There are many gulches in the Mukilteo area. They largely seem to have been named by what they once contained. Japanese Gulch was once home to a Japanese-American community. Powder Mill Gulch held a gunpowder plant, until it blew up. At Brewery Gulch there was... yes, you guessed it: a brewery. This Earthcache brings you to a gulch with an even simpler name: Big Gulch.
What is a Gulch?
Gulches are narrow valleys in the earth’s surface, worn down by running water. They serve as natural drainage channels. In the case of Big Gulch, rainfall flows into the gulch from the surrounding area and forms Big Gulch creek at the bottom, which flows into Puget Sound. The creek at the bottom of a gulch can cut a channel in the gulch, but as long as the flow is slow, the erosion process is slow going. Gulches are similar to ravines, but gulches tend to have periods of torrential flow, such as during a large storm or during spring runoff of melting snow and ice. These large quantities of water can damage the gulch, eroding both the sides and bottoms of the gulch.
The Changing Landscape
Urbanization is often the main cause of this devastating damage, since it reduces the amount of porous surface area available to absorb water. Additional roads, parking lots and homes result in water being forced into the gulch at much greater speeds and volumes, causing high levels of erosion in the drainage channels. Because of the urbanization of the area around Big Gulch, extensive restoration work is ongoing. The success of restoration will depend on conservationists’ ability to prevent erosion by preserving the wetlands above the gulch. These wetlands not only help control erosion; they also play an important role in reducing pollution and sediment carried in the storm water that is discharged into Big Gulch.
Logging Requirements
The coordinates listed will take you to a bridge near the beginning of the trail. To log this Earthcache, you must proceed along the trail (about .25 mile) to the waypoint, where there is a sign with some information on the wetlands restoration. You must then e-mail me the answers to the following questions:
1. What is the main difference between a gulch and a ravine?
2. The wetland being restored here receives its water primarily from storm drainage along what road?
DO NOT post the answers to these questions in your log – it will be deleted! Photos with your log are, however, encouraged! Be sure to enjoy the views down into the gulch while hiking along the trail. Watch the little ones – the drop-off is steep at some points.