Introductory Fall LICHEN Hike!

Hi there local Naturalists!

I, Nolan Richard, am thrilled to lead a Lichen Hike from 10am-3pm on Saturday October 21st to Pilot Rock!

This hike will serve as an introductory field lichen class focusing on lichen anatomy, biology, ecology, and of course…  identification. I chose Pilot Rock for the diversity of habitats (young and old conifer forest, oak woodland, meadow, and rocky habitats), which will give us a great lichen diversity.

The hike itself will be slow paced, relatively short (3-3.5 miles) with up to 450 ft of elevation gain. We will do some exploring of the PCT, the trail to Pilot Rock, and “Pilot” meadow (The large meadow below Pilot Rock). We will meet at the Northwest Nature Shop at 9:50am.

Please bring…

• Warm clothes and good shoes (there is a good chance of cold and rain this time of year) – I’ll update you with weather as the date approaches. We will reschedule if the weather is bad or if there’s too much fresh snow covering the ground.
• Lunch and water.
• A loupe/magnifying glass for looking at small lichen features. Important!! (Available at the Nature Shop)
• (Optional). A copy of  “Macrolichens of the Pacific Northwest” by Bruce McCune if you have one. (A couple copies available at the Nature Shop).

Please RSVP by emailing nolrich829@gmail.com (Limited to 12 participants). Class costs $20/person.

Cheers, Nolan

Expect to learn…

1.  The basics of how lichens work and what they are composed of.

2. How to go about identifying them. (Using terminology, categorizing)

3. The characteristics of the common lichen genera (8+ genera) along the trails, and a couple less common genera.