The Hydrophiles Winter 2003 field trip
March 8th, 2003
Mt. Hood, Oregon

 
       Our trip to Mt. Hood started with a downpour. Josh masterfully guided our van through the wind and rain, as we made our way to Government Camp. Unfortunately, he slowed down a little too much on the road through Government Camp, and we got our first experience of chaining up a 12-passenger van.


After a slight delay, we did manage to meet up with the PSU student group (I guess a big white van stuck in the snow is pretty easy to spot?), and our guides for the trip, John Lea, and Melissa Clark.
  

So after more excitement adjusting the chains, we made it up to our launching point along the side of the road. Then, the snowshoeing began. . .


After a long (seeming) quarter-mile walk, we made it to the snow sampling station,

with all of it's exciting wires and doodads.


We had all warmed up quite a bit from snowshoeing in, so we took a rest outside the station while John and Melissa told us how the station worked, how the snow survey was started, and what it's responsibilities are now. The survey has been around for over a century, and they use the snowpack data to continuously update forecasts for everything from flood prediction to drought warnings.
     

Now that we had cooled down, and knew why this was important, it was time to get active again, and find out what these bags we had been carrying were going to be used for. Although the vast majority of snow data is collected remotely from automated stations,

the snow survey makes manual measurements at all of their sites once a month as an independent check on the remotely collected data. This was our chance to measure the snowpack!

A hollow metal tube of specified diameter is weighed, and then dropped straight down into the snow. This is harder than it sounds. Ask Josh.

The depth is recorded from markings on the tube, and then tube is pulled up, full of snow, and weighed again.

The water eqivalent of the snow can then be calculated from the volume and mass of the sample.
On our way back to the van, we got a first-hand experience of canopy storage, when it came crashing down almost on top of us. Remember, inputs-outputs = change in storage.

After walking back to the vans and packing up the gear, we headed to the Mt. Hood brewery for some warm food and good conversation (and some beer for those not driving).

We had a good time, and learned more about the snow survey than most of us knew before. John and Melissa were very gracious with their time, and gave us a wonderful tour. Thanks!