On July 29th through August 2, 2002 we began our journey. We loaded up our 60+ lb. backpacks and headed up the trail. None of us really knew what we were getting ourselves into, or what we should expect. My family had drilled it into my head that the Olympic National Park was a cold and wet place, so I packed up a lot of warm clothes and rain gear. It added a bunch of extra weight to my pack and for the five days I stayed there it was sunny and warm everyday. I advise that everyone who might be planning on visiting the park check the weather for the time that they are going to be there, so they don't have the same problem that I did.

As the trip progressed we started to do studies of square plots of land. We did things like count diversity of plant and animal species and write paragraphs about how this foot of earth differed from the other studies we did in other parts of the forest. Another study we did was a 200 foot transect study. For this study we took a 200 foot rope and counted diversity and width of trees and the divirsity of shrubs that are at least knee height and we went out five feet on each side of the rope.

This was the first time I had ever been hiking and I had a great time and plan on doing it more in the future.

Amy || Cameron || Chris || John || Mike || Victoria
Mrs. Hanson || Mrs. Thorleifson || Ranger Eschenbach || Tech Camp