2013 Field Trips
CPCOA Field Trips are a wonderful way to meet your fellow cabin owners while learning more about the Chinook Pass area. Listed below are reports from the 2013 field trips.
If you have any questions please contact Carl Buchholz at buchcs@aol.com
Saturday, August 10: Bumping Lake History Walk
LEADER: Suzy Cyr
Suzy Cyr lead the second of her field trips on the historical aspects related to the
construction of the Bumping Dam. She put a lot of effort into this field trip, even
constructing small wooden bridges to make it easier for cabin owners to cross a stream
and wet area where the old road had decayed on the way to the sanctuary.
Twenty some people went on this field trip and learned much more about the area. The
more we learn about our surrounding the greater are our cabin experiences.
October 12, 2013: Fall Mushrooms!
LEADER: Yakima Valley Mushroom Society (YVMS) members
The fall mushroom field trip on October 12 was highly successful with 28 people participating. People came with mushrooms that they had collected already, which was a good indication of how extensive the mushrooms were this fall. The Yakima Valley Mushroom Society lead this field trip.
We made stops at Mesatchee trail
head, Pleasant Valley trail head, and Hell's Crossing parking area. At each stop
we would each go exploring for mushrooms and bring them back so everybody could
see them. Then the leaders would identify them and share their knowledge about
them. Some of the ones we found are highly prized for their excellent taste
like chanterelles, hedgehogs, bears head, and matsutake with a few
that were poisonous
like fly amanita.
Not only did the cabin owners have a good experience at this field trip, but Jim
Christensen (one of the YVMS leaders) said it was very rewarding for him because
there was so much interest about mushrooms from the cabin owners.
The YVMS has a web site (www.yvms.org) that lists many good mushroom
resources that you should check out.
Saturday, July 27: Geology by Paul Hammond
LEADER: Dr. Paul Hammond
Trip Report:
On July 27 Dr. Paul Hammond with the help of his research assistant Sheila Alfser lead a
geology field trip following the USFS 1500 road starting from the Woodshed. There was a total
of 23 people on this field trip. Two geologist from local community colleges, one geologist
from the WA Department of Ecology, one USFS person, and the rest were cabin owners and their friends.
The field trip started at 12:00 PM and finished at 5:00 PM. We learned a lot about the geological
history of the area with the sedimentary rock in the Ellensburg formation deposited by several lahar's,
Columbia Basin Basalt lava flows, valcanos, and a very large caldera in the Mt Axi area.
Again it was a privilege to be on one of Paul's field trips with all his knowledge and enthusiasm for the
geology of the area. We look forward to another field trip with Paul next year.
Note: click on the above map to get a full size copy
of the map that was used during the field trip