Last weekend I was lucky enough to volunteer with our
citizen science team to do an amphibian survey at Three Lakes. We backpacked in
with great weather and the calming views of our old growth forest. On our way
in, there was discussion about the Western Toad which was the main reason for
our adventure. The crew was in search of toad breeding grounds and evidence of
the toad around the Three Lakes area. The Western Toad has not been doing well
at the park and locating breeding grounds would be important for our scientists
– to ensure toad tadpoles are able to become toads. After our six mile trek with
our heavy packs, we started the survey at a wetland not too far from the Three
Lakes cabin we stayed at for two nights. As luck would have it, there were toad
tadpoles aplenty! It was delightful to come across this fortune of toad
tadpoles so quickly on our trip. We immediately went to work – catching,
measuring and documenting these tadpoles. 
As day two began, our spirits were high after the find of the
first day - questions lingered - could we find toad toddlers or even a large adult toad? The first
few spots we looked at had many Cascade Frogs but no signs of the toad. We arrived at small
lake glanced around and announced that the location did not look “toad-y”. We
walked over to the lake and began the survey. Almost right away, a young toad
was found, then another and another. These one year old toads were keeping us
busy – weighing, measuring and photographing them. Then we found an adult male
toad, which put the others to shame. He was big, calm and very fun to
photograph. As our time went on at this site, we found another adult toad and
even caught a garter snake. The trip was a success and it felt it had only
begun. However, as we moved on there were only a few more toads to be found.
The weather cooperated and as our team of four sat down for dinner we reminisced
of how successful the trip had been. 
With a much quicker hike out on day three, the trip was
over. The citizen science team and new brave volunteers are at Mystic Lake this
weekend, again in search of the Western Toad.
Our citizen science program provides great opportunities for volunteers of all ages. Projects range from short one day lake surveys to backpacking surveys like the one described above. For more information do not hesitate to contact me.
Mark Loper***All photos taken by volunteer Mark Kenny
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