the scenes out on the streets of Time Square are a practice in perspective representing the Goldwyn Touch. It is obvious that neon signs are hanging from the walls of a studio room, but somehow it works. It is clear that you can’t walk down that street painted on the wall but the color and energy make the dimensionless set work.
Samuel Goldwyn’s 79th of 80 productions is a great musical that has you laughing, tapping, thinking, longing. And definitely don’t look away from the screen because you might miss one of Marlon Brando’s cavalier entrances and first lines…::Hat across the chest, “Excuse me, do you take sinners here?”::… And did anyone else know Brando could sing and dance? And I just haven’t seen anyone rock a dark blue pin stripe suit better than Frank Sinatra. I guess they just don’t make movie stars like they used to...
The songs and costumes of Sinatra’s girlfriend Adelaide are surprisingly scandalous but a fitting contrast to Brando’s challenging love interest, Sarah Brown, a Salvation Army Sergeant. The interior sets were minimal but realistic but the scenes out on the streets of Time Square are a practice in perspective representing the Goldwyn Touch. It is obvious that neon signs are hanging from the walls of a studio room, but somehow it works. It is clear that you can’t walk down that street painted on the wall but the color and energy make the dimensionless set work.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Stories from the Northwest
I have been doing a lot of traveling over the last week and I have been collecting stories wherever I go.
Last Sunday I went to the Contra Dance at the Trout Lake Grange – the culminating event of the Trout Lake Cabin Fever Festival. This consisted of about one hundred people in a two-room meetinghouse learning and repeating line and square dance moves. I learned for example that “do-si-do” can be more than the old name for peanut-butter sandwich Girl Scout cookies and “alabam” is more than the abbreviation for Alabama in an “Easter Parade” song. Once my friends had finally dragged me out on to the dance floor I faded back in forth between feeling like I was in the big dance scenes of “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” and “Meet Me In St. Louis.” Either way it was fun. Plus, I got to dance with a guy who has been growing herbs and selling them to Celestial Seasonings for tea for… well, for a long time!
Earlier that day, our group had attempted to hike Beacon Rock, the second largest free standing monolith in the world – second only to the Rock of Gibraltar. Lewis and Clark first named Beacon Rock in 1805 because they could measure tidal influences as far up the Columbia River as Beacon Rock. Beacon Rock is the basaltic core of an ancient volcano. Glacial floods that also carved out the Columbia Gorge; washed away the softer earth material from around the volcano’s slopes leaving this 900 foot tall rock mass. The Army Corps of Engineers wanted to destroy the Rock in the early 20th century just because it wasn’t doing anything for anyone. Luckily, a man named Henry J. Biddle bought the rock and spent several years building a trail up to the top. He then sold the rock to the state of Washington for $1 with the condition that it remain a park for eternity. Thanks Mr. Biddle! Anyways, I never made it to the top of the 2nd largest rock mass in the world. Our program leaders made the official decision to turn us around about 100 feet from the top because of the dangerously strong winds creating the possibility of trees falling on us. Brendan’s six-year old son said he was actually blown up a section of the trail… and I believe him.
Now is the interesting case of the town of North Bonneville and the Bonneville Dam. If you can believe this, in the 1970s, the entire city of North Bonneville was rebuilt by the Army Corps of Engineer several miles upstream of their original location just because the town was decided to be the ideal location for the second powerhouse on the Bonneville Dam. It took them seven years and over $35 million (in 1970s money) to complete the relocation and they also flooded a sacred Native American burial site in the process.
Last Sunday I went to the Contra Dance at the Trout Lake Grange – the culminating event of the Trout Lake Cabin Fever Festival. This consisted of about one hundred people in a two-room meetinghouse learning and repeating line and square dance moves. I learned for example that “do-si-do” can be more than the old name for peanut-butter sandwich Girl Scout cookies and “alabam” is more than the abbreviation for Alabama in an “Easter Parade” song. Once my friends had finally dragged me out on to the dance floor I faded back in forth between feeling like I was in the big dance scenes of “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” and “Meet Me In St. Louis.” Either way it was fun. Plus, I got to dance with a guy who has been growing herbs and selling them to Celestial Seasonings for tea for… well, for a long time!
Earlier that day, our group had attempted to hike Beacon Rock, the second largest free standing monolith in the world – second only to the Rock of Gibraltar. Lewis and Clark first named Beacon Rock in 1805 because they could measure tidal influences as far up the Columbia River as Beacon Rock. Beacon Rock is the basaltic core of an ancient volcano. Glacial floods that also carved out the Columbia Gorge; washed away the softer earth material from around the volcano’s slopes leaving this 900 foot tall rock mass. The Army Corps of Engineers wanted to destroy the Rock in the early 20th century just because it wasn’t doing anything for anyone. Luckily, a man named Henry J. Biddle bought the rock and spent several years building a trail up to the top. He then sold the rock to the state of Washington for $1 with the condition that it remain a park for eternity. Thanks Mr. Biddle! Anyways, I never made it to the top of the 2nd largest rock mass in the world. Our program leaders made the official decision to turn us around about 100 feet from the top because of the dangerously strong winds creating the possibility of trees falling on us. Brendan’s six-year old son said he was actually blown up a section of the trail… and I believe him.
Now is the interesting case of the town of North Bonneville and the Bonneville Dam. If you can believe this, in the 1970s, the entire city of North Bonneville was rebuilt by the Army Corps of Engineer several miles upstream of their original location just because the town was decided to be the ideal location for the second powerhouse on the Bonneville Dam. It took them seven years and over $35 million (in 1970s money) to complete the relocation and they also flooded a sacred Native American burial site in the process.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Preservation and Profit: McMenamin's
Washington and Oregon have a wonderful chain of restaurants/ bars/ billiard halls/ theatres/ conference venues/ concert venues/ hotels: McMenamin's. As the short version of the story goes, these two brothers decided they wanted to brew their own beer and redefine the pub. So, they started to buy up abandoned buildings like theatres, warehouses, schools that were often times historic but no longer being used to strengthen the community refurbished them to be multi-faceted community gathering places (but mainly breweries and pubs).The establishment that I visited today was called "The Kennedy School." The McMenamin brothers kept this small elementary school (built c. 1915) intact but transformed the rooms into bars, restaurants, conference rooms, hotel rooms, a gift shop, a soaking pool, a brewery, and a movie theatre.
As an architect and preservationist at heart, I walked around in awe of their accomplishment -- and this is just one of dozens of similar locations the brothers have refurbished. They have a corporate historian that researches each property they buy and their findings influence how they decorate and how they restore the property (so cool!). In this establishment they named the hotel rooms after the teachers who taught there.
I would have liked to do something similar for all of the abandoned roadside attractions like the S.S. Grand View Point. There was such magic around that structure that could have brought the place back to life with the correct amount of TLC.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Walking in the footprints of cougars...
The highlight today was a snow shoe hike to a lava tube (more like a tunnel) called the "Cheese Caves." OK...
(1) The lava tube formed as volcanic activity caused lava to flow and as it flowed the outer layers of the lava flow cooled and solidified first as the hotter, interior lava continued to flow through leaving a rippled core, that gives the appearance of a tunnel.
(2) It is called the "Cheese Caves" because in the early 1900's a family began curing and storing cheese in the tunnel. There is still a 100 foot metal staircase leading up to a wooden door that leads into an A-frame house we passed on our initial snow shoe hike. Additionally, the wood and metal remnants of long shelves where the cheese was stored lie discarded and moldy along both walls of the tunnel before the staircase.
(3) Now, to the explanation of the title of this entry. We saw a lot of interesting animal footprints on the snow shoe hike before reaching the cave. One set of prints looked like those of a large dog with five pads and claws. Another set were the prints of a cloved hoof animal like a deer. Of course my imagination immediately assumed the most exciting possibilities: a mountain lion and a moose (I've never seen a moose, and really want to so can you blame me). But it turns out they were most likely the prints of a cougar and an elk.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In the evening, the Gifford Pinchot National Forest archaeologist gave a presentation. The best part were her descriptions of local legends surrounding the natural events of this geologically active region. One tribe has a legend called "The Sleeping Beauty." During the "Myth Age" animals and mountains also had human attributes. As the story goes, Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood fell in love with the same woman and began fighting over her like mountains would; with rock, fire and trees. In the end, Mt. Adams won but the woman was actually in love with Mt. Hood so she lay down next to Mt. Hood and turned to stone. Mt. Adams was so sad that he hung his head low and that is why Mt. Adams is a squat, rounded mountain and Mt. Hood is a sharp peak.
(1) The lava tube formed as volcanic activity caused lava to flow and as it flowed the outer layers of the lava flow cooled and solidified first as the hotter, interior lava continued to flow through leaving a rippled core, that gives the appearance of a tunnel.
(2) It is called the "Cheese Caves" because in the early 1900's a family began curing and storing cheese in the tunnel. There is still a 100 foot metal staircase leading up to a wooden door that leads into an A-frame house we passed on our initial snow shoe hike. Additionally, the wood and metal remnants of long shelves where the cheese was stored lie discarded and moldy along both walls of the tunnel before the staircase.
(3) Now, to the explanation of the title of this entry. We saw a lot of interesting animal footprints on the snow shoe hike before reaching the cave. One set of prints looked like those of a large dog with five pads and claws. Another set were the prints of a cloved hoof animal like a deer. Of course my imagination immediately assumed the most exciting possibilities: a mountain lion and a moose (I've never seen a moose, and really want to so can you blame me). But it turns out they were most likely the prints of a cougar and an elk.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In the evening, the Gifford Pinchot National Forest archaeologist gave a presentation. The best part were her descriptions of local legends surrounding the natural events of this geologically active region. One tribe has a legend called "The Sleeping Beauty." During the "Myth Age" animals and mountains also had human attributes. As the story goes, Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood fell in love with the same woman and began fighting over her like mountains would; with rock, fire and trees. In the end, Mt. Adams won but the woman was actually in love with Mt. Hood so she lay down next to Mt. Hood and turned to stone. Mt. Adams was so sad that he hung his head low and that is why Mt. Adams is a squat, rounded mountain and Mt. Hood is a sharp peak.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
The Beginning
Welcome to my blog about life as an environmental, vegetarian, dog-loving, flea market fanatic, travelling, film noir fan.This story begins when I packed up a part of my life in 3 suitcases and flew 3000 miles away.
Flying from the east coast to the west coast at 5:30 in the morning does have its upside... the views! I was able to watch the sunrise on the east coast and the sunset on the west coast. Despite my location over the starboard wing of the plane... I was able to see the topography and beauty of the land below. I saw rivers and snow covered mountains and mid-continental rifting that I recognized from my structural geology class.
After arriving in Portland I bought a hybrid car and proceeded to explore Portland's parks. I visited Rocky Butte State Park, the Grotto and Mt. Tabor Park. Unfortunately the foggy day weather put a damper on the views from these locales. But, I suppose I will have to get used to that foggy day weather...
Tomorrow, the journey as an AmeriCorps intern begins as I drive up Mt. Adams for orientation. Wish me luck! I have an ice scraper but no chains on my tires.
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