Soleil Center Fieldtrip to the Elwha River

Below the Soleil students collaborated to create a post about our fieldtrip to the Elwha Center.  The text is completely student written and edited. Let us know what you think in the comments below.

We went to the river because the dams were taken out and we went to the mouth of the Elwha river to study the ecosystem.  When we got to the river we had lots of fun studying the life of the river.  We also went the the beach and explored the amazing landscapes.  It would be safe to say that going to the Elwha river was a great experience and you can learn more about all of the fun things we did by reading the rest of the Elwha slides.

Students are having fun while on the ferry, the wind making them wild. It took us 20 minutes to get across the water. After a short ferry ride we rode the bus. The bus ride was about 40 minutes until we hit our first stop; the bathroom/lunch stop.

Soleil is taking a break and eating lunch at the Elwha Ranger Station. We are happy to finally be off the bus.

The students and chaperones are heading to the Elwha river through dry lake Aldwell. If we

were here when the dam was up we would be swimming. We are going to study salmon wildlife.

Once we arrived, we measured rocks to check the amount of sediment in different parts of lake Aldwell. We used a plastic template to measure the size of the rocks. We put the rocks in the template to see if it would go through a certain sized hole. As we walked down the lake the rocks got smaller.

We are measuring rocks sizes where parts of the Elwha river use to be. We used measuring rocks with  tools were you would push the rock through a hole.  Each hole was marked with a measurement.

We saw lots of dead king salmon. The color of the salmon was white, black and gray  (because  it was moldy ,and smelled very very disgusting. Now it is free flowing because there’s no dam.  There were also a lot of logs and mud.

This is a picture of the rocks surrounding Elwha river. Most of these rocks have been moved by the river flow. These rocks have been underwater for a century and once the Elwha was removed these rocks were found at the water line.

This is a picture of the old Elwha dam, and if you can see this is a very big change in water height. The reason Soleil know this is because of the tree line has jagged rocks and the water is a lot lower than the tree line. Do you see that big empty spot near the water that it is where the dam used to be.

This sign shows the importance of the mouth of the Elwha River, and how fragile of an ecosystem it is. :)

We went along the mouth of the river, which looks like a beautiful beach. Here is a picture of us exploring around. Some kids found some fish bones, and others some pretty logs and we also saw some awesome, big, foamy waves. It was all very beautiful. When we first got there we saw tons of seagulls on the shore. they were hungry, and some were feasting on dead carcasses of fish. Ew! But we all had a fun time, all together playing in the warm sun on the beach.

After we got on the bus we started the 5 mile trip to the mouth of the river. Once we had arrived we got off the bus and we walked for little until we got to the beach where the mouth of the Elwha was. There were a dead fish, a fish skeleton and a beautiful view. It was a wonderful experience.

Soleil students are looking at the strait of Juan de fuca. Some of the students are by the water, dodging the waves. And some are searching and finding salmon skeletons on the beach! Some students also were skipping rocks on the waves and on the water. The water was so bright and blue, it sparkled! Our trip to the Elwha river was very fun and fascinating. We had a great time!

In conclusion,the Elwha is a beautiful sight. It is inspiring to see the Elwha free flowing again.