Good Times in Vermont

Swamp Road Color

2011-10-12T15:12:00.001-07:00

IMG_4499.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

color on Swamp Road (or somewhere near it).

For more Vermont fall pictures see http://www.flickr.com/photos/inyo395/sets/72157627878340260/with/6238165502/

Golden leaves on sugar maple

2011-10-12T15:11:00.001-07:00

IMG_4521.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Red Maple

2011-10-12T15:10:00.003-07:00

IMG_4532.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Mid River Fall Color

2011-10-12T15:10:00.001-07:00

IMG_4550.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Fall color along the post-Irene Middlebury River

Angry Skies

2011-09-29T12:47:00.001-07:00

IMG_4324.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

on a walk checking out East Middlebury's drainage.

More Color, Beaver Meadow

2011-09-29T12:22:00.003-07:00

IMG_4234.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Color

2011-09-29T12:22:00.001-07:00

IMG_4224.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Mt Abe?

2011-09-29T12:21:00.001-07:00

IMG_4223.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Cliffs near Bristol

2011-09-29T12:18:00.003-07:00

IMG_4220.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

After Sunset, Middlebury River

2011-09-29T12:18:00.001-07:00

IMG_4207.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

That leaning sycamore survived the Irene flood and didn't move a bit, despite larger trees being tossed and snapped like toothpicks

Mt Ellen

2011-09-29T12:17:00.001-07:00

IMG_4205.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

A Bunch of Art

2011-09-19T06:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a collection of a bunch of art I've made over the years (mostly the last 2 years). Most are sketches, a few of which I've colored using computer programs. There are a few paintings too.

Most of these have been posted on one of my blogs before, but this post here so I can have a bunch of my favorites are in the same place. Some are photographed with my phone because I don't have a scanner right now, so please excuse the poor photo quality. Click on the pictures to see a larger version and click here to see all of the stuff I have online.

They are mostly posted in reverse chronological order. I think the new ones are much better than the old ones, which is a good sign that I'm getting better at this.

(click below)

Summer 2011, Vermont

Sketches from the river, before Irene threw things around and then the city came and threw more things around.

A house in Connecticut.

A little house. I've been drawing lots of structures lately, last year I mostly drew plants.

A building at Jack's Mill... an old mill near our home that a friend owns. He's lived in this town for 72 years and I believe his grandparents also ran this mill.

Watershed art... I've made a bunch of these.

Hemlocks in Centennial Woods

Winter 2011, Various Locations

Panther Hollow Lake, at Schenley Park in Pittsburgh. This is where my graduate project took place, and this picture (colored using GIMP) was on the cover of the outreach plan I made.

(the last two were from photos, drawn in a cold cabin in Canada in midwinter).

Looking outside while in a talk at UVM, while snow came down just after sunset.

more watershed art.

Sterling Pond (drawn from a photo I took... since it doesn't look like this in winter).

Attempt at a cormorant. I'm not too good at drawing animals, but could probably get better with more effort (this is one of the better ones, I'm not posting the bad ones).

Summer 2010 (Pittsburgh)

(all of the colored ones here were colored on the computer).

Wilty Squash

Exposed roots, erosion area.

More watershed art, playing with photoshop/gimp filters.

Sad pallid touch-me-not.

Rest stop, somewhere in New York State.

Geology, Fall 2010, Vermont
Sketches from a field geology class. Colored on computer.

"Event Map" of geology in Burlington, Vermont area.

Slate quarry edge

Metamorphic boulder in Smuggler's Notch

Montpelier Roadcut.

2009-2010 Plant Sketches
These are mostly from a botany class. They are quick sketches done in a few minutes in the field... I have dozens of these. I've actually gone back and re-shaded/improved some of these, but these are from before I did that.

Old Paintings

From about 3-4 years ago. I haven't done much painting lately.

(must have been upset about something)

Really Old MS Paint Art

I used to like to draw on MS Paint... some of these are quite old.

Created for a friend in 2004.

Wow, I've gotten a lot better at drawing buildings since this time.

From a christmas card I made..

Mixtape cover... so emo!

Fall Sky

2011-09-09T08:34:00.001-07:00

Fall Sky, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

for those who don't follow my other blog...

Irene was nasty, but I came out of it unscathed and lucky. Everyone I am close to is safe and did not lose property. Now, summer is winding down into fall and the texture of the air has changed. It won't be long now until the snow flies...

Jack's Mill

2011-07-23T10:55:00.001-07:00

, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Big Tilia

2011-05-31T14:46:00.005-07:00

IMG_2554.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Biggest Basswood tree I've seen, from the Orford, NH area.

Red Maple Fungus

2011-05-31T14:46:00.003-07:00

IMG_2571.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

what is it?

Big Trees

2011-05-31T14:46:00.001-07:00

IMG_2562.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Near Hannover, NH

New House

2011-04-12T12:43:00.001-07:00

NewHouse, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

The living room of our new home in the Middlebury, Vermont area.

Vermont

2011-02-28T08:05:00.003-08:00

IMG_1579, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Ball Pit

2011-02-28T08:05:00.001-08:00

IMG_1592, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Life, and stuff.

2010-12-16T12:41:00.001-08:00

Snowy Vermont Sunset, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Hi friends and family,

I am sorry that I haven't been updating this blog lately. The semester has been really hectic and I just haven't had time to do both this one and the slowwatermovement blog. I hope you have had time to check on that one because I HAVE been posting there.

This is the time of year to think about how beautiful, amazing, ridiculous, and ephemeral life is. Go give someone a hug and then go roll in some snow. If you don't have any snow.. well, you can figure something out.

This blog will reappear at some point.

Geology Art

2010-10-13T12:09:00.001-07:00

smuggsbigboulder, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

This is a picture I sketched in the field for a geology class, then colored using the photoshop-like program 'GIMP'. If you like it, go look at the other ones at http://www.flickr.com/photos/inyo395/sets/72157625067597632/ .

Mt Abe, Vermont

2010-10-06T12:45:00.001-07:00

_IMG_0382, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Highline Park and Neat Buildings, Manhattan

2010-10-03T18:27:00.001-07:00

_IMG_0272, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

From a trip to NYC last weekend. More photos soon.

fall leaves

2010-09-22T18:34:00.003-07:00

fall leaves, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

too pretty

2010-09-22T18:34:00.001-07:00

too pretty, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

UVM Sunburst

2010-09-22T18:33:00.003-07:00

UVM Sunburst, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Blue Mushroom

2010-09-22T18:33:00.001-07:00

IMG_0111.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Sky from Jeffords

2010-09-15T18:57:00.001-07:00

Sky from Jeffords, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

the sky has been amazing lately.

Rainbow!

2010-09-15T18:56:00.003-07:00

Rainbow!, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

sun shower!

the sky has been amazing lately.

Looking northwest from UVM (different day)

2010-09-15T18:56:00.001-07:00

Looking northwest from UVM (different day), originally uploaded by inyopfc.

the sky has been amazing lately.

This storm also shot one bolt of cloud to ground (cloud to lake?) lightning around the time I took this photo.

Looking southeast from UVM

2010-09-15T18:55:00.001-07:00

Looking southeast from UVM, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

the sky has been amazing lately.

Fall is coming!

2010-09-13T05:40:00.003-07:00

Fall is coming!, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Neat sky in middlebury

2010-09-13T05:40:00.001-07:00

Neat sky in middlebury, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Niquette Bay Beach

2010-09-13T05:39:00.001-07:00

Niquette Bay Beach, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Burlington Sunset

2010-09-06T18:44:00.001-07:00

Burlington Sunset, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Vermont Moon

2010-09-06T18:40:00.001-07:00

Vermont Moon, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Home

2010-08-18T20:17:00.001-07:00

So, I'm finally back home in Vermont.

It's been a great couple of days so far.

Roadcut in Pennsylvania on the drive home.

Abbey Pond Trail near Middlebury, Vermont.

The pond!

The sunsets have been great lately!

In the last year...

2010-08-08T08:40:00.000-07:00

A little over a year ago, Eli and I got on the Plattsburgh ferry, and rode across from New York to Vermont.

While looking through old photos I found that video today.

It is amazing to think how much as changed since then! The transition from California to Vermont was difficult in some ways, but it was very, very needed. Almost all of the last year has been amazing, even the parts that were also rather hard.

I'm going back to Vermont in 6 days. My project in Pittsburgh has been amazing so far, and in some ways I am sad to leave. However, I miss Vermont, and in particular, there are certain people I really miss. There are also new people to meet - including 8 people entering the grad program I am in. These are people I am going to be spending a lot of time with, and if they are anything like other people I have met through this program, they will be amazing.

This last summer has been an important and productive one, though it also had its difficult moments. Summer is actually my least favorite season, although I like it a lot better on the east coast than out west. In coastal California, summer is something to be endured, a hot time, where many years the only water to touch the ground between May and October consists of the welcome, but very sparse, moisture that trees and shrubs condense from fog. It is difficult for much of the season to be able to perceive a transition to better times.

In Pittsburgh, and also in Vermont, summer is more of an arc. Although late summer has its share of hot days and thunderstorms, the air *feels* different... the sun sets a bit earlier (this change a bit less welcome than others), and the animals and plants are just a little more rushed and frantic in preparing for colder times.

Sometimes they overreact, and are a bit too prepared.

This maple is certainly missing out on a lot of warm days in which it could store food for the winter. In all honestly, it is probably sick or drought stressed. Still, it was the first sign of fall in what has been a very long and hot summer.

Two Minutes from August

2010-07-31T20:57:00.000-07:00

Well, as I start typing this post it is exactly two minutes from August.

My project is going well... it's been an interesting and at times difficult summer - but most of the challenging things have been personal events that didn't have to do with my project. As my time in Pittsburgh nears its end (two weeks left!) I feel that I have a lot of neat ideas and good stuff to work with in the coming year. It's just a matter of organizing it, and next week presenting it to various people here before I go.

Although the nasty heat wave of early July has abated, it still has been hot at times. July was a month without a lot of rain, but with quite a bit of lightning, especially at night. Some of it was quite beautiful, as evidenced by the previous post and by these pictures.

It's been a good summer professionally, even though it was sometimes hard on a personal level. I look forward to applying some of my ideas but also being back home in Vermont with my friends and especially Becca...

Heat and Thunderstorms

2010-07-24T17:42:00.000-07:00

I knew I said I would doublepost everything on slowwatermovement.blogspot.com here also but honestly I haven't had the time or motivation to do that, so I really haven't. If you have to choose one blog to check, check the other one because I update it more.

It's been quite hot here. Last night there was a wicked line of thunderstorms to the north that made some really neat lightning but never made it to town.

Tonight there is another similar line of storms, but it is a bit closer and moving a bit faster. Perhaps this one will make it to Pittsburgh. In any event it looks like there will be more lightning to watch out my window.

Watching lightning and drinking a good cold beer is about all one could expect to do on a hot night like this.

Loss and Renewal

2010-07-14T16:18:00.000-07:00

My grandfather passed away in late June. My uncle passed away just shortly before my grandfather.

My grandpa led a full life, and made a positive impact on so many family members and friends. He died at a respectable age of 88. My uncle likewise positively touched the lives of many, but he died too soon.

Both of them died of lung cancer. Please don't smoke. There is no way it is worth this.

I was especially heartbroken that my grandpa died before I was able to see him. I got plane tickets immediately when I heard that he was ill... but the cancer was already at an advanced stage and he was not able to fight it off for very long. Over the years I have traveled to many beautiful and amazing places with my grandma and grandpa, and I was sad that I did not get to see him before he left our lives this last time.

I still went to California to see my family. It was not a happy trip, but it was an important one.

On Saturday, an unusual light rain shower passed through downtown.

On Sunday my dad and I went up to our family cabin where we have shared many good times. A few years ago, a fire ripped through the whole area, killing many trees I have 'known' since I was very young, drastically altering the landscape, and almost destroying the cabin.

In some cases the fire was beneficial to the forest but in other cases it burned more hot than it naturally would, due to natural fires in the past being suppressed. There are whole areas of dead forest. There is also rebirth.

The number and variety of flowers is higher than I have ever seen this time of year.

There was also a lot of water. True, it was a snowy winter, but even during wet years I have never seen this much water this late in the year. Many of these creeks usually only run in the spring.

Both death and renewal were around us everywhere we looked. It is amazing to me that such destruction, and so much beauty and rebirth, can happen side by side.

Goodbye, Grandpa... I love you and I sure will miss you.

Update!

2010-07-04T10:01:00.000-07:00

Hi!

I made several posts in the Slow Water blog this last week. I am lazy right now and don't want to repost all three of them so go check them out here.

Last weekend I went to Vermont to visit Becca. We were going to meet half way between Vermont and Pittsburgh but she was feeling sick so I went all the way to Vermont instead. (she is feeling better now.) Although it was a long drive, it was nice to be back in Vermont because I love Vermont!

I stared at the New York Thruway for a long time. Luckily i had a bunch of Car Talk and This Week In Science podcasts to listen to.

Apparently even the gas stations are nice in Vermont (I agree). Another nice thing about Vermont: Billboards aren't allowed, so this billboard was actually on the New York side of the border.

Yay!

Vermont is so pretty!

This is a weird van from the drive. I thought of spicy barbecued oxygen, or the air that bison breathe. Of course, it was actually just a van from near Buffalo, New York.

Getting Out of Town: McConnells Mill State Park

2010-06-22T11:35:00.001-07:00

I took a trip yesterday to McConnells Mill State Park, about 50 minutes' drive north of Pittsburgh. I wanted to see what non-urban forests looked like in this area and also thought it would be nice to get out of the city for a day.

The state park is nice! In many ways the forest is similar to the ones I am used to seeing in the Champlain Valley of Vermont - with abundant oaks, maples, and hemlocks and some basswood and black cherry trees tossed in for variety. There were a few reminders that I am further south too, such as a few tulip trees and sycamores (which occur only in far southeastern Vermont) and an rhododendron in the understory.

Black cherries and other deciduous trees! There were also dense hemlock groves but my pictures of them didn't come out very good since it is DARK in there!

Black cherry bark is sometimes referred to as 'burnt potato chips'. This tree is valued by many animals which eat its bitter cherries, and by foresters and furniture makers, who value the beautiful wood in these trees. Black cherries need to grow up in a bit of sun, so their presence here suggests some sort of human or natural disturbance in the past.

This is pale touch-me-not, a relative of jewelweed. This plant likes relatively rich soils, as does the basswood that also grows in the area. Farmers also like rich soils, and most areas surrounding the park that are not very steep are used as farmland.

This is Slippery Rock Creek which flows through this canyon:

The canyon was cut about 140,000 years ago when smaller creeks flowing north were blocked by a glacier, forming a lake that spilled over a ridge. As such, the canyon is much 'younger' than the features around it (the Appalachians are a very ancient mountain range). The steep walls of the canyon are mostly forested, and within the state park.

In this way, the park is like a larger version of Schenley Park and Panther Hollow. There are of course not as many urbanized areas around the state park as around Schenley Park, but most of the flatter areas adjacent to the canyon are agricultural or pasture land, which i suppose is somewhat similar to the golf course and manicured lawns in the flatter parts of Schenley Park.

My favorite part of the park was the poorly-named "Hells Hollow" area. The only thing hellish about the area was the mosquitos - but otherwise it was a beautiful and interesting place.

Hell Run has carved its way into the rock and created a channel which actually looks like a natural version of the concrete channels of the city. It is of course much prettier, but not much absorption or filtration of water happens here!

These ripples are not in sand or silt deposited in the creek, but part of the solid bedrock in the channel! It appears that the bed of this creek is in a fossilized lakeshore or silty riverbed from millions of years ago... I had to actually touch the ripples to believe that they were solid rock.

This is a little spring that has cut its own channel out of the rock. Like all springs, this one gets its water from precipitation that soaks into the ground and/or through cracks in bedrock and is forced out later. This water probably fell as rain or snow months or even years ago. Thinking back to Pittsburgh, one of the consequences of having so much concrete (and not enough rain gardens) is that water is not seeping into springs as much as it used to.

There's also a great waterfall, which is an easy hike from the parking area.

This visit allowed me to get out of the city for a bit and experience a more 'natural' area, but it also reminded me that Pittsburgh also has a similar (though smaller) natural area right in the middle of the city!

More information on the natural history of McConnells Mill State Park is found here.

My new 'slow water' blog

2010-06-21T19:04:00.000-07:00

I have created a new blog about my project in Pittsburgh at slowwatermovement.blogspot.com. There is no need to check both because anything I post on there I will probably post on here too. It will be more relevant to my project though, so if you like those posts, but don't want to read about Neahga turning trees into trebuchets or whatever else I post about, read the 'slow water' one instead.

Exploring historic channels in Squirrel Hill

2010-06-20T10:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went on a mission to look for lost streams. These lost streams once flowed through the area now known as Squirrel Hill in Pittsburgh, but now are re-routed into a combined sewage-storm drain system.

The two streams I searched for are the northeasternmost in this map I posted in my last post:

My approximate route can be found here.

The creek 'disappears' in the southwestern corner of that route, where I started my walk (downstream/west from there it is relatively natural until Panther Hollow Lake). Upstream from here, Bartlett Road follows its course for about a block

It is hard to tell there, but Bartlett is in a subtle valley.

Murdoch street is a neat street with cobblestone and brick paving that crosses the old channel. You can see the swale where it crosses the road just north of Bartlett.

The channel followed along the current route of Forbes Road for a bit. Forbes and Murray, a major intersection where the Jewish Center and the Squirrel Hill Carnegie Library are located, was near the headwaters of this stream. In this area, the stream probably only flowed during or right after heavy rain or snowmelt.

Looking south on Murray, one of the upper channels was probably in the low spot in the distance.

The intersection of Forbes and Shady is near the watershed divide between the Panther Hollow subwatershed of Four Mile Run, and the Nine Mile Run watershed.

This photo is looking east. Anything over that rise historically flowed into Nine Mile Run instead of Panther Hollow. The underground 'sewershed' is approximately the same to this day.

This little divide on Shady Avenue near Aylesboro Avenue represents the old divide between Panther Hollow and an apparently unnamed little creek that drained the area to the north.

This creek started out flowing down Solway Street.

Solway Street has a lot of open lawns and could be a great candidate for rain garden installation... but many of the garages on the north side of the road, near the original channel, are sunk into the ground, so it would be necessary to make sure flooding wouldn't affect these areas due to poorly designed stormwater management structures.

At this time storm clouds started gathering...

Wightman Playground at Wightman and Solway is sunk into the ground, and appears to be part of the old creek valley.

To my surprise, along the old channel I found one of my old enemies - a tamarisk plant! This plant causes a lot of problems in waterways in the Southwest, and there is a lot of debate over what should be done about it. In this case, the channel is long gone, so the tamarisk can't do anything to it. I doubt it is invasive in Pennsylvania anyway.

Since it isn't displacing native species or salting up the soil in this case, I can look at it notice that it is actually quite pretty. I still had to control an urge to go chop it down.

This channel then used to shoot down a canyon that Beeler Street is in now. It is still steep enough that you can get a feel that it used to have water flowing through it. The whole thing shoots into Carnegie Mellon, which I will explore later.

I walked back to my starting location along a small historic channel that used to shoot up Forbes Street.

In this channel I found... WATER! It turned out that it appeared to be from over-irrigation of a lawn.. but there were some signs of seepage along Forbes Road that could indicate the water table is still near the surface here.

Near the golf course I found a tiny channelized 'stream' with erosion deposits.

I imagine with some sort of modifications, this could possibly be naturalized a bit more... at least slowing the water down before it shoots into the nearby sewer drain.

I made it home before the gathering storm hit. It was another impressive thunderstorm with lots of cloud to ground lightning so I am glad I didn't decide to weather the storm in the park, which I briefly did consider.

The storm seemed significant enough that it probably caused yet another sewage overflow event to occur.
After the storm cleared there was a nice sunset. You can see another storm way off in the distance; that storm did not hit Pittsburgh and went somewhere to the north instead.

So... what is the future of these lost drainages? They are going to have to stay lost for the foreseeable future, since Squirrel Hill was built right on top of them. If you live in this area, you won't be able to see these lost streams again, but you can still restore some of the 'micro hydrology' of the area by building a rain garden or other water art that allows rainwater to percolate into the soil.

Channels of the Past

2010-06-18T09:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I found a bunch of historic maps of Pittsburgh, on a Pitt site called the Darlington Digital Library . These maps, spanning from the early 1800s to the mid 1900s, showed the growth of Pittsburgh and, in some cases, the locations of waterways within the growin city. As mentioned earlier, most of the 4-mile Run watershed runoff has been routed into combined sewer-stormwater runoff channels underground. I thought it would be neat to map the old creek channels on a current map of the city, so I downloaded a USGS topo map and did just that! Sorry about the small size, the large size doesn't fit the format of the blog, so just click on it for a zoomed in view.

This map is inexact, of course, due to the changes in road locations over the years and just general accuracy issues (some of the old maps did not appear to be quite to scale). It gives a good idea of what the area was probably like in the past though. The dark blue streams are those that I found on the maps, and the light blue streams are additional places where water may have flowed based on the topographic map. The purple line delineates the approximate historic 4-mile run watershed, and the red line delineates two parts of the Panther Hollow watershed. I'll talk about what a 'beaheded stream' is later, in another post. The green line delineates areas of mostly natural vegetation - most of the creeks in these areas are still partially intact, except the western branch of 4-Mile Run at the far western edge of the map (more on this later too!)

So, now what? My plan for this weekend or next week is to get out there and look for evidence of some of these old channels! Most of them will be ineligible for restoration ('daylighting') due to the density of the city around them. The western portion of 4-mile run was put underground in the early 20th century when the creeks ran with raw sewage. In that state, the creek was a health risk and was buried. Now that things are a lot cleaner, there is a plan to 'daylight' a portion of this creek, if funding and political support are obtained. I'll post more about this later, too.

A Weekend of Installing Rain Gardens

2010-06-14T10:33:00.001-07:00

So this weekend I helped a local community organization install five rain gardens in (near?) the Highland Park area of Pittsburgh.

As I've mentioned before, a rain garden is a garden intended to capture runoff from impervious surfaces like roofs and parking lots, and allow it to soak into the ground or be released back into the atmosphere. Rain gardens reduce flooding by slowing down water the way natural wetlands would, reduce pollution by naturally filtering runoff, and decrease the effects of drought by increasing groundwater recharge to aquifers that later release water into wells or springs. Rain gardens often use appropriately-chosen plants native to the local area, as these plants require little care and have the added bonus of providing habitat for local wildlife and beneficial insects.

So, this rain garden started as a small lawn:

Note the drainspout in the background. Lawns do not absorb very much water, so whatever came out of that drainspout would rush down the hill into the gutter and then the sewer.

We now dig out an area and surround the downhill side by a berm.

You can see that the soil is full of clay, which means it will not absorb water as readily as some other types of soil.

We don't want to just have a puddle of water sitting there and breeding mosquitoes, so we fill most of the depression with compost or soil mix designed to be well-drained. Now at the most only a couple of inches of water would be present in the garden during very heavy storms, and it would quickly be absorbed.

My truck got a lot of use this weekend!

We next lay out the native plants, placing them so that taller ones will be in the back (just for aesthetic reasons). These plants are tolerant of occasional flooding but also dry periods, so they should not need to be watered.

Almost done - after this we tossed some mulch on the garden and berm to reduce erosion, keep the soil moist, and decrease the number of weeds. Later on the drainspout will be connected to the garden more directly by a spout extension, or, ideally, a little naturalized swale that will also help absorb water.

Everyone is in a watershed!

2010-06-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about runoff and hydrology is that EVERYWHERE on land is part of a watershed. When it rains, or when snow melts, water anywhere on Earth has a path it will follow, either to the ocean, or sometimes to a salt lake or salt flat. Water that falls on Pittsburgh and isn't used or evaporated ends up in the Gulf of Mexico! That is about 1000 miles by road but significantly further along the twisty Ohio and Mississippi rivers. And every bit of that huge river (except rain that happens to fall in the river itself) comes from little tiny tributaries somewhere upstream (including those that travel underground in the form of groundwater).

Water that falls on our construction materials, our parks, our rooftops, our gardens, our cars... it all eventually makes its way either to a river, or back into the air to fall somewhere else.

Yesterday I went to explore Schenley Park in the rain.

I got quite soggy, and also watched water on its way to the ocean.

pouring off bridges...

leaking out of overwhelmed storm drains...

passing through a rain garden where some hopefully soaks in and is filtered and released during a drier time into the creek...

... pausing in Panther Hollow Lake before it makes its way underground, through the sewer system, into the river.

In nature, things slow down the water on its path to the ocean, and it is used by the ecosystem, rather than just washing away. Plant roots, leaf litter, permeable soil, beavers, wetlands, numerous ecosystem components 'slow down' water before it runs off. In the city, where many of these factors are absent or reduced in scope, water just rushes away, causing floods and not sticking around during droughts. There are, however, many ways to slow down water and keep it around in the city for longer, and reduce flooding. This, in essence, is what my project will focus on this year.

Aftermath of Storms

2010-06-08T09:22:00.000-07:00

Over the last week, as mentioned in the previous post, there were heavy rains around Pittsburgh. Over 3 inches fell between June 1 and June 5, with most of that in a few hours in two big thunderstorms. On Sunday I went to Schenley Park to check out the effects of the heavy rains of the last week. There had been some fairly dramatic runoff and flooding during this time.

I took a picture of this 'delta' into Panther Hollow Lake before the storms and again after. It looks smaller in the second picture because the lake level is higher. The lake had filled up well beyond its banks and almost overflowed.

When I was at the lake, the water level had dropped to near normal but was still extremely muddy. These photos are a clear demonstration of one of the problems facing this small park watershed - upstream erosion causing siltation in this lake. At some point rather soon, the lake will either have to be dredged, which is expensive, or will stop being a lake, which means people won't be able to enjoy it anymore.

This bridge was washed out before this storm, but additional noticeable erosion had occurred during the rains.

Tomorrow more rain is expected, but without the frequent lightning and risk of hail that was experienced last week. If conditions look good, I'll be going out into the park in the rain to try to look for signs of erosion as it happens.

The park is pretty!

Another item of note: the atmosphere may be transitioning from El Nino to La Nina conditions. This could mean that next winter in Vermont will be much colder and icier than last winter (it may actually snow less - last winter was pretty snowy - but the snow is more likely to stick around). This would also mean a likelihood of a drier than average rainfall season in much of California. We'll see!

Storms in the City

2010-06-06T08:38:00.000-07:00

So, there are often thunderstorms in Pittsburgh in the early summer, and this year has apparently had even more than usual. There has been heavy rain and lightning several times since I got here. The storms aren't as impressive to see moving in as those in the desert or even in Vermont, because the sky is hazy and there are lots of trees and buildings everywhere. However, they are LOUD and the lightning is very impressive.

One storm moves away...

and another moves in. This one lasted several hours and had a ton of lightning and rain.

The storms cause lots of erosion which is a problem in the parks.

Crappy pictures of sheet lightning from my room. There were lots of crazy bolts too but not when I was able to take videos.

It looks like for the next day or two there won't be many storms, but they will be back next week, and probably periodically for the whole time I am here. This is a wet place, depending on who you ask, somewhere between 38 and 45 inches of precipitation falls here each year and the wettest months are May and June (though all months are pretty wet).

Introduction to Schenley Park

2010-06-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

So, on Wednesday, I went and checked out Schenley Park which will be at least the partial subject of my project. Schenley Park, and specifically the watershed of Panther Run, are the subject of a restoration and outreach project that will include habitat restoration and also will inform nearby residents on ways to reduce pollution in their watershed. Pittsburgh, like many old cities, has a combined storm drain and sewer system. This means that any time it rains more than about a tenth of an inch, all the water rushing into the sewer from concrete, asphalt, and rooftops, quickly overwhelms the sewer system and sends stormwater, along with gross raw sewage, right into the rivers. By taking simple measures such as using rainwater cisterns and creating rain gardens and constructed wetlands, residents can greatly reduce the amount of runoff after storms and thus the amount of sewage and pollution taht enters rivers. The Panther Run creek and lake act as a huge, mostly natural rain garden, and absorb much of the rain in the area that would otherwise add to polluting the rivers.

In any event, here is the park.

the top of a small creek.

Dogwood (?) flowers)

small grotto

Meadow!

View of the city from Panther Hollow Bridge

Small 'delta' created by erosion and runoff into Panther Hollow Lake. Part of the restoration effort aims to reduce this erosion, which is causing the lake to fill in with sediment.

Panther Hollow Lake - although this is not a natural lake, it does serve to reduce runoff and decrease water pollution.

Middlebury to Pittsburgh

2010-06-04T14:49:00.001-07:00

So on June 1 I drove from Middlebury, Vermont, to Pittsburgh, PA. The GPS took me on a somewhat circuitous route, but this turned out to be a good thing. Here are a few pictures...

Leaving Vermont...

Driving along some river or another.

Unlike the 405 in LA, this one didn't have any traffic.

Driving through a heavy downpour, of the sort that is common in Pennsylvania in the summer.

View!

Driving across the Allegheny right before sunset.

Things are going well, despite some homesickness for Vermont and certain people there (Becca and all the FNEPS, for instance). I'll have more here soon!

Lake View

2010-06-01T21:15:00.001-07:00

_DSCN0870, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

A view of lake Champlain while Becca was running the marathon. I am now safely in Pittsburgh where I will be for most of the summer - pics will follow.

Becca runs a marathon!

2010-06-01T21:14:00.001-07:00

_DSCN0869, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Becca completed the Burlington Marathon last Sunday!

Ausable Chasm

2010-05-25T14:02:00.003-07:00

Ausable Chasm, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

I'd aus it, wouldn't you?

Couche-Tard

2010-05-25T14:02:00.001-07:00

Couche-Tard, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Apparently couche-tard is the name for people who stay up late - so I guess I am a bit of a couche tard?

Seabirds in Montreal Biodome

2010-05-25T14:01:00.001-07:00

Seabirds in Montreal Biodome, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

you can also see fish and diving birds from a glass window under the water level.

Monreal

2010-05-25T14:00:00.003-07:00

Monreal, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

More pretty buildings

No Velociraptors

2010-05-25T14:00:00.001-07:00

No Velociraptors, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Velociraptors not allowed in park (except those that chose to evolve into pigeons)

Montreal from Park

2010-05-25T13:59:00.001-07:00

Montreal from Park, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

this view reminds me of Griffith Park or Mulholland (except for the maples)

With Flowers

2010-05-25T13:58:00.003-07:00

With Flowers, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Becca and I with a bunch of flowers on the top of the hill

Climbing the stairs

2010-05-25T13:58:00.001-07:00

DSCN0767.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

park in Montreal

Montreal

2010-05-25T13:57:00.001-07:00

DSCN0766.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

From a visit last weekend

May 4 Burlington Storm

2010-05-04T16:04:00.001-07:00

May 4 Burlington Storm
Originally uploaded by inyopfc

Neat line of storms that came through Burlington earlier. This one didn't have a lot of rain but had wind, lightning, and weird clouds (may have been a gust front). An earlier storm had hail and heavy rain and lightning hitting the building I was watching it from! (don't worry, I was in a safe place!

My face was too close to the mic (I used the video function on my new ipod) so my voice is kinda loud, you may want to mute it. There wasnt any thunder while i took the video.

Me

2010-05-03T20:20:00.005-07:00

Me, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Field Naturalists, Etc

2010-05-03T20:20:00.003-07:00

Field Naturalists, Etc, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Forest

2010-05-03T20:20:00.001-07:00

Forest, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Squirrel Corn

2010-05-03T20:19:00.003-07:00

Squirrel Corn, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Striped Maple

2010-05-03T20:19:00.001-07:00

Striped Maple, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Trout Lily

2010-05-02T19:54:00.005-07:00

DSCN0589.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

New Fern

2010-05-02T19:54:00.003-07:00

DSCN0586.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Beech

2010-05-02T19:54:00.001-07:00

DSCN0582.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Late Season Snow!

2010-04-27T19:46:00.001-07:00

So, this is Vermont, so it can snow in late April even if it has been quite warm for the past month or two.

It's been snowing all day today... though it was mostly only accumulating in the morning when it was colder. It is still snowing and may snow all night so now that it is cooling off again we may get a bit more.

These photos were taken at mid-morning when the snow was most impressive.

blurry

2010-04-26T21:15:00.003-07:00

blurry, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

i am an i-beam

2010-04-26T21:15:00.001-07:00

i am an i-beam, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

salix

2010-04-26T21:14:00.001-07:00

salix, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Upsetting Man

2010-04-22T17:44:00.001-07:00

Upsetting Man, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Here is me dressed as a superhero - "Upsetting Man", or sometimes "Unsettling Man", from our birthday party last Saturday.

Meanwhile, I somehow contracted mononucleosis so pretty much the entire time since last Saturday was taken up with a HORRIBLE sore throat as well as extreme exhaustion. The sore throat is finally going away, but I still have very little energy and that will probably continue to be the case for the next few weeks.

Wood Frog Eggs

2010-04-18T20:16:00.005-07:00

Wood Frog Eggs, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Vernal Pool

2010-04-18T20:16:00.003-07:00

Vernal Pool, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Purple Hepatica

2010-04-18T20:16:00.001-07:00

Purple Hepatica, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Wild Leeks

2010-04-18T20:12:00.003-07:00

Wild Leeks, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

White Hepatica

2010-04-18T20:12:00.001-07:00

White Hepatica, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Willow Catkins

2010-04-08T19:51:00.005-07:00

Willow Catkins, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Wetland near Raven Ridge

2010-04-08T19:51:00.003-07:00

Wetland near Raven Ridge, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Naturalists

2010-04-08T19:51:00.001-07:00

Naturalists, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Bucket O' Controllers

2010-04-04T17:46:00.003-07:00

DSCN0428.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

2010-04-04T17:46:00.001-07:00

DSCN0427.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

More Boston

2010-04-04T17:45:00.005-07:00

DSCN0414.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Boston

2010-04-04T17:45:00.003-07:00

DSCN0407.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

????

2010-04-04T17:45:00.001-07:00

DSCN0404.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

boston transportation

Tree

2010-03-28T21:02:00.003-07:00

DSCN0389.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Winooski River

2010-03-28T21:02:00.001-07:00

DSCN0383.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Urban Nature

2010-03-28T21:01:00.005-07:00

DSCN0378.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

High Water in Winooski

2010-03-28T21:01:00.003-07:00

DSCN0374.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Melting Slush

2010-03-28T21:01:00.001-07:00

DSCN0364.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

Art Garfunkel

2010-03-20T14:49:00.001-07:00

DSCN0359.JPG, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

This plant, named Art Garfunkel, has been in my possession in some form since 1997. He was quite huge at times, then disaster struck or I had to move and I just took a cutting. Most recently I dropped the pot he was in on the floor and he lives in part of a coke bottle. I need to get a pot...

Huge Maple

2010-03-16T18:00:00.001-07:00

Huge Maple, originally uploaded by inyopfc.

This photo was taken a few weeks ago... the snow is almost all gone now.

Spring!

2010-03-13T09:23:00.000-08:00

Well, I have been really busy over 'spring break' and mostly doing inside things so I haven't had anything fun to post lately. I am really starting to feel restless, especially with spring kicking in - it is downright warm out - near 50 - with some light rain today. Winter will probably kick back in at some point... but right now there are flowers popping up, spring birds singing, and the last of the winter slush is melting.

The one highlight of Spring Break was two days of snowboarding with my friends Katie and Brian and some other good people. Here's a video.

AA-Team Minus Rose

2010-02-27T18:13:00.007-08:00

AA-Team Minus Rose, originally uploaded by inyopfc.