Kennecott Trail, McCarthy Day 3, 9/7/11

Weather: Temperature in the mid to high 40’s with clouds and scattered sun breaks.

Plants:

·         Puff Ball Mushroom (Lycoperdon umbrinum)

·         Spiney Puffball Mushroom (Lycoperdon echinatum)

·         White Spruce (Picea glauca)

·         Freckled Pelt (Peltigera britannica) 

·         Dwarf dogwood (Cornus canadensis)

·         Black spruce (Picea mariana)

·         Currant (Carissa spinarum)

·         Labrador tea (Ledum groenlandicum)

·         Horsetail (Equisetum)

·         Cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccus)

·         Frog Pelt Lichen (Peltigera neopolydactyla)

·         Wild Roses (Rosa nutkana)

·         Lycopodium

·         Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium)

·         Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera)

·         Green Wintergreen (Pyrola chlorantha)

·         Poplar (Populus balsamifera)

·         Slime mold (Dictyostelium discoideum)

·         Willow (Salix)

·         Black mushroom

·         Mistletoe (disambiguation)

·           northern red currant Ribes triste

·           high-bush cranberry Viburnum edule

·           raspberry Rubus idaeus

·            

 Animals:

·         Squirrels

·         Gray Jay (Perisoreus canadensis)

·         Birds nest

·         Beetle infestations 

·         Evidence of woodpecker

Other: Chugach/Wrangell Mountains, Kennecott/Root Glaciers, glacial till, bog/muskeg

Comments:

“The trip to McCarthy and being able to see the glaciers and how much they shape the land was very cool. Coming from Washington I have seen how glaciers can form land, but seeing the glacier right next to where it just receded from really opened my eyes on how it actually looks like. Not to mention trying to comprehend the size of the glacier at its peak versus what’s left makes me feel smaller than a seed.” –Nate

Root Trail, McCarthy Day 2, 9/6/14

Weather: Temperatures in the mid 40’s to low 50’s with heavy cloud coverage. Rain showers early with scattered patches of sun. Winds less than 10 mph

Plants:

·         Cow Parsnip (Heracleum maximum)

·         Feather moss (Hypnaceae)

·         Frog Pelt Lichen (Peltigera neopolydactyla)

·         Sieve Cup Lichen (Cladonia multiphormis)

·         Artic Lupen (Lupinus arcticus)

·         Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium)

·         Red Alder (Alnus rubra)

·         White Spruce (Picea glauca)

·         Wild Roses (Rosa nutkana)

·         Bearberry (Arctostaphylos)

·         Crow berry (Empetrum nigrum)

·         Spiney Puffball Mushroom (Lycoperdon echinatum)

·         Winter Pink Pyrola (Pyrola asarifolia)

·         Green Wintergreen (Pyrola chlorantha)

·         Prickly Saxifrage (Saxifraga tricuspidata)

·         Waterworm Lichen (Siphula ceratites)

·         Soapberry (Sapindus)

·         Rushes (Juncaceae)

·         Poplar (Populus balsamifera)

·         Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera)

·         Sub-alpine fir (Abies lasicopara)

·         Horsetail (Equisetum)

·         Alder (Alnus)

·         Junipes (Cupressaceae)

·         Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium)

·         Mistletoe (disambiguation)

·           Dryas (Dryadoideae)

·           pixie cup lichen Claudonia chlorophaea

·           yellow sulfur lichen

·           broomrape/groundcone Boschniakia rossica

·           scouring-rush Equisetum hyemale

·           dandelion Taraxacum officinale

·           northern yarrow Achillea borealis

·            

Animals:

·         Moose Alces alces

·         Gnats

Other:

·           Gravel

·           Glacial till

·           Karst

·           Kennecott Mill

·           Lateral Moraine

·           Wrangell St. Elias Mountains

·           Chugach Mountains

McCarthy Day 1, 9/5/14

Weather: Temperatures near 50's, low cloud coverage with rain and fog. Wind less than 10 mph

Plants: 

• northern yarrow Achillea borealis
• western dwarf mistletoe Arceuthobium campylopodum
• shaggy mane Coprinus comatus
• prickly rose Rosa acicularis
• indian paintbrush/yellow paintbrush Castilleja unalaschenis
• dandelion Taraxacum officinale
• yellow dryas Dryas drummondii
• soapberry Shepherdia canadensis
• common horsetail Equisetum arvense
• scouring-rush Equisetum hyemale
• white spruce Picea glauca
• feather moss Kindbergia oregana
• kinnikinnick Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
• river beauty/dwarf fireweed Epilobium latifolium
• liverwort sp.
• alpine bearberry Arctostaphylos alpina
• cotton grass sp.
• Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus)
•  Pixie cup Lichen (Cladonia asahinae)
• Indian Potatoes (Apios americana)
• Folios Lichen (Flavoparmelia caperata)
• Dryas (Dryadoideae)
• Wild Roses (Rosa nutkana)
• Poplar (Populus balsamifera)
• Freckled Pelt (Peltigera britannica) 
• Currant (Carissa spinarum)

Animals:

·          Ducks

·          Raven

·         Moose poop

·         Spider

·         Mosquito larvae

·         Vole

·          Red Squirrels Sciurus vulgaris

·          Raven Corvus corax

Yarrow

Yarrow

You Can Learn Series. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2014.

Yarrow aka Achillea millefolium is from the Aster family that can grow anywhere from 10 to 100 cm tall. The leaves have a fern like characteristic that are pinnately dissected. Flowers range from white to pink or reddish in color and in the form of a compound umbel. The Yarrow produces a hairless, flattened achenes that lack pappus. This plant can be found on dry or moist sites, meadows, rocky slopes, gravel bars, and at low to high elevations. The specific Yarrow found at Valdez Glacier was along a rocky/gravel area at a low elevation.  

Pojar, Jim, A. MacKinnon, and Paul B. Alaback. "Aster." Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast: Washington, Oregon, British Columbia & Alaska. Redmond, WA: Lone Pine Pub., 1994. 279. Print.

Valdez Glacier

Valdez Glacier

11/6/14, 13:35

34 degrees 4, mostly cloudy with some sun, winds up to 10 MPH

Chugach Mountains, Valdez Glacier, glacier karst, glacier lake

·         Arctic Willow (Salix arctica)

·         Devils Club (Oplopanax horridus)

·         Barclays Willow (Salix barclayi)

·         Dwarf Fireweed (Chamerion latifolium)

·         Pineapple Weed (Matricaria discoidea)

·         Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

·         White Clover (Trifolium repens)

Having been to both Valdez and Worthington Glaciers allows us to compare these ice masses and see how they impacted their surrounding environments. At Worthington Glacier we saw that it was hanging glacier that was sitting high up in between two mountainsides. Valdez differs in the fact that it is not a hanging glacier but a Valley Glacier. However, the Valdez Glacier at one point in its history was a Tidewater glacier meaning that it reached out all the way to Prince William Sound. Although these are two different types of glaciers, they both clearly showed signs of glacial karst left behind along with lakes. 

Pineapple Weed,

Matricaria discoidea

Pineapple Weed. (2010, June 22). Retrieved from https://tracingterroir.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/pineapple-weed/

The Pineapple Weed has a habitat found mainly in waste places. The weed is small and yellow. It has a feathery look and feel to it. This plant can grow up to 5 to 8 inches. They tend to bloom around July and August. They have a small yellowish head that are known for looking similar to the fruit of a pineapple and somewhat even smell like them. This plant is commonly seen in Alaska. The heads of the flower can be squished and used to make tea. They can be used if they are dried out or fresh. Another name the Pineapple weed goes by is Wild Camomile. 

Pratt, Verna E. Alaskan Wildflowers. N.p.: AlaskaKrafts, 1989. Print

Valdez Glacier 

November 6th 

1:45pm

30 degrees

Sunny, little wind

Glacial till, caved in mountains, flat ground

Plants: 

Cow Parsnip, Heracleum lanatum

Arctic Willow, Salix arctica 

Fire weed, Epilobium angustifolium

Pineapple Weed, Matricaria discoidea

White Clover, Trifolium repens

Yarrow, Achillea borealis

The glacier in Valdez is different than the Worthington glacier in may ways. Worthington is more of a mountain glacier. It is on a higher lever of ground whereas Valdez is on mostly one level. You don't have to hike or climb anything to reach Valdez glacier. Also, there was a lot more glacial till at Worthington compared to Valdez. There were more rocks with layers showing it being pulled down by ice or snow at Worthington. Valdez was more flat, and had water showing pieces of ice in it. 

Reference Guide. (1994). In J. Pojar (Ed.), Plants Of The Pacific Northwest Coast (p. 528). Canada: Lone Pine Publisher

Pratt, Verna E. Alaskan Wildflowers. N.p.: AlaskaKrafts, 1989. Print

                                 Lady Fern, (Athyrium filix-fermina)

                                       







         















File:Lady Fern frond - normal appearance.jpg. (2013, June 10). Retrieved October 31, 2014, from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lady_Fern_frond_-_normal_appearance.jpg


         The lady fern has a height of 2 m tall, rhizomes stout, that is filled with scales and old leaf bases. The leaves are shaped in stripes and are short but very fragile. The base if the leaf is very scaly and much shorter than the blades. The blades are shaped broadly lanced and tapering at both ends. The leaflets are in twenty to forty pairs, and the top and bottom leafs get reduced over time. The Lady Fern is found in moist and wet forests, thickets, openings, slide-tracks, gullies, meadows, and swamps.

Reference Guide. (1994). In J. Pojar (Ed.), Plants Of The Pacific Northwest Coast (p. 528). Canada: Lone Pine Publisher

                                                                      Homestead Trail

 

1:44 pm

homestead thicket

Sunny, snow on ground, blue sky

 Plants:

Devils Club, Oplopanax horridus

 

Cow Parsnip, Heracleum maximum

 

Fireweed, Chamerion angustifolium

 

Large Leaf Avens, Geum macrophyllum

 

Yarrow, Achillea millefolium

 

Sitka Spruce, Picea sitchensis

 

Mountain Ash, Sorbus sitchensis

 

Black Cottonwood, Populus balsamifera

 

Lady Fern, Athyrium

 

Goats Beard, Aruncus diolicus

 

Rockweed, Fucus vesiculosus

 

Animlas:

sitka periwinkle Littorina sitkana

 

 Sea lion Eumetopias jubatus

 

sitka periwinkle Littorina sitkana

 

pacific blue mussel Mytilus edulis

 

Reference Guide. (1994). In J. Pojar (Ed.), Plants Of The Pacific Northwest Coast (p. 528). Canada: Lone Pine Publisher

 

Pratt, Verna E. Alaskan Wildflowers. N.p.: AlaskaKrafts, 1989. Print