Day 2 (:

7/9/2023

OSU Geology Camp

Mitchell, OR

8:47 PM

Today is the second day of our trip. We traveled to Strawberry Lake. On the way there, I read the first chapter of this book, First Along the River third edition A Brief History of the U.S. Environmental Movement by Benjamin Kline. I liked this quote that was at the head of the chapter:

Nature is an infinite sphere

whose center is everywhere and

whose circumference is nowhere.

-Blaise Pascal

The chapter discussed western European culture and how we developed a philosophy towards nature that emphasized humanity's right to dominate the environment.

Before the hike, Frank gave us a talk about the area, and I wish I brought something better to record the guest speakers on this trip (Shucks! Geology is interesting to me.) I expected to walk the full seven miles, but I ended up dressing too warm.

When we arrived at Strawberry Lake, I got in the water right away. We hung out at the lake for a while. We decided to make our way to the next lake, but we ended up turning around and hanging out longer at Strawberry Lake. There were many dead trees on the trail but lots of interesting plants. I didn’t bring any food because I thought it would slow me down. I ended up going back into the lake again. I forgot my floatieee though (oh well 😊).

I expected to find more strawberry plants in the area, but I did see some. I like how almost every butterfly I saw looked different. The hike downhill was pleasant. I felt nice and cool after being in the lake and it made walking so much easier for me. Our class sat at a picnic table, and we discussed the dead trees of the area and water samples that were collected along the trail. I finally ate lunch: PB&J, jerky, apple and nectarine. THANKS OSU!

On this trip, our class gave the suburban a name: Spiele-Yi (Which means wolf in our native language.) I heard our classmates’ favorite stories about the wolf/coyote. One of them was awesome at telling stories. She told us the story of the wolf and deer: how the deer got its spots, how we learned about fire and how to care for the fire. Another mentioned a book he had that I’m interested in looking up later by Virginia R. Beavert. Another one told a story about a witch which was interesting. I want to check this story out more later too.

On the way back to camp Frank bought us all ice cream which was very nice of him. I really enjoy ice cream (especially Dairy Queen jaja I grew up in Wapato). Jessica was our driver, and it was interesting to hear her discuss the geology of the landscape around us (eeeee It’s nice when people are enthusiastic.) My favorite rocks to look at along the way were those basalts that were slanted at an almost 45-degree angle. There was also a giant basalt with a big hole through it. I really like holy rocks.

Later in the day Corbin gave us some lab papers. We collected a water sample. We then tested the water sample for bacteria and are waiting on results. I kind of hope we can test the Columbia River, but we are far from it. I’m excited about this lab. My interest in water quality is one of the reasons I’m studying environmental science.

I really wanted to go home today. I can focus on my goals though. (: