Sunday the 21st

I think I got eight hours of sleep last night for the first time on the entire trip, it felt amazing. We also had a hot breakfast for the first time since the trip has started, thank you to Monette for making us eggs and bacon! I also decided to help wake myself up by dunking my head in the creek, and the cold water felt so amazing. We then headed out to the White Salmon River to view some really cool sites. We first went to Husum falls, which was awesome. There was so much water churning in the river that it was hard to hear anything when we were right by it. It is extremely impressive to me that just a few years after the removal of the dam that native spring salmon were already jumping past these falls to get to the river above.

After Husum falls we went down to Northwestern park to view some of the restoration that is being done to help the different fish species migrating back to this river. There were some ponderosa pine that had been planted and lots of work has been done to help repair the riparian corridor ever since Northwestern reservoir drained when the dam was removed. This section of the river was beautiful and I can't wait to return. 
Next we went to the site where the Condit dam used to be located and got to see the river flowing free once again. It is truly amazing to be able to see how the river has already bounced back so hard in the last 15 years. Downstream of the dam site the river looks like it has very little muddy sediment left and the extra rocks that were deposited have led to some amazing habitat for Salmon and Steelhead redds. Getting able to see dam removal sites like this one and the Elwha river dam removal site I visited last year are some experiences I will consistently think back to. We got our nicest shower yet at the Glenwood station hotel, thank you Corbin it is all your fault. Now it is time to go make dinner and get some soil samples!

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