Class on Ilalo

Yesterday for class our teacher took us on a hike up one of the local mountains. It was amazing to have an entire class period outside, applying the concepts learned in previous classes. The mountain was called Ilalo and consisted of volcaninc ash bed soils. Our professor taught us about all the exotic and invasive plant species and how They have adapted so well to the Andean highlands. For example there is an invasive grass that was able to take hold when the side of this mountain was cleared for development. Now that the development has halted the invasive early successive species are moving in and occupying vast amounts of soil and covering entire forrest beds. The hike itself consisted mostly of bushwacking as there are not many organized hiking trails, this gave me a taste of what it will be like when I decide to do some trekking on my own time. During this hike I was able to talk with my professor about photography and our shared love for the mountains, we talked alot about Newengland geography and hiking. Overall a great morning for a hike, as soon as we returned to campus we all proceeded to have a team naptime next to the pond. I will attempt to upload the photos soon.