{"id":156,"date":"2014-09-16T01:27:25","date_gmt":"2014-09-16T01:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sjcmeess.wpengine.com\/?p=156"},"modified":"2014-09-16T01:27:25","modified_gmt":"2014-09-16T01:27:25","slug":"rusty-streams-and-clear-lakes-in-northern-maine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/ess\/rusty-streams-and-clear-lakes-in-northern-maine\/","title":{"rendered":"Rusty Streams and Clear Lakes in Northern Maine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some of the most amazing adventures we have had so far happened at Gorman Chairback! Gorman Chairback<\/a> is an Appalachian Mountain Club<\/a> (AMC) hut in a township of Northern Maine, near Katahdin Iron Works<\/a>.\u00a0 We learned about the effects of iron-mining pollution on local organisms with our guest professor, Dr. Emily Lesher<\/a>.\u00a0 We sampled 3 different areas and used special nets to collect microinvertebrates (bugs), before recording how many we found. We also took pH levels of those areas and found out that the area with the most iron pollution had the least amount of organisms living there and the lowest pH values (i.e., more acidic) than the other places.\u00a0 It was interesting to see that there was more algae in the polluted stream than in the better water, probably because the microinvertebrates that graze on the algae couldn\u2019t survive in the polluted stream. I (Nhu) fell into the stream while wearing waders, which ended up filling with water.\u00a0 So that was an experience!<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0176\"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\"IMG_0197\"<\/a><\/p>\n

At Gorman Chairback, we also went canoeing on their incredible lake, as well as paddle-boarding, kayaking, and swimming.\u00a0 The food there was beyond our expectations.\u00a0 It was so delicious and great.\u00a0 They used fresh produce from their gardens that they picked half an hour before dinnertime.\u00a0 They made their own bread for everyone\u2019s lunches every single day.\u00a0 Some of the things we got to eat were: beef brisket, chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting, grilled vegetables, raspberry pie, almond pastries, and so much more! They had a sauna, really great (and warm!) showers, and composting toilets.\u00a0 What was really cool was that they only use solar, propane, and wood as their only sources of energy, since they are 100% off the grid.<\/p>\n

Erin and the two of us stayed in our own cabin right on the lake.\u00a0 It was the best night of sleep yet!\u00a0 There was a woodstove, two beds, paintings on the walls made by past guests, branches for hooks on the walls, a wash basin with a matching pitcher, windows, and a great view of the lake when you woke up. Both mornings, we awoke to the sound of loons and at night time,\u00a0 we watched the moon reflected off of the lake like a mirror.\u00a0 It was so serene.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0260\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On the last day, hours before we left for the White Mountains, the majority of us went out by either a kayak or a canoe to a far off island on the other side of the lake.\u00a0 Some of us explored the island briefly, and found that it actually had a house on it.\u00a0 As we were coming back, Dr. Erikson suggested a balancing game in the middle of the lake.\u00a0 The object was to stand up in your kayak or canoe, without falling into the water. Dr. Erikson went first, and flipped his.\u00a0 With the help of Bobby, Erin, and Ayla, he was able to empty out the water that had started filling his kayak and get back in.\u00a0 Next, Bobby attempted doing the same, and was successful in almost standing in the kayak, without flipping it.\u00a0 Ayla tried it next, and did the best, as she completely stood straight up in her kayak and sat back down, all without getting any water on her.\u00a0 We all shared some laughs and headed back to pack the van.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_6479\"<\/p>\n

We stopped for ice cream at Gifford\u2019s Ice Cream in Farmington, Maine.\u00a0 It was so good, because it was a hot day, and we had been all cramped in the van for a while. We were ready to go off to our next destination classroom, the White Mountains of New Hampshire!<\/p>\n

– Nhu and Courtney<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some of the most amazing adventures we have had so far happened at Gorman Chairback! Gorman Chairback is an Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) hut in a township of Northern Maine, near Katahdin Iron Works.\u00a0 We learned about the effects of iron-mining pollution on local organisms with our guest professor, Dr. Emily Lesher.\u00a0 We sampled 3 … Continue reading Rusty Streams and Clear Lakes in Northern Maine<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[20],"class_list":["post-156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-field-sites","category-pursuing-science","tag-katahdin-iron-works"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/ess\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/ess\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/ess\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/ess\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/ess\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/ess\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/ess\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/ess\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/ess\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}