2/28 Renton Natural Area, and a couple paws with claws

Be it ever so humble. . . 

Renton is home, and this wild space is where I will do a lot of the exploring for this project. I thought I had seen somewhere that it was called the "Renton Natural Area", and now I can find no such name, but I'm sticking with it. If you're heading out from Renton on the Maple Valley Highway, and peek at the massive slope to your right, that's the place. The north end of it, closest to the lake, is called "Renton Hill", although that term seems to be used for that specific neighborhood. The picture above should, in any event, give a little reference.

And this area is as humble as it is large! Scotch Broom, powerlines, and blackberries are a lot of the landscape. Closer to the top of the hill, a greater number of trees hold the soil in place - mostly Bigleaf Maple, with a mix of Western Hemlock, Douglas Fir, and Western Redcedar. The understory for these trees is Western Sword Fern, Oregon Grape, and a typical mix of other plants, both native and invasive, commonly found in the Pacific Northwest.

Once a person descends out of this forest, the view above is pretty typical, with the species mentioned above, as well as a lot of Bracken Fern. There's stories of coyotes, cougars, and bobcats out here, and deer use the area as well. It's not heavily trafficked, but people do use it for walking their dogs, and in a small number of spots, roads cut through to little gated developments.

All of the water from the top of the hill makes its way into streams, some of them with names that I'm sure I'll learn. Many of those cuts lead to these deep, inaccessible ravines, and it prevents the whole area from being connected by a single network of trails. As you get closer to the Cedar River, the forest becomes a little more dense, and dominated by Quaking Aspen, Black Cottonwood, and Red Alder.

I've come across a few plants, mushrooms, and animals of interest in here over the past few years, and I hope to find more. It won't be the only place I visit this year, by any stretch, but it will be the most visited area.

Paws

Dog. . . and Dog Lichen

Fun fact time. The tracks on the left are not cougar tracks.

I didn't know this when I saw them. I saw big tracks, and in my head. . . yeah, cougar for sure. But I got online and found there are a few ways to tell the difference. The big giveaway? The claws at the end. Dog. Cougars will have the same big fat paw print without the claws. This will save me a lot of excitement and give me something to look for.

The lichen is Dog Lichen for the same reason. There's the big flattened pad, and then the little. . . claw. . . things. I've got to look up what they are, but I'm assuming it's some kind of spore producing thing. Lichen is not disappointing me on this project so far - I'm enjoying how crazy things can get when a fungus and algae meet and make friends like this.