Three miles uphill, in the snow, eating sticks

The trail winds through forest, patchy at times with the sun gleaming through breaks in the canopy. Here and there an enormous (relatively) yew tree with its shaggy bark leans over the trail, a green cocoon embracing the path.
Cougar prints alight the section of trail- clearly embossed in the untarnished snow.
We turn a corner and step out up on Deer Ridge.
The clear blue sky stretched out overhead, pure and bright. The only cloud hung close to the not-so distant mountain peaks, seeming to find safety nestling near the snow and rocks, far from the never ending open pierced only by the bright glowing orb overhead.
We stop to freshen up, eat some, drink some- put the snowshoes on and continue along the ridge to find a good spot to sample.
A little trickier than you'd think.
Need to find a place with out too much slope (good luck) or too much canopy cover (yeah right). In the end we decided on Compensation Point to get it started, and began our descent. Stopping at a few points back down off the trail to set our new sampling locations.

Beautiful day.
Wonderful crew.
Deep snow.
Quality snow chains are important.
very important.

Hurrah for modern snowshoes! Some have a bracket that flips up in back to assist in steep uphill climbs- very handy when climbing up a ridiculous ascent!

So I got to the college thinking it would be a regular field day of driving up to the hills, stopping at the different sampling areas, trotting off road a bit to get to the plots, nothing too exciting... and lo! I get to PC to discover that there has been a change of plans- instead of same ole same ole, we get to go up Deer Ridge!

Man, I love field work.
What a glorious place to live.

Right On!

Ron Paul placed second in Nevada!!!!!

Yay!

update: and Louisiana! A very close second!
update II: Main?

Tallest Pacific Dogwood Ever!

This just in:

It has been confirmed that right here in the Olympic Peninsula is the world record for the tallest Pacific Dogwood (Cornus nuttallii). Last summer on our research expedition in the Sol Duc area by Rainy Creek we found this lone soldier in a mixed Douglas-Fir stand.

It came in at 83 feet- head and shoulders above the prior record holder, though now chopped down, was 60 feet (in 1986, at the last verified measurement).

(In case anyone is concerned, in the experimental forest we are working in all, all unique species (any deciduous such as this and ceders) are untouched as this wood is being managed to increase habitat and structural diversity.)

Keep on growing baby!