During Week 9, we traveled to the North Cascades to conduct searches for Pseudocyphellaria rainierensis at sites we selected within North Cascades National Park and in the surrounding Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest (MBS) with mixed results. We were successful in relocating the species at one site in MBS using the data from a 2001 collection by Ann Risvold via the Consortium of North American Lichen Herbaria (CNALH). The site was found at the confluence of the south and middle forks of the Cascade River near Marblemount, WA. There we were able to collect another 10 tissue samples of P. rainierensis for our population genetic analyses. Those tissue samples collected represent the most northern population we have sampled in Washington state. Unfortunately, our success was limited by the boundaries of NOCA. Our first attempt left us at a dead end where an avalanche had created a chute too difficult to pass leaving us no choice but to turn back just past the border of NOCA on the abandoned mining road we followed above Marble Creek. We encountered several other cyanolichen species, including Lobaria anomala and Lobaria anthraspis, along our route and remain optimistic that P. rainierensis is still present further east on Marble Creek. The following day we hiked along Thunder Creek Trail and conducted intensive searches along the western bank of Thunder Creek and at Thunder Creek Camp with no sign of “Old Blue”.
