Weekly Photo Roundup: October 28 2017

Every weekend I will post photos collected from various North Cascades Institute graduate students and staff. Please enjoy this glimpse into our everyday lives here in the North Cascades.

It is fall-tastic here in the North Cascades! Below is a collection of beautiful color from around the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center. The changing leaves are a celebrated occasion, as we transition into the colder months ahead.

Photo by Liz Grewal

Graduate student Liz Grewal’s realization of the week: “Seasons are real. I just had to leave the Bay Area to experience them.”

During the Fall Natural History Course, graduate students break up into “pods” to learn about the area together through naturalist skills. Above is a picture from last Monday on a trail around the Learning Center.

One of the pods gathered at the Buster Brown Lookout to practice orientation with a map and compass. We engaged in this activity as preparation for our Field Practicum next week, which will test our ability to navigate the landscape, make observations on habitat, and use binoculars and spotting scopes. We’ll also engage in a healthy dose of bushwhacking near the Suak Confluence!

Raccoon tracks by the Skagit River in Marblemount. Photo by Brendan McGarry

On the same note, graduate student Brendan McGarry made wildlife observations around the Blue House:

“Nothing remarkable about finding raccoon tracks in the sand along the skagit river this morning. But it’s fun to see them in different media, sand and mud, and to see their normal walking gait, rear paw and forepaw essentially side by side. Last week this wouldn’t have been possible because the river was 3 feet higher and the shoreline was rocky, not sandy! I already knew these prints, but it was fun to put new wildlife tracking skills to use, thinking about how an animal is moving, learned with David Moskowitz during our Natural History course.”

Photo by Brendan McGarry

There are many great viewpoints of autumn color this week. This picture was taken from the Learning Center parking lot.

Photo by Darcy Page

As well as this picture of Pyramid Peak in a fresh blanket of snow.

Photo by Mari Schramm

And let’s not forget the magic of Mountain School! An action shot of kiddos stretching their legs after a bus ride to the Learning Center. They were excited to be here, ready to learn and play.