The tour of the HJA Headquarters start in my living room in Quartz Hall. I am living with two graduate students from Oregon State University, Alex Wick and Kevin Briggs. They both hail from downstate New York so all three apartment-mates here in Blue River, Oregon are from across the nation. Both of them are exactly the sort of people I was hoping to be living with. They have already converted me to make my coffee using a french press and to bake my own bread. When I walked in the door the first morning the first thing I saw was a pile of seemingly every form of extreme sports gear possible: a bmx bike, mountain bikes, snowshoes, snowboards, rock climbing shoes and a road bike.
Here is our kitchen...messy before I arrived. Alex is almost as tall as the trees (6'7") and Kevin rocks an awesome beard and shaggy snowboarder hair (although Alex also rocks a nice beard worthy of Adam Owens). The apartment has five double rooms but thankfully because there are only three of us for the time being we each get our own room. We have been told though that when OSU gets out for the summer there will be an influx of students so I am hoping I can somehow avoid having to give up my other bed/dresser.
This is a view across the campground taken from the steps in front of Quartz Hall. Both buildings in this image are similar residence structures.
This is taken from the parking lot facing back towards Quartz Hall where my apartment is located in the upper right corner.
Walking farther down the parking lot there is a pavilion, and visible on the other side is the main office building which features a kitchen, administrative offices, wet labs and a computer lab which I was heading over to use for the day.
This is the logo for the HJA, which I believe is a rough-skinned newt. Below are some photos I took of one I found in the grass near my hall. These little mascots can be found commonly on the side of the roads. I like to move them to the grassy banks so they can avoid an unfortunate demise via a car tire as many of their fellow comrades have done.
Looks a lot like the HJA sign right?
These newts are known for their spectacular orange color on their bottom-side. Jay informed me that these newts actually have skin toxins potent enough to kill around 5-10 people. Thankfully for me Jay said the newt must be ingested for the toxin to become dangerous and I had eaten any yet.
In front of the main office one of the many busily buzzing hummingbirds paused just long enough on top of a cattail for me to take a couple quick photos.
Walking to the side of the campground there is a small trail leading to a campfire pit (below) and a tree which has scaffolding near the bottom where climbing guides can take people on over night trips to the top of the tree.
More super tall trees.
The pleasant fire pit.
The pathway to the fire pit.
Old Man's Beard laced on several trees... I love that appearance.
More beautifully lush trail.
Found one of these guys squirming across the trail.
An opening in the canopy allows for a photo of some of the upper branches of these living behemoths.
Wildflower #4: In the afternoon the clouds opened up and the sun shimmered through and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go for a hike. On the side of the road I found this small flower near the bank of Lookout Creek.
I found a cool outcropping of moss covered rocks that rose above the creek so I was able to get a few nice shots of the crystal-clear frigid water flowing below. If it wasn't in the mid-50's I would have thought about jumping in...definitely later.
Wildflower #5: A funky plant with a bunch of tiny flowers in a raceme at the end of the stem. I am not sure what the name of this plant is.
Wildflower #6: Also found on the side of the road heading towards the trail-head, this interesting inflorescence is the flowering form of Bear Grass which I mentioned in its vegetative state in the previous post.
Wildflower #7: This Fragaria member of the Rose family is a strawberry plant found on the short footpath that lead to the mossy rocks I climbed above the creek.
Wildflower #8: This rhododendron macrophylum (big-leafed) produces very pretty groupings of flowers and was also found off the road.
Wildflower #9: Scot's Broom, hundreds of these little yellow flowers are found in small shrubby plants along roadsides.
Taken from the bridge over the end of Lookout Creek this picture captures the sublime blue-green hues of the water as it reaches the Blue River Reservoir.
I simply crossed road on the bridge to take this photo of the Blue River Reservoir itself. I look forward to warmer weather when I can take advantage of the Reservoir's proximity to go for a swim.
The sign says it all.
I chose to hike down the road to a trail which winds its way through one of the study sub-watersheds (Watershed 2 for anyone who was interested for some reason). Before I even reached the trail-head I had to stop for this photo. I am always a sucker for water cascading gently between moss-covered rocks.
Wildflower #10: An interesting plant with an umbel of small pretty flowers at the top of the stem. Name unknown.
Wildflower #11: I knew this one right away...mostly. A dogwood (cornaceae cornus) for sure, but I had to ask Alex what species it was because I assumed it wasn't the same one as in Virginia and sure enough it is a different Northwest species.
Everything out West is bigger...including the slugs. These gigantic gastropods were all over the place, and usually wherever you were most likely to fall. They seemed to be strategically placing themselves adjacent to fallen logs, knotty roots, and toe-stubbing rocks so if you fell you were definitely going to fall on one of them. Luckily, I did not fall.
Right away the trail became a series of switchbacks only 30 meters long or so each but ascended so quickly that within 10 minutes I was unable to see the road down below through the trees. This picture does not do justice to the steepness of the slope.
Another shot of the slope that seemed to fall off into an abyss.
And another. Oh, did I mention the trees are gigantic and beautiful.
The trail wound along the edge of the mountains with a slope sharply veering upwards away from you on one side, and then the other edge of the trail sometimes crumbling off the side of the mountain. There were multiple places where a misstep could have caused a serious fall.
A particularly technical part of the trail viewed from across a small creek-bearing gully.
Here is the picturesque creek running down the gully.
A view of the creek a little farther upstream.
Near the end of the trail I came across this rather large snail shell, too bad the occupant was not present for the photo him/herself.
Wildflower #12: A Calypso Orchid, this small stunning flower was found alone near the end of the trail. Probably my favorite so far, the jar-shape Orchid structure has always been intriguing to me.
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