This trip was the final visit to my site for this semester. It was snowing heavily, and it was the first time that I saw the area blanketed in white. I made sure to keep an eye out for tracks which would be visible. I was lucky to be the first one to visit my site since the flakes started falling. Well, I guess I wasn’t the first one. I walked down to the frozen stream through pristine snow in 20-degree weather. There were several delicate tracks of some birds that I was unable to identify. I stood there tracing their meandering paths backward to the moment that they landed. As my eyes wandered across the ground, I heard a soft bird call in the distance. Was it the same bird? I can’t wait till I learn some ornithology and can come back and get a better handle on what is going on here. The stream was frozen in some places and slowly moving along in others. Part of the waterfall had frozen with beautiful icicles. The field had turned into a blanket of snow with a lone snag in the center. All the leaves that do fall have fallen. Everything was peaceful. With fewer birds and a slower stream, everything was quieter too. The snow has a muffling effect on the landscape. The now forced everything to slow down. As I stood, I could hear the sound of the big fat flakes hitting the ground. I could only find the path to my sight from memory, and the tracks of trail runners who beat me to centennial that day. My site, however, remained pristine, waiting for me.

I looked out at the stand and saw a piece of yellow marking tape wrapped around it. It is incredible to me that this place gets so much use and yet remains so beautiful. The only evidence of humans are the trails, the scientific marking tape, and the occasional piece of trash. Thousands of people use this piece of land, and yet because of the respect we have for it, it remains beautiful for the next person. There is evidence of human use in the past. There is an old foundation a little bit away from my site which means there used to be a significant building a little bit away from my location. I think the open area at my place is a natural field and not the cause of human influences. There are a significant amount of fallen old growth trees at my location and the forested parts of my site have a good mix of old and young growth trees. If there were significant human influences in the past, everything looks very healthy now.

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