Journals

I’m back in the land of cell phone towers and speedy internet connections. I wrote this post last Friday in Jawbone, but was unable to upload it thanks to the weather and subsequent finicky web connection: Tweet

Sunday night, my eighth here in Jawbone this trip, I doubled what had previously been my longest stay. I still can’t decide if the silence is golden or deafening, it’s probably a bit of both, but there’s an incredible sense of tranquility here that I will have a hard time [...]

  I went to bed last night thinking about water. On Monday, Brian and I walked the flume line up to the intake to see what adjustments were needed to optimize power Tweet

This is a very special time for all of us who live here. The Opal Creek Wilderness is turned into a winter wonderland. The ancient, layered canopy makes for spotty snow on the ground; three feet here none there. Branches heavy with snow look close to breaking, but these trees [...]

So far, December has been delightful in Jawbone Flats.  And very cold!  For about 16 days, the temperature only reached 35 degrees! Hoarfrost covered everything that never saw the sun and it accumulated for about two weeks!   Tweet

Summer brings about a time of transition in programming around the Opal Creek Ancient Forest Center. With students out of school for the summer, we no longer have whole classes participating in programs. Our time at Jawbone Flats is now filled with an increasing number of cabin rentals, adult and [...]

The other science instructors and I arrived for the 2011 Opal Creek Ancient Forest Center season in early April. Snow still lay on the ground and there was a chill in the air. I woke up nearly every morning, shivering because my fire did not make it through the night. [...]