Day 3: July 7, 2012

First day of work!! We hiked 2 hours out to Lake LeSage. It was a really hard hike for me because I'm not normally super active, but I made it! I was using the (air comfort) insoles from Scarpa, and they felt like they made my feet less sweaty, which was so much more comfortable. Hiking boots sure get hot!!

Poor Sarah had to carry our integrated tube sampler, and it stuck out of her pack about 4 feet over her head. She was an optimist about it though, insisting that the dew that it knocked off the trees was as refreshing as a shower. Charlotte had to carry the Y.S.I and Sonde probe/datalogger, and all together that stuff is incredibly heavy, but she didn't complain a bit! Our volunteers are such troopers. :)

Maybe more than four feet. It was like she had a really thin, hollow person standing on her backpack.

Look at how she had to walk with that thing in her backpack!! And you can see Charlotte behind her with the paddles. So much bulky gear, Aaaah!

After getting all organized, we headed out to start sampling! It took a long time because it was our first lake, and it was very different from our practice run back in Lansing. Sarah and Charlotte went out in their inflatable canoe with all of their gear, and Angela and I went out on foot in our wetsuits with ours! We packed all of our chemistry equipment and stuff that couldn't get wet in Angela's smaller zip-off Eagle Creek backpack, so that I could carry it on my back out of the water. I am constantly surprised by the amount of gear that can fit in these packs- it seems impossible to get in everything that you need, but somehow it always works out for us! It was a great research backpack- perfect for field work. We also had a baby-floaty thing that kept Angela's bag of sample plants submerged. It became affectionately (or not so affectionately) known as "baby," and tried to "run away" from us any time that it was left unattended.

This was our pack of stuff to bring around the lake on foot!

Ready to go!!!

Sarah and Charlotte ventured out on the inflatable canoe!

Sarah and Charlotte were in charge of integrated tube sampling, secchi depth (checking for clarity), moose grazing beds, inflow and outflow characterization, lake pH/conductivity/dissolved oxygen/temperature, and some tissue sampling! Angela and I work on macrophyte presence/absence, plant transects, alkalinity, water color, sediment porewater extraction, and tissue sampling. When we go out, we separate each lake into four quadrants to sample from. We get one water column sample from each quadrant, one sediment porewater sample, and perform alkalinity/water color tests at a point in each quadrant. I'll probably spread out details about each of these procedures across the rest of my posts, so that this one isn't too long!

Angela identifying some plants that she found snorkeling!

Yup.

Spotted a luna moth hiding underneath a bush! So pretty! :)

Sarah and Charlotte had to help us transport our gear in their boat for the last two transects- it took us such a long time to finish sampling this lake!

When Sarah and Charlotte helped us carry our things around the lake toward the end, I did some chemistry on the boat!

Thanks, Eagle Creek, for helping us to carry everything efficiently and comfortably!!

This was the beautiful view going into LeSage. There were about 200 baby frogs hopping around right by the opening of the portage! I love frogs.

"Under the boardwalk." -Sarah

Left around 8 or 9 pm and got back after dark. So it was a very full day! We did wrap up work- labeling and filling in longitudes/latitudes in our data sheets for the day before bed. Got to see the stars, and they're beautiful up there. No light pollution, so it looks just like a planetarium's display of the stars. :)