Friday, February 11, 2011

Great Timing for Field Work

The past two days I was out in the field. Great timing as it was sunny both days. A bit icy in the early morning but the sun now has some warmth in it versus a month ago when even full sun provided little warming. Now its back in the office for some lengthily writing and review sessions. Again good time as it is cool and wet outside.

Early morning view down East Sound on Orcas Island

Yesterday entailed a very early start to catch the first ferry out to Orcas Island. The first ferry consists mostly of folks heading over to do some kind of work. Lots of people including me napping for the hour it takes to reach the Olga ferry landing. The nice thing is that by 7:00 it is now getting light. One of the big challenges of winter field work at just shy of the 49th parallel is the short daylight hours. The sun is already up well more than an hour than it was in late December. So by the time I had reached my job site, it was light enough to see my way through the forest and cliffs I had to inspect.

The ferry ride back to Anacortes was very pleasant. Stretched out on a bench taking in the early afternoon sun while napping (I did get very early). My nap was interrupted by the ferry captain announcing whales to the starboard. Had a quick glimpse of a couple Orcas. All in all a hard day of field work, but somebody had to do it. Lots of interesting tree observations including lodge pole pines, aspen, oaks and Juniperus maritima during this trip for future posts.
  

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