Historic figure Dr. James Edward Church, who pioneered the method of measuring the water content of snow, made an appearance on the Great Basin Outdoor School snowshoe hikes during the 2-day winter program! Steve Hale, retired Forest Service employee, who portrayed Dr. Church, and George Kerr with the Forest Service visited Great Basin Outdoor School through the winter to talk about Dr. Church's life and research.
"[The kids] are always so enthusiastic to help [Dr. Church] take a snow measurement hands-on with the Mt. Rose Sample. By the end of Dr. Church's visit they have a more complete appreciation of how important snow and water are to their lives." Steve Hale reflected on his presentations dressed up as Dr. Church, snow goggles and all!
On the second day of program, kids at GBOS load a bus and drive 5 minutes to Spooner Lake sledding hill to start their snowshoe hike through National Forest property. This season, up to 30% of our students had never been snowshoeing before, although almost all of them were from South Lake Tahoe!
On their hike with a naturalist, they will learn about plant and animal adaptations, or changes that occur through time due to environmental pressures on the organism. The kids might be silent in the woods, as coyotes listening for prey beneath the snow. Or, they might be running on a track through the snow, trying to outrun their prey. Or, the kids might be hiding behind trees, under logs, and beside rocks trying their best to camouflage themselves and not be seen by their predator.
The Dr. Church presentations by Steve and George set the tone for these hikes. They outline the history of Dr. Church, and how he moved to Reno to teach classical studies at University of Nevada Reno. After hiking Mt. Rose and then many other Sierra mountains in the winter, he found a passion. He loved measuring and observing the snowfall. Many people began to ask about his measurements and he was asked to predict how much water might be contained in the snowpack, so farmers and ranchers would know how much water to expect during the drought period of summer and fall.
Dr. Church discovered that the depth of snow was only one piece to the puzzle. He also needed to find the weight, and ultimately density to determine the water content. His method was the Mt. Rose Snow Sampler, inspired by a butter tube used in his childhood. The tube could be over 20ft long, and is about 3" in diameter. The tube is inserted into the snow, down to the very bottom of the snowpack. The side of the tube reads the snow depth, and once the tube is removed from the snow, with snow inside, a hanging scale is used to weigh the snow. Steve explains to the children that heavier snow contains more water, and light powdery snow, is "drier". The kids love to help during these hands-on measurements.
At the end of the presenation, Steve and George both remind the students the legacy of Dr. Church began with a simple hike through the woods, and a curiosity of the surroundings. Just imagine what could be created if we all asked questions and explored those questions in our surroundings.
