Lassen National Park Winter Ecology

Two schools come together to create a memorable trip for 50 middle and high school students. Ishi Middle School and Oroville High Science Ambassadors explored the winter wounder land of Lassen Nation Park.

 During this trip students where led on a snowshoe hike through the old growth red fir forest. Throughout the hike the Lassen National Park Rangers taught the group about winter survival and the rule of 3's. The rangers also guided us thought the science of winter ecology and the purpose of the national park.

The second part of the day was spent learning about creating snow shelters. This activity was a team building project between two fellow students or a teacher working with a student.

The final activity Oroville High School English Teacher Mr. Brown led us through a journal write. During this write students where asked to lay down in nature and observe the surrounding without any noise then write about their experience.

The following are students journal write and pictures from our trip.

When I first knew I was coming up here I was so excited. It was nothing like expected. The nature was very beautiful. I had a really good day; it made me happy I came here. I’m glad I joined the Science Ambassadors. I am very tired though. I couldn't sleep because I was so excited. 
Brooke Melton

Today I observed all the pretty trees. The beautiful mountains and those blue clear sky. I loved the snow. That was amazing. It was fun building a snow cave with my best friend. The funniest moment was when I peel. That was hilarious. But snowshoeing just isn't my thing-but overall best experience there. Loved seeing the outdoor nature. It was an amazing feeling. Laura Guadalupe Leon- Navarro

 Today was a very nice day. It was not to cold or hot. The sky was very clear and baby blue. The snow was very bright and white. Monica and I started out building a snow cave. Our cave was up to my shoulders deep and went in the side of the hill. The Park Ranger, Steve, said our cave was very good. Then we went on a snowshoe walk and when we started Monica and Lora, and Amber fell down. Then I and Nathan (Mrs.Weliver son) were rolling snow balls down the hill. And forward the end of the walk, I threw a snow ball at Amber. She screamed very loud. James Wick

 There were many trees. Of all different varieties, Red Fir, White Fir, Douglas Fir…too, many to list. We are sitting on snow feet upon feet of snow. Old snow..New snow. 7 feet of snow, most of it is hard as it hasn't snowed for a while, the Park Ranger says. We experienced a lot of things-we saw some snow Hare tracks: long and narrow, we also dug underground to build a shelter out of snow. It was hard snow on top a result of the snow falling and setting.

Today on our Lassen trip I noticed my things like red wood trees and also a lot of snow covering everything, during the snow shoeing we saw a cave on the side of the smaller mountains we also learned about the different animals that live out in the wilderness like the snowshoe hare and the chickadee. I really enjoyed the tripped it was a great experience. Aseyana Shumiai

 Today was awesome.  We started our day in the party buban riding up having fun when we finally arrived and had a meeting and a little intro into Lassen in tue audition. Our group then went on a snow shoe hike and got to observe that our snow surrounding. We learned some of these trees are three hundred years old and that the lichen you see everywhere is only here because of the pure quality of the air here is pure. Annialator

The snow is seven feet high!!!Because of the cold weather, not many animals were out. The only animal I saw was two ravens, black as night. There were little prints here and there from other animals. Many of the trees had little ditches where the snow had melted away from the heat of the trees. The snow shoes were so heavy. When I took them off my feet like feathers and like I was walking on air. Weird, when we built our snow cave I got soaked. My arms were so wet the after I got warm when we went inside they stung like needles. Though all over the trip has been very fun. I got to hang out with friends have tons of fun and not go to school. In a while we are planning on having a snowball fight. David, Shelly, Mary, Alex, and myself with the others are gonna pelt the teachers and James hahaha. They are dooooomed. By:Jessica Holland

At Lassen I saw a really blue sky, I saw only one bird. The temperature was kind of warm today but the snow was freezing cold. The trees are huge and tall but beautiful. If you sit down for five minutes and just listen, you don't hear anything it's silent. Amber and I were walking to build our snow cave thing and then out of nowhere amber fell and dragged me down with her.

                                                By: Susana Medrano