Wednesday, June 18, through Friday, June 20, 2008

Dabney S. Lancaster Community College
Clifton Forge, Virginia

Backpacking trip to Laurel Fork in Highland County

Thursday, June 19

A trip up Slab Camp Run is guaranteed to start with soaking wet feet, since you have to ford Laurel Fork twice to get to the trailhead.

"Come here little salamander."

Sometimes the searchers are as hard to see as the salamanders.

And crossing Laurel Fork again means we're almost back to our campsite.

This year's salamanders were not as plentiful as past years -- and unusually small and wounded.

This good-sized Wehrle's salamander came close to losing his tail.

The Slimy salamander above is in the process of re-growing a tail, while the Slimy below is not only very small, but also has a missing tail.

This Spring salamander may be the smallest we've ever caught. Usually Springs are among the largest sallies we catch.

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Updated 6/20/08