Water Chem.

Today we went to the upper creek which is the place above the dam. It was a very muddy spot and there was nowhere to sit! We needed to water test the water, so we got two bottles of water. Then we did a couple of tests that helped show the creek's healthiness. We also figured out that the water on the above creek is less healthy than the one below the dam. It was very fun and we learned a lot about the water quality.After we collected macroinvertabartes. Like yesterday we took a net and streamed them through the water. We caught many diverse creatures. They were mostly small, but we also caught many crayfish. This was one of the most fun parts of the day.

Water Chemistry

At 9:30 am we all hopped into the Creek Connections van and drove to Woodcock Creek, downstream from the dam to collect water samples for our research project.  The creek was chilly but refreshing at 21° C (or 69.8°F), but with the blazing sunshine, it was perfect!  After looking at the results from testing the creek for PH, total dissolved solids, dissolved oxygen, nitrates, phosphorus, alkalinity and turbidity, we found that Woodcock Creek is very healthy.

That DAM Trip!

Today, we took a trip up to Woodcock Lake, up above where our Water Chem and Macro station was. There, we got a tour around the dam management tower, which controls the dam's 4 water gates, which in turn control the flow downstream. This nice Army Corpsman Ranger guided us through, intent on force-feeding us the 4 Rules of Dam Uses: Flood Regulation! Navigation! Low-flow Augmentation! And above allll... Recreation! (Not really, Recreation's supposedly the lowest priority, but we all know the truth!) And then, we learned that the normal drowning victim drowns on a Saturday afternoon, drunk, with absolutely no swimming skills. And we will always remember, IT'S SO FLUFFEYYY.

The Stream Table.

After lunch we headed to the stream table. The stream table is a large abiotic looking ecosystem. With a water pump it pumped water from a faucet into a pool shaped bin half filled with sand. Before the water started to run we shaped an inch wide path along the sand and made a cut off cliff. We turned the water on, and it followed the path to the cliff and ran off. This taught us how in nature the water will erode the land, take its own separate paths to the run off, and can intertwine with the other paths to make a larger river. We used this knowledge afterward when we visited the dam.

Messy with Macros

The first activity we did today, after all the water chemistry, was collecting macros. These are small little bugs and insects that hide under rocks. We had these two nets that were attached to poles on either ends that we used to collect the tiny macros. After kicking stuff into the nets we went back up shore to pick out all the mayflies and other macros. They were so tiny that afterwards I had to wait a bit so my eyes could adjust back to normal. We found dozens of those little things that we could not get t
hem all. From larvae to nymphs to mussels to worms we found so many species. We even found three crayfish and they were so cute!

My favorite things so far since my mom dropped me off was the Geocaching which was like a geographical scavenger hunt and the Geology Stream Table. The Geology Stream Table was so fun! It was almost like a gigantic sand box with water. We made the Pittsburgh point by making a few lines that intersected and let the water do the rest. Then we sort of failed at making Niagara Falls. Overall we got messy in the sand and water almost like we were at the beach which I thought was the highlight of the afternoon. Laura M.

Icebreakerz

As soon as we arrived, we got right down to business. Hold on, though- this wasn't serious, busy business. This was fun business, involving balls and Apples to Apples. The first game, icebreaker, mind you, involved a giant, round beach ball. On this particular ball were a number of questions. Gooey, mushy stuff, like "What do you want to do when you're older?" or "Do you have a pet?". Don't worry, we campers eat that stuff right up. It was a good starter, but the real fun began after dinner. That real fun involved a game of Apples to Apples. For those of you unfamiliar with this little gem, let's just say you have a word, and from your choices, you have to decide what would fit that word. The real fun part is, it doesn't have to be literal. Say, for instance, you have the word "Fancy". The answers could range from "Chandelier" to "Nicholas Cage". There are no limits. Afterwards, we were all exhausted, but still, we were stubborn, so we played some cards. It was a great end to the start of a great week.

Geochaching/walking all over campus

Yesterday after dinner we went geocaching. We all came back to the international house and got GPS' so that we could plug in coordinates and go to the compass that gave us the general direction the next set of coordinates was. The teams were divided up between boys and girls, but some of the counselers or guides switched around to make the teams even. I was on the boys team and we had to go all around campus following the GPS. I think that it wasnt quite fair though because it seemed to me that the order of the coordinates for the boys made us have to keep going far across the college campus. On the bright side we did get to see a lot of it. The last coordinates led us to a bush where bags of stuff for the campers was hidden. The bags contained a light that you could strap around your head, a shirt for the camp, and a towel. The girls were waiting nearby eating popsicles, which we got to eat once we found our bags. We stayed outside for a little bit just hanging out  and eating popsicles until we went back inside

Are you guys ready!?

Howdy soon to be Creekers! First we want to say: HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SUMMER! What better way to kick off summer than to get ready for an awesome week of Creek Camp! That's what we are up to! We have been fine tuning all the little details in order to make sure that you guys are going have a great week! We have been working hard, but we also have been having some fun too! Below is a picture of us (Wendy, Kelcy, Brogan, and Will) from yesterday when we were planning the canoeing trip you guys will be taking this week! We are super excited for you guys to get here, and we hope it comes fast because the weather has been BEAUTIFUL (and that's rare for Meadville). So get here quick!

Just as a reminder, make sure to take a look at the list of things you may need for the week! See you in a few days!

Creek Camp 2013

I bet you all wonder why i have gathered you here, 

This is the future Creek Camp Counselors writing to you. We are sitting in the lovely, and cold building of Carr Hall at Allegheny College planning and anticipating your arrival, as well as all of the activities you will be participating in. The activities will exhaust you, as they will us, but the amount of fun as well as what we learn will be well worth the exhaustion. Get ready for your six days of excitement, adventure, and exploration with us future counselors. We hope you are excited as we are!

Hellbender Hunting

We looked for hellbenders in the creek. We split up into two groups and flipped over big rocks on the bottom and searched underneath them. It took us a little while and a whole location later before a little one.was found. We took turns holding it and then let it go.

Canoe Trip!!

It was a great day in canoe trip. We did two stops. In the first stop we collected fresh water mussels and in the second stop we did a water fight. We had to row a lot. We saw some amazing the nature around the French Creek. At the end we were all tired and we had an awesome lunch.

Mussels

On Thursday we went on a canoe trip and about halfway down French Creek we stopped to look for freshwater mussels. It was hard to find them and even harder to find ones that were alive. If you found a live one you had to make sure you put back with the dirty side facing up so they weren't upside down. It was a lot of fun!!

Geo-Catching

Laura showed us how the geocatching works on the computer, then we left our apartment in search of two boxes that were hidden in the campus of Allegheny College. We divided into two groups so we could start the hunting.
 The first box was hidden near the bridge of the crevice, and was very small and difficult to find because it was camouflage with some logs.
The other box was on a trail in some woods, it was protected by an army of bugs and mosquitoes, so it was difficult to get it.

Meeting Herps

Yesterday, after we took our canoe trip, we came back to the North Village to learn about Herps. Herps are amphibians and reptiles like frogs, salamanders, lizards, and snakes. There are a ton of different types, and April brought a bunch to show us, including a super enthusiastic milk snake, and a puppy that ran away from a turtle. We learned a lot about Herps, and we got to know a lot of cool things about field characteristics to identify them.

Trip to Bousson

Tonight we went to Bousson, a research facility that deals in herpetology. We looked under logs and under branches and rocks and found a couple different kinds of salamanders and frogs. We found a northern red salamander, mountain dusky salamander, northern dusky salamander, spotted salamander, green frog, and pickerel frog. We looked until it was dark and it was a lot of fun!    

1 foot and ice cream

This afternoon we ate at Eddie's and Casey's. We had a great time, we started with a foot long hot dog, which was delicious, we could choose from different toppings for our hot dog, the fries also tasted great. At Casey's we ate ice cream that was home made, it was a bit artificial but it was good. So many flavors to choose from but no one was brave enough to pick bacon ice cream, that was a bit gross. It was very hot and we had to sit on the hot benches. We had a great time it was a lot of fun! 

Spillway

At Pymatuning, we immediately saw many common waterbirds such as geese, ducks, and gulls. There was a ton of carp as well there. The carp would all fight in the same place to try to get bread which was thrown by people at the side, the birds would also try to get bread. We fed them, and then a guy who was with us explained why this was a bad thing for the ecosystem, and how they couldn't stop people from feeding the fishes because that attracted tourism and the town wanted tourism.

Pitt Labs @ Pymatuning

This morning we went to the University of Pittsburgh laboratory located at Pymatuning.  There were a ton of kiddie pools and cattle feeders in which the scientists would fill with water and use to grow whatever they need for their experiments, typically tadpoles or plants.  Then there was a small building that actually held the lab equipment.  Most of the researchers were working on a joint project with scientists in Oregon involving a disease that is killing frogs in Oregon.  The egg masses were shipped from Oregon and have been grown in the pools.  Now the researchers are working with the metamorphlings and pesticides in order to find out if the use of pesticides is weakening the frog's immune system.  Later on we were allowed to feed some tadpoles to a drangonfly nymph.

Mining in North Village

This afternoon Wil Taylor came to the campus and taught us all about mining at the turn of the century, life in the mines, and abandoned mine drainage. We played a live board game where we chose cards to determine our fate. Some made it out of the mines but others, sadly, didn't. It was also really cool to see how mine drainage compares to other types of water. I liked learning about the different effects of mines.

Bat Counting!

Last night we went and saw spooky bats! We learned that they are actually not vampires around here and are not related to rats! Once he told us a little bit about the bats he showed us the clear boxes and there were 7 cubs(baby bats) in the box. Then we went and sat down and counted the bats as they came out and we counted 270 bats in only a few boxes! Even though they were kind of scary i enjoyed the experience!