I got to go with Wyatt's class
We got to ride in a motor coach since school busses wouldn't be done with their routes early enough for us to leave.
It's a highly protected area
The Bull Run water shed is approximately 100 square miles of forest land that is protected from anything that could possibly contaminate this, the source of Portland's drinking water.
When we arrived at our destination there was standing in line for the restrooms and then we had lunch on the open air porch.
It is such a beautiful area up there. We had a mixed bag of weather but one thing was a constant. It was cold out on that dam.
Three student/ parent groups and three outdoor classrooms
Our first lesson: the forest
We walked through the forest to a small gazebo building and sat around while our tour guide, Lisa, talked about the 4 "C"s of water from the water shed. Clean, continuous, and cost effective are three of them but I guess I didn't listen closely enough to catch the 4th.
Lesson two: testing the quality of the water
We were shown how they are able to sample water from different depths within the reservoir.
Today, they were testing for turbidity or measuring the amount of sediment in the water. An NTU number of 5 is the maximum for the ultimate quality drinking water sent to Portland.
Lesson three: the dam itself
The third and final part of the field trip was a hike down to the bottom of the dam. One hundred and ninety-four feet! I'm not fond of heights. All I could do on the way down was keep looking at my feet. Once at the bottom my legs felt like rubber bands.
We walked through the inside of the dam and came out at the other side of the river. It was very cool inside those tunnels. The minerals leaching through the walls were interesting. I enjoyed it a lot and tried not to think too much about having to climb back up to the top of the dam to be able to go home.
I didn't take any photos on the way up the stairs. I was too busy breathing and putting one foot in front of the other. I can tell you this, I would NEVER have been able to do this 50 lbs ago!
Back at the bus and ready to roll
Wyatt and one of his best buds. They are in the words of his teacher "like a couple of puppies". They bring out the mischief in each other. Silly and fun boys.
Wyatt and I had the seat directly behind the driver so we could see ourselves in his mirror. It was great being able to see out the windshield too.
We made it back before dismissal
We made it back to the school with about 10 minutes to spare.
Thank you, Driver Vern for a great tour!
1 comment:
That's so awesome! I'm glad you got to go with them, it's super fantastic how far you've come. Sure, you'll be sore, but I probably would too after all that walking and climbing :P
I definitely want to go there someday. I'll have to find a field trip to crash.
Post a Comment