Department of Biological Sciences, Fort Hays State University Instructor: Mark Eberle                  Course Homepage

Course Description and Itinerary

Independent Readings: May-June 2010
Pre-trip Meeting: Evening of 21 July 2010 (Wednesday)
Fieldtrip: Thursday, 22 July to Sunday, 1 August 2010 (11 days)

For additional information and permission to enroll, contact:
Mark Eberle, Department of Biological Sciences
Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas 67601
785-628-5264 -- meberle@fhsu.edu

Heceta Head Lighthouse on the Central Oregon Coast
Photographs by Mark Eberle, August 1998, and Eric Hoch, July 2002

COURSE OVERVIEW: This fieldcourse emphasizes the study of ecological processes through firsthand observations of forests, coastal dunes, an estuary, and tidepools that occur along the Pacific Coast of Washington, Oregon, and northern California. En route to and from the coast, we stop at sites in the Rocky Mountains, Cascade Mountains, Sierra Nevada, and Great Basin. We explore ecological features of each community, such as community organization, succession, productivity, and nutrient cycling. Although we identify species that characterize the various communities, the emphasis is on the processes associated with these organisms and their environment. We also consider the geological forces that continue to shape the landscape. Capture and collection of organisms is not a part of this course and is not allowed in the parks we visit.

BOOKS: The content of this course is largely based on the book The Northwest Coast: A Natural History by Stewart Schultz, which is no longer in print. Thus, the natural history information associated with this course is summarized on this website. Two references are strongly recommended to help students with identification of trees and marine organisms we use to characterize native communities:

• Chris Beatty and John Ledges.  1999.  The Ecopress Complete Guide to Native Conifers of the Pacific Northwest.  Ecopress, Minneapolis, Minnesota. $4.95.  This is a laminated, bifold card with good color pictures and brief descriptions of diagnostic features of 33 species of conifers, which we will use to characterize the various forest communities in relation to their general ecological relationships.
• J. Duane Sept.  2009.  The Beachcomber's Guide to Seashore Life in the Pacific Northwest, revised edition.  Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, British Columbia.  223 pages.  $26.95 (paperback).  This book has good color photographs and brief descriptions of virtually all of the animals and algae we will see in the tidepools, plus brief explanations of tides and habitats. This book would be useful to each student as we disperse across the tidepools on the several visits we will make along the rocky shoreline in Oregon.

PREREQUISITES AND ENROLLMENT: This class is intended for biology students and science teachers who have some background in biology (>10 semester hours of college biology courses recommended) and a broad interest in natural history. Students must have an appropriate attitude about camping in tents for several nights, rising early in the morning, and traveling about 4500 miles in a van. Students also must be able to get along with other students in the close quarters of the van and campsites and to conduct themselves appropriately in family-oriented parks and campgrounds. Permission of the instructor is required to enroll in the course. FHSU students should register during the spring semester. Other students will need to apply for admission to the university before enrolling in the course.

DATES: Reading and writing assignments must be completed during June, and there is a pre-trip meeting at FHSU on the day prior to our departure. The trip is made in late July and early August to coincide with the brief summer season at high elevations and the best available low tides (associated with a new moon or full moon). An itinerary for the next trip is at the bottom of this webpage.

INFORMATION FOR TEACHERS ABOUT ORGANIZING THIS EXTENDED FIELDTRIP: Details on preparation by the instructor for this fieldtrip (Instructor's Guide) are summarized for their use by other instructors considering similar fieldtrips of their own. Use of any information or images from this website is welcome, but should be acknowledged.

A virtual fieldtrip is provided elsewhere on this website, but a brief outline of the trip is provided here. The trips to and from the coast are largely spent driving on interstate highways, but they also include several interesting sites. As we begin our trip across northwestern Kansas and southwestern Nebraska, we are traveling across the High Plains, a relatively flat expanse of material eroded from the Rocky Mountains and deposited by water and wind over layers of sedimentary rocks (e.g., sandstones and limestones). Along their eastern boundary, the High Plains are sometimes referred to as the "dissected plains", because streams have cut relatively deep valleys through the the upper deposits.

After traveling west into Wyoming, we leave the High Plains and take a detour from Interstate Highway 80 onto Wyoming Highway 130 southwest of Laramie. This highway has been designated by the US Forest Service as the Snowy Range Scenic Byway, which passes through coniferous forests to treeline in one of the northernmost ranges of what are referred to as the Southern Rocky Mountains. We then return to I-80 and cross the Wyoming Basin to Evanston, Wyoming, near the Utah border. On our second day, we drive along the suburban eastern shore of the Great Salt Lake in Utah and follow the extensively irrigated Snake River Plain across southern Idaho. The arc of the Snake River Plain marks the path of a large volcanic caldera created as the continental plate moved to the west over a "hot spot"; the caldera is now in Yellowstone National Park. We also stop briefly in the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon to identify a few species of conifers that also are characteristic of the northern Rocky Mountains, and then we cross the Columbia River into Washington for our second overnight stop at Yakima.

WASHINGTON: Early on the third day, we arrive at Mount Rainier National Park, a volcanic peak within the Cascade Mountains. Mount Rainier (14,411 feet) has the most extensive system of glaciers in the 48 contiguous United States, and the park encompasses a variety of forest communities. We make several stops in the park to explore the forest communities, brilliant displays of wildflowers, glaciers, a waterfall, and a thermal area. On earlier trips, we spent 1-2 days in Olympic National Park. To shorten the trip and reduce the cost, we now explore features of coastal temperate rain forests at stops in Oregon and northern California.

OREGON: When we leave Washington, we recross the Columbia River and drive down the Pacific Coast National Scenic Byway (US Highway 101), where we come to our first campground with an ocean beach (Beverly Beach State Park), just north of Newport. The next morning in Newport, we get an introduction to marine ecosystems at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. The aquarium is a 2.5-acre complex of indoor tanks filled with plants, invertebrates, and fishes from various marine environments, plus outdoor exhibits, including an aviary, 3 walk-through deep-water tanks, and pools for sea otters, sea lions, and seals.

From Newport, we continue south on US Highway 101 toward Coos Bay and spend the afternoon exploring the extensive coastal dunes of the Oregon Coast Dunes National Recreation Area (administered by the US Forest Service) between Heceta Head and Cape Arago. In the dunes, we visit a bog of cobra lilies (carnivorous plants), stop at a dune overlook to view a dune restoration project, and hike through the dune ecosystems.

From the dunes, we continue to our second campsite with an ocean beach (Sunset Bay State Park). During our 2-night stay at Sunset Bay, we visit the rocky tidepools at Sunset Bay early in the mornings and in the evenings, seeing many of the organisms in a natural setting that we had seen at the aquarium in Newport. We also stop at the Simpson Reef viewpoint, where it is possible to observe as many as 4 species of seals and sea lions, as well as various seabirds.

During our stay at Sunset Bay, we spend part of a morning exploring the Coos Bay estuary, the largest estuary between San Francisco Bay and the Columbia River, with a visit to the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, the first to be established in the nation. The reserve includes nature trails through coastal forests along Hidden Creek and onto a boardwalk across the freshwater and saltwater wetlands of the slough. At this midpoint of the trip, we also do laundry and spend a relaxing afternoon at Shore Acres State Park, which includes English and Japanese gardens and rose beds landscaped on bluffs overlooking the ocean.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: Following our 2 nights near Coos Bay, we continue south along the coast (with incredibly scenic views of the ocean and coast) into northern California to visit Redwood National and State Parks. Redwood forests occur only in coastal northern California and a small part of southern Oregon. They are the southern end of the temperate rain forest that extends northward along the coast into Alaska. Our campground is home to some of the tallest trees in the world, and the nearby meadows are good places to observe elk in the morning or evening. We also take a short hike through the narrow Fern Canyon, with vertical rock walls covered with ferns.

From the coast, we travel inland across the southern Klamath Mountains and the Central Valley of California to visit forests of the Sierra Nevada. We spend a night near Arnold, California at Calaveras Big Tree State Park, which includes 2 groves of giant sequoias (also known as Sierra redwoods or "big trees"). We hike through one of the groves in the park. The following day, we make our way over the crest of the Sierra Nevada, beginning the trip back east, but not without making some more stops to explore the natural history of the West. A possible addition to the 2010 trip is a visit to Yosemite National Park, into the Yosemite Valley and across the crest to Tuolumne Meadows before heading north to Lake Tahoe.

THE ROAD HOME: Our last overnight stop on the trip is Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada, where we observe changes in the vegetation from the big sagebrush community on the desert floor to a grove of ancient bristlecone pines at treeline on Wheeler Peak (13,061 feet). The next day, we make the long drive back along I-70 through the Canyonlands of Utah and over the Colorado Plateau before crossing the Southern Rocky Mountains west of Denver and returning to the Great Plains.

The cost of the university van is paid through the Department of Biological Sciences. Entrance to parks and other sites with admission fees also is arranged by the instructor at no cost to students. We camp in developed national and state parks that cost between $12 and $30 per night -- not bad for beachfront property. Campgrounds at the state parks have hot showers, although you will need coins (quarters only) to operate the showers in California ($1 or so per shower). Tents, a campstove, cooking utensils, and ice chests are provided by the Department of Biological Sciences. Students must provide their own sleeping bag and other personal gear (a checklist is provided below). During the long drive to the coast, motel accommodations are made for the first 2 nights at Evanston, Wyoming and Yakima, Washington in the interest of safety and time. As we head back to the east across the Nevada desert, we will also stay in a motel in Fallon, Nevada. Students share the costs of campground fees and motels; food costs are the responsibility of individual students, although group meals are likely while camping. If you have special dietary requirements, please notify the instructor (contact information is at the top of this webpage). Students enroll in Topics in Biology: Pacific NW -- BIOL 607 (3 credit hours).

Estimated total costs per person for Kansas residents in 2010 are:

• Tuition and fees for 3 credit hours: $376.20 for undergraduate students and $521.85 for graduate students
• Motels/campgrounds (10 nights): ~$100
• Food (11 days): ~$130
• Recommended books: $30
• Souvenirs, etc.: ?

Although the outstanding scenery is an asset of this trip, students should keep in mind that the primary purpose of this excursion is education rather than vacation, and grades are assigned at the end of the course. On-site commentary is provided by the instructor and occasionally by local interpreters; however, the educational portion of this trip is not limited to only those periods when we are stopped at each of the sites. While riding in the van, students are involved in observing, discussing, or reading about the natural history of the areas that we visit. The following components of the course are used to determine grades:

Undergraduate Students	Graduate Students
class participation	class participation
written answers to study guide	written answers to study guide
post-trip written summary	post-trip written summary
	leading a trip activity

Cape Blanco Lighthouse, Southern Oregon
Photograph by Eric Hoch, July 2002

POSSIBLE ITINERARY -- 2010

DATE	DAY	ROUTE	OVERNIGHT	SITES
July 21	W	FHSU: Evening meeting
July 22	Th	Hays to Evanston, WY	Motel 6	Rocky Mountain Forests, Snowy Range, Wyoming (Medicine Bow National Forest)
July 23	F	to Yakima, WA	Motel 6	Blue Mountain Forests, Oregon (Umatilla National Forest)
July 24	Sa	to Longmire, WA	Cougar Rock Campground	Cascade Mountain Forests (Mount Rainier National Park)
July 25	Su	to Newport, OR	Beverly Beach State Park	Temperate Rain Forest/Oregon Coast (Pacific Coast Scenic Byway)
July 26	M	to Coos Bay, OR	Sunset Bay State Park	Oregon Coast Aquarium and Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area
July 27	Tu		Sunset Bay State Park	Tidepools, South Slough Estuary Reserve, and Shore Acres State Park Botanic Gardens
July 28	W	to Orick, CA	Elk Prairie Campground	Redwood Forest/Temperate Rain Forest (Prairie Creek State Park/Redwood National Park)
July 29	Th	to Arnold, CA	Oak Hollow Campground	Sierra Nevada Forests/Sequoia Grove (Calaveras Big Tree State Park)
July 30	F	to Fallon, NV	Super 8	Sierra Nevada Forests (Yosemite National Park* and Lake Tahoe)
July 31	Sa	to Baker, NV	Wheeler Peak Campground	Great Basin Forests/Bristlecone Pine (Great Basin National Park)
Aug 1	Su	to Hays		Utah Canyonlands, Rocky Mountains, and Home

* = New for 2010

Except for National Park campgrounds, showers will be available each day.

All campgrounds have flush toilets, except Great Basin National Park.

We will do laundry near Sunset Bay State Park midway through the trip.

STUDENT CHECKLIST

STUDENT GEAR

sleeping bag  sleeping pad pillow 1 backpack or similarly sized suitcase/dufflebag 1 daypack/fannypack with water bottle(s) clothing for 6 days (we will do laundry) sweatshirt or sweater; evenings and mornings will be cool light raincoat hat (for protection from sun and rain) comfortable walking shoes -- break in new shoes BEFORE the trip 1 extra pair of shoes or boots with good soles that you can get wet in the tidepools "shower sandals" toiletries/medicines bath towel sunglasses sunscreen insect repellent pen (Recommended: Uni-ball Vision Micro (waterproof ink) available at Wal-Mart) camera flashlight binoculars driver's license proof of health insurance credit card/cash (for food, plus souvenirs, books, etc. that you want to purchase) notebook (a laptop PC is welcome, but our campsites will not have electricity) class materials provided by instructor

ITEMS PROVIDED BY THE UNIVERSITY

van camp stove, cooking utensils, plates, etc. tents ice chest and drink coolers admission fee to aquarium

OTHER ITEMS

field guides -- This is a link to a list (pdf file) of field guides and other references provided by the instructor; you may bring field guides to organisms of specific interest.

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