| Title | Description | Price |
| 1 | Basic Hike | Students experience a salmon run in a natural forest environment and the sense of accomplishment that comes from completing the hike. This option takes you back in time through old growth lowland rainforest, along a single file dirt trail filled with gentle switchbacks and up and down hill.
Before the settlers came to homestead, Kitsap County was a heavily forested wilderness with trees so large and thick that the only way to get around was along walking trails or by canoe. Experience a taste of the conditions the early settlers found as you hike through old-growth lowland rainforest to a log supported bridge (solid planking and handrails have been added) to view spawning salmon. Continue on up and down hills to a streamside viewing area where you can see the salmon up close. Along the way walk beneath forest giants and pass homesteaded areas; observe the contrast between the natural forest and homesteaded areas.
With Chico, Wildcat and Lost Creeks crossing the property The Mountaineer Foundation Rhododendron Preserve boasts one of the largest chum salmon runs in the county.
Optional Hike Extension takes you out to an 600 year old Douglas Fir tree. This tree is one of the 10 largest Douglas Fir trees in the world.
| $100 |
| 2 | Video and Hike | This option is designed to provide the most effective introduction and reinforcement. The combination of a salmon themed video followed by an immediate entry into the natural world of salmon (see Hike) drives home the importance of salmon, their life cycle and the role people play in the fate of salmon. | $125 |
| 3a | Hike with an Expert - Fisheries Scientist | Should you wish to select a hike with an expert students are treated to the opportunity to go along with a fisheries scientist as he does his job. The health of the salmon run is monitored by, among others, the Suquamish tribe. One of their scientists leads the hike and speaks to the students about the life cycle of salmon, the factors of a healthy stream ecosystem, and exactly what it is he does at streamside (almost always accompanied by demonstrations) and descriptions of what is done with the collected samples back in the lab and what that information tells them. This is a rare opportunity for students to see first hand what a fisheries scientist does.
| $175 |
| 3b | Hike with an Expert - Stream Ecologist
| The stream ecologist has studied our creek system intensively. When
leading hikes she takes a few minutes to consult with teachers about
their curriculum needs and tries to incorporate those factors into her
presentation. On the hike she identifies the features of a natural stream
system, where the water comes from, how water levels impact streams and the salmon that are dependent on the streams. She contrasts that to the health of streams surrounded by pavement and development. Presentation may include simple science demonstrations contrasting the effects of pavement and soil or insect hunts in cobble next to the stream to identify which insects are eaten by salmon and what the insects eat. The
emphasis is on the ecological system; how it functions and the impact of
people and development on the system. By studying the natural system we can learn how to minimize our negative impact on all streams. | $175
|
| 4 | Hike with an Expert and Video | Combine the benefits of the onsite video (see Hike and Video ) with the chance to observe a fisheries scientist in action | $200 |
| 5 | Storyteller and Hike with a Mountaineer | Salmon have played a major part in the culture of native peoples and settlers alike. Students are treated to the opportunity to listen to salmon themed tales (storyteller’s choice) told before the fire in a rustic historic cabin. (See Classroom Exercises for more on the cabin) These tales are followed immediately by a hike (see Hike) with up close views of salmon.
| $175 |
| 6 | Storyteller and Hike with an Expert | This option provides the broadest examination of salmon including both the cultural (see Storyteller) and the scientific (see Hike with an Expert). | $225 |
| 7 | Classroom Exercise and Hike with a Mountaineer | The Mountaineers Kitsap Branch Salmon Safari program is fortunate to play host to a Department of Fish and Wildlife WILD Salmon Education Trunk. This resource is packed with material and activities that can be borrowed for classroom use or in this option let us prepare the lesson for you. Choose from the activities listed on the Department of Fish and Wildlife WILD Salmon Education Trunk website or let us choose an age appropriate activity for your group. The classroom activity will typically take about an hour and will follow the hike (see Hike).
Classroom space is in Kitsap Cabin a structure which is listed on our state’s Hertitage Site listings. The cabin was originally built in 1918 primarily by Mountaineer women since the men were fighting in WWI. It is a rustic building that is gradually being fully restored. There is ample parking should you wish to use carpooling arrangements. For those who are familiar with The Mountaineers Forest Theatre and The Mountaineer Players annual spring play, Kitsap Cabin is at the same location.
| $250 |
| 8 | Classroom Exercise and Hike with an Expert | This option is designed to allow students to perform some of the same actions that the scientist will back in his lab. While any classroom exercise (see Classroom Exercises) can be used with this hike (see Hike with an Expert) it provides an incredible opportunity for students to try their own hand at interpreting otoliths and reading scale slides (presented as overhead projection). | $275 |
