BC Field Biology Day 1 at Christmount

The “Exploring North Carolina Mountains” class at Barton departed for our trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains at approximately 8:30am Monday morning.  We arrived at Christmount Conference Center for the Disciples of Christ at 2:00pm and immediately started exploring.  A group of us first walked the Old Cemetery Trail where we traveled up and down hills while experiencing many plants and animals as well as a gravesite.  When we met back up with our professors, the learning experience immediately began.  We were exposed to over 30 different plant species including Flea Bane, Red Oak, Flaming Azaleas, and Sweet Betsey Bush.  In addition, we observed a few animal species including Stone Nymphs, Northern Dusky Salamander, and a Crawfish.  Once we finished our exploring, we went back to our cabin to review all that we learned about the plants and animals.  This took about an hour and was very helpful in learning the species.  Although the travel was long and the exploring was short, we really enjoyed our first day and we are excited to continue our adventure this week.

Chelsea Fleury (Biology Major)

Kati Wood (Biology Major)