Sierra Nevada Ramblings

Visiting giant sequoia trees

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:48:00 +0000

Some groves of giant sequoia trees have good trails through them, and some even have paved trails, such as Trail of One Hundred Giants, in Giant Sequoia National Monument.

Walking amidst a grove of giant sequoias is not the same as walking through any old forest. In some groves, there are true giants, with trees over 15 feet in diameter. Then there are the incredibly huge trees that have trunks over 30 feet in diameter, although only a handful of such trees still exist today. Many were cut down during the logging haydays of the latter 1800s.

Trail of 100 giants has quite a few large trees, and the area was groomed and cleared of many smaller pines and firs a few years ago, then the trail was paved, making it easy to walk. The road to this grove takes a while to drive, as one must climb from the central valley of California up a very windy road to reach the area where sequoia trees live.

The rewards of taking such a drive are pretty amazing, with huge trees of such immense proportions and deep red color as to take the breath away. No matter how many times I have walked amidst a grove of these giants, their size and beauty still capture my attention and I return over and over again.

The images in this series were all taken along the Trail of 100 Giants, which winds about a portion of the Long Meadow Grove. And indeed, there are at least 100 very large giant sequoias in the area, and many of lesser size. A small meadow sits in the middle of the trailed area, with greenery and flowers during summer months.

The mountain road that takes you to this grove of giant sequoia trees is a good mountain road, although it is quite windy. Once the road reaches 6000' or so, it straightens out considerably and becomes very pleasant.

Fishing Bears

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:00:00 +0000

How do bears catch fish anyway? What is their technique. Think of how fast a fish moves, or "the big one that got away". Yet bears, huge and ponderous as they are, catch many fish. Are the fish they catch healthy and fast, or slow and worn out? Grizzly Bears thrive on salmon, with bears flocking to rivers during salmon runs, entering the rivers and somehow catching fish. Watch this video documentary to see some beautiful underwater bear fishing technique.

Fire in a Giant Sequoia tree

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 03:00:00 +0000

Walk amidst a grove of giant sequoia trees and their size astounds the senses. Walk around a number of these behemoths and the fire scars that extend deep into the interior of the still living trees, astounds even further. Fire is part of the natural cycle, and for trees that reach immense age and size, sooner or later a fire will burn at the base of a tree. And sometimes, in the top of a tree. And sometimes, an entire tree will burn from the inside out.

Many giant sequoia trees have huge fire scars, yet the trees continue to live for centuries, not rotting, and not diseased, just burned and recovering. The chemical makeup of sequoias keeps disease and many insect pests away, allowing a damaged tree to recover and thrive. Indeed, old denizens of a giant sequoia grove almost all have burn scars.

Lightning often strikes trees, sometimes shattering a tree into thousands of pieces, other times knocking out the top half of the tree. I've encountered shattered pines (heard the thunderclap and went searching for the hit tree), I've seen trees with spiral burn scars where the lightning left a burned path twisting down and around the tree. And I've seen trees that have lost their tops due to storms, winds, fires.

Lightning storms often visit the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and at times, giant sequoia groves. Last week, such a storm brought lightning and a giant sequoia caught fire. The USFS issued a press release and photos of the burning tree which is in Evans Grove, in Giant Sequoia National Monument. According to the press release, the fire cannot be safely put out so the tree will burn as it will.

Giant sequoia trees thrive with fire. Their seeds disperse and sprout with fire. Seedlings successfully grow after fire. The behemoths need fire, without it no new fire scars would lend personality to the old trees.

Images are from the press release:

Recent Fire Discovered Burning in Giant Sequoia Tree

SEQUOIA NATIONAL FOREST On Monday, June 1st Buck Rock Lookout reported seeing a fire in the Evans Giant Sequoia Grove on the Hume Lake Ranger District, Giant Sequoia National Monument. By noon firefighters were on scene to find a 12 foot diameter giant sequoia tree on fire with about a 10th of an acre ground fire smoldering around the tree. It is a hollow tree with fire burning inside from the base all the way to the top. Given the nature of the tree and its position on the landscape, the options of trying to put out the fire in the tree using aircraft or ground delivery water sources would be ineffective and unsafe for firefighters.

It was determined that about 60 feet of the top of the tree was knocked out when it was struck by lightning. There were several thunderstorms reported in the area the day prior with a significant amount of lightning and rain associated with those storms.

The “Burton Fire” is burning in a remote section of the Evans Grove and presently does not pose a threat to the general public or private property that is located in this area. A 5-person engine crew and 10 person handcrew as needed are assigned to the fire.

Forest officials have decided to suppress this fire using a confine/containment strategy based on fuel and weather conditions. By using natural barriers and openings, a containment line has been established that encompasses approximately 2 acres surrounding the tree. According to District Ranger John Exline, “If this fire had occurred later in the summer, the district may have chosen a different strategy and tactic based on weather, time of year, smoke dispersal, and burning conditions in relationship to resource benefit resulting in a larger confine/containment area.”

Weather forecasts are for continued thunderstorm activity and the possibility of precipitation, crews will continue to monitor this fire. For more information on the Burton Fire please contact the Hume Lake Ranger District 559-338-2251.

Fawn in the Road

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 22:03:00 +0000

So there I was, driving down the windy road to get to the big city when I round a bend in the road and lying there was a lifeless, tiny little fawn. Pulled over, walked back and lifted the little thing out of the road. Carried it off to the side. It was still warm and limp, just a bit of blood on its nose. Must have fallen from the extremely steep cliff above, or maybe the mom just chose a bad way to climb and the tiny thing simply couldn't climb the long expanse of steep granite, slipped and fell. It didn't look like a car hit it.

Perfect little body, with fluffy, soft fur. Couldn't have been but a week or two old it was so tiny. I hated the idea of cars smashing it, or of scavengers also dying trying to eat it, so I let the little thing roll down the steep slope off the road, down toward the river. I never touched a brand new fawn before this. Kind of a bitter sweet moment.

Native Plants

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:29:00 +0000

Native plants are what belong in any locale. Unfortunately, we humans tend to import species that aren't locals and with those introductions of plant species, import problems too, from plant disease to insect pests, to species that just are not suited to a given climate, or that perhaps require a lot of supplemental water in a drought stricken climate. What to do? Grow natives!

How to grow natives? Well, you could go to a nearby native plant nursery, and find plants there (just do research to make sure the plants you want to buy are LOCAL natives. Most plants are native to somewhere, but are they native to your specific area? In my state of California, we have poppies, but in my specific mountain valley, we have an endemic species of poppy too. If I just buy poppy seeds labeled "California Poppy", those could be collected from a variety that does not grow in my immediate area. If I toss those around and they interbreed with true local natives, what am I doing to the gene pool? Something to consider. If you have a green thumb and know how to grow things you might consider trying to grow true natives from cuttings, taken from new growth, during spring. Just make certain any cuttings you take are from lands where such behavior is allowed (or get permission from a local property owner). In my case, I volunteer with the USFS so the cuttings I take are for use on those very same lands.

I volunteer at a nearby land agency, and am in the process of growing all sorts of true, local natives to use in rehabilitating trails, campgrounds and other areas with human damage/impact. Restoring areas with native plants seems the right thing to do. We have a beautiful shade house that is about half full of native plants, mostly cuttings, to be used in restoration projects. The shade house is crucial in this sunny, hot climate.

Riparian tree cuttings seem to to well as cuttings. These are big cuttings, 4 feet or so long, and the idea is to have things to plant that make a visible impact so folks won't trample them once set in the field. Cottonwoods, willows, alders and a few shrubs are all in the shade house.

A number of shrubs have also been started from cuttings, things like manzanita, California lilac, buckwheat, and more.

Lots of oak trees have sprouted from acorns collected during late summer and early fall, when the acorns are ripe.

Native Plants

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:02:00 +0000

Have you ever collected seeds from native plants? Six to eight weeks after blooming, seed heads for many plant species are ripe. Here in the Sierras, the hills look very brown this time of year, although some flower species have yet to bloom. The grassy hills are mostly brown and you have to look for both flowers and seeds.

At first glance, this hilly area looks quite dried up, but hiding amidst all that brown are thousands of seed heads. The bright gold, tiny star like shapes in the foreground of the image below, are all flower heads of a tiny little plant, perhaps goldfields. Many seeds were already dropped the day I went seed collecting, but I was able to collect many in just 10 minutes.

A very widespread flower with thousands of still intact, large seed heads were found over many miles of area. To collect these seeds, I carried small paper bags and with a gloved hand, reached around each seed head and pulled slowly. For each seed head harvested, probably half the seeds went flying in the breeze (a good thing as I just want some seeds, and truly want most to replenish the hill sides).

Native bunch grasses have slowly been disappearing from much of this country, due to a number of factors, including domestic livestock grazing on the native plants, and the widespread takeover of exotic plant species which outcompete many natives. I've been collecting seeds from some of the tiny little bunch grasses that grow in the surrounding hills, and hope to get some of these natives growing in the empty lots in my neighborhood. My own yard had very few natives growing in it when we moved here, and I decided the best way to conserve water yet have a pretty yard is to stock the soil with native seeds. Next winter/spring, I'm hoping for a lot of native plants to sprout.

Modern day gardening and landscaping practices seem to involve growing whatever looks nice without much thought to whether the plant is a native, what its water and climate needs are, and whether the plant will become an invasive problem sometime in the future. Choosing to grow local natives seems to me to be the best way to pick plants that stand the best chances of survival in a particular locale, or if those species choices are quite limited, then to find natives that grow within a few hundred miles of your location. As for non-natives, landscaping with edible species such as fruit trees and berry bushes seems a smart way to add extra greenery that serves a dual purpose.

Hummingbird family

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:08:00 +0000

Hummingbirds are adorably cute, no doubt about it. Feisty, fast, easy to entice with a nectar filled feeder. But seeing a hummingbird nest filled with young is a very elusive thing, something I've only encountered in a hummingbird house in a zoo. But, with the internet, and the diligence of folks around the globe, seeing such an site is possible, albeit it is via video someone has posted. Here is a wonderful video of a hummingbird family, found on the web. I take no credit for this...but am thankful to the person who took the time to set up their camera, film and share this.

Flowers in the Foothills

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Mon, 25 May 2009 15:02:00 +0000

There are so many different types of flowers growing in the Sierra Nevada mountains during spring and summer, the senses are inundated with color and perfume. Beginning in January and February, the lowest elevations become colorful, with a succession of flowers blooming for months. By May, flowers are blooming at the 6,000' too. A few flowers found along the highway during May, between 1,000 and 2,000' above sea level:

1. not certain
2. brodea growing on a granite rock, in a crack, along with lots of moss
3. Blue Dicks
4. Western Wallflower
5. Sierra Daisy

desert flowers

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Sat, 23 May 2009 17:19:00 +0000

Here are a few of the flowers I saw blooming about 6 weeks ago in the nearby desert.

Insects galore

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Fri, 22 May 2009 16:47:00 +0000

Not all flowers are created equal, at least from an insects point of view! Most plants have insects that frequent them, but some plants get inundated with insects. I have no idea what the plant is, it was only a foot high, but spread across a 12' span. It was covered with tiny white blossoms, and hundreds of insects. As I stood there, half a dozen different types of butterflies landed, dozens of honey bees crawled in and out of the flower heads, and countless other insects flitted about too.

There was one insect that was huge, perhaps 3 inches long with vivid orange wings and a bluish body. It crawled all over that plant, going into the depths of the plant in search of something. An insect so large looked very predatory to me, but I'm clueless what it is:

Elderberry in Bloom

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Mon, 11 May 2009 12:43:00 +0000

Large bushes covered with tiny white blossoms and deep green leaves dot the hillsides along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada during the month of May. Some of the flowers are creamy white, others seem to be more yellow, but all form large umbrella like collections of flowers that span a foot or more in diameter. Once pollinated, the flowers begin to ripen into small berries, and by late summer, the bushes will be covered with purple elderberries.

The elderberry is edible, although they need to be fully ripe to allow sugars to develop. Elderberry jam and wine are two food items I've tried, and both are quite good--reminiscent of blackberry in flavor.

Tent review

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Sun, 03 May 2009 12:54:00 +0000

Tents are not all equal. Some have excellent qualities and design, others have such poor qualities they make an experienced camper wonder about who designed the tent and what made that designer think their tent was worth selling.

I've used tents for many years, and in the past 5 years the trend has been toward cheaply made tents with poor designs. Amazingly, the ads and packaging for such tents state all these great design features that in my opinion are not good features at all.

For the past few years, I've bought a number of tents, tried them and returned them to the store as defective. One tent had a fly that would only fit and provide rain protection over tent windows/doors by being attached upside down.

Another couple of tents had flies that were so short they did not block rain from entering the tent. One tent had no door. Well, it had netting and a fly, but the netted door had nothing to cover it. The fly certainly didn't. If rain had fallen, the inside of the tent would have gotten wet, and there was no privacy at all.

One of the strangest tents I bought 3 years ago took an hour to figure out as it had a built in framework that one had to unlock to set up. Once figured out, the thing poofed open. That tent had netting from the roof down to about 8 inches off the ground. The fly extended down just to that same 8 inches off the ground, which meant rain would hit the ground then bounce back up and into the tent. The wind that night (in the mountains, down canyon breeze all night long) along with the patchy snow still on the ground meant we were all cold.

Another trend in modern tents is the overuse of netting. Like 50 to 95% of the tent walls/roof are made of netting, with a fly that goes over top to provide some protection from the weather. Or so many windows that don't have any way to zip them shut that a wind circulates within the tent making it downright breezy while one tries to sleep. Mid-day, in the sun such a breeze would be welcome. But at night, in the mountains, with air temps in the 40s or lower, such a breeze means one needs a much heavier sleeping bag and a mask to keep the wind off the face. Brrrr. Granted, the idea of netting is to keep condensation from making the inside of a tent wet, but windows and doors with zippered nylon closures could let one adjust this air flow as needed. (Like tents were made 7+ years ago). Zippered closures seem to be disappearing from the tent market.

I admit, I purchased many of these tents from big name cheapo retailers that have a massive consumer market. I like cheap tents, with cheap being $40 to $80 per tent. However, after dealing with 6 tent returns over two years, I decided to buy a tent from a retailer that caters to back packers, figuring they'd have quality control and a higher standard. Ordered a one person tent that I could use for back packing and took it car camping. Set it up. All netting. Like 95% of the walls and roof! The packaging did not mention just how much netting this tent contained. It did have a fly that extended to just inches above the ground. Slept in it and got quite cold by the wee hours (camping at 9,000' in Yosemite). Very claustrophobic tube like tent. I much prefer a roomier tent, but maybe I can get used to such a shelter. No room inside for gear at all. If it were stormy, things would get wet inside in a flash when one unzips the fly to exit.

I think the last decent tents I bought were purchased at least 7 years ago. Since then, nothing I've tried has impressed me. Back then, I had very well made cheapo tents for car camping, and it seemed the backpacking tents were also better. Heavier, but without all that netting.

Yes, I know some folks abhor tents, but I like them. I just wish I knew before purchase just how poorly so many are put together. Things like hold down points in the wrong position, or the fly not extending far enough, or cut incorrectly so it didn't cover netted areas thoroughly. Or the tent has so many windows it generates a disturbing draft. Or the tent is designed to not hold up in a strong wind. If one invests in a tent, the tent should provide good protection from the elements.

Tents are good.

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 14:01:00 +0000

I don't like sharing my sleeping bag with critters, so when camping I set up a tent and keep it zipped closed. One trip however found me climbing into my tent and sleeping bag, only to lie there listening to the rustling sounds some small animal made as it scurried about. At first I thought the animal was just outside the thin nylon walls that "protected" me from such intruders, but then I saw movement and decided I was not going to let that animal crawl down into my bag with me, nor keep me awake all night chewing on my gear.

I made a rapid exit from the tent and left the door open, hoping to see the mouse exit too, but instead it hid. I began to remove everything from within the tent and tossed gear out onto the damp ground (I had retreated into the tent early in the evening to hide from a light rain). Finally the nylon shelter was bare and in plain site was a little brown mouse with big ears and nowhere to hide. It made circuits around the structure, going this way and that, then finally, it leaped over the lip of nylon at the door and ran out into the dusk, into the forest where it belonged.

Some folks camp with just a tarp, but critters in the wild, at night, do not appeal to me. Plus, I like netted walls that keep mosquitoes away. In damp areas during summer, mosquitoes are at times so dense for many hours after dark, one would receive hundreds of bites if not for netting.

Another reason I like a zippered shelter is to keep animals from sniffing at me. The walls of a tent won't keep a determined animal out, but for the most part, animals just pass through, sniffing at things, looking for food. I don't want to be sniffed. Whiskers and bad breath in my face, startling me awake, are to be avoided. For those of you with lots of back packing experience, traveling without a tent might be how you do things, but not me. Even a warm summer night will see me inside a tent.

Ever have a bear sniff you in the face? My husband had that happen once, in his teens, camping beneath the stars in Yosemite. Now Yosemite National Park has lots of bears and they frequent the campgrounds every night. Imagine being startled awake with fetid hot breath on your face, a bear snout inches from your eyes. That story sticks with me when I camp in the Sierras, prime bear territory. I'll be in my tent. Will you be in yours?

Lost and Found items

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:15:00 +0000

Have you ever found something someone else lost, and managed to return the item to its owner? I have a story to tell of a lost and found ring that began for me, about 4 years ago when I went on a camping trip to the ocean and found a ring lying in the sand.

A ring it was, but a ring with words on it, and dates, and even the name of a city, so I had a clue where to look. A man's class ring it was, from a small town perhaps 40 miles from where the ring was found on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. If the ring had been any other type of ring I would have just kept it, but this ring was emblazoned with a name in bold letters, and class rings never did appeal to me. But this one had a story written on it, with the name of the school, a graduation date, and even a position played on a football team. I figured it couldn't be very hard to find the owner.

You might wonder why I would spend any time searching for the person who belonged to the ring, but I hated the idea of tossing the thing out, when I knew there was most likely a real person out there, somewhere, who was possibly missing that very ring.

While on vacation in the Morro Bay area four or five years ago, I parked at a trail head in Montana de Oro State Park and hiked down to the beach. Upon returning to the parking area a few hours later, a shiny class ring was lying in the sand, but no other cars or people were in sight. I took the ring home with me, figuring it would be a simple matter to find the owner and return it since it had a name and school written on it. Not so.

In the intervening years, I've tried searching for the owner and had no success at all. That first summer, I phoned the High School whose name was on the ring and asked if they knew of any "Ks" in the area, or the particular K whose name was on the ring. All they told me was try the phone book. I didn't live in the area, so I did an online search and even made a few calls, but none of those Ks knew of a David K.

About once a year, I pulled that ring out of the basket of miscellaneous stuff it sat in, rolled it around in my fingers and wondered if Mr. K missed his ring, and if he had any clue where he lost it, or that it had been found. I wondered if he had tried finding it through any online searches or ads, or if he didn't bother. And then I'd spend an hour on the internet, doing searches for his name, making a few phone calls to see if I could find a name that perhaps would lead somewhere. I even placed an ad at a web site that lists lost and found class rings.

This year I wasn't going to bother at all, heck it was almost 5 years I had had the thing in my possession. But then I happened to visit Craig's List and thought perhaps an ad placed in the geographic area near where I found the ring (and where the high school was) might reach local folks, and maybe even Mr. K, himself. All sorts of folks responded to that ad, and all gave helpful advice, including phone numbers (alas, to disconnected numbers). It seemed perhaps I was getting closer to finding the owner of this ring, especially when one respondent said there was a family by that name who had lived in the area for 30+ years. Another respondent said he personally knew some Ks and would ask them. Alas, those folks didn't come up with the right K, but then, another contact from that ad, Ann, got in touch with me, and we began an email correspondence.

It took her 2 or 3 months of contacting folks in her town and following this and that lead to finally find someone who actually knew the man. In fact, the best lead was one I received from another respondent to the ad, from someone who had met a Mr. K at a shelter a couple years past. Well, my friend Ann had a friend who worked at a shelter in a nearby city and she contacted her. This friend had met Mr. K but had not seen him in months, and had no idea where he might be.

Meanwhile, Ann, a woman with spiritual yearnings had a friend who pestered her to come to a bible study. Ann was not Christian, but decided to go on a Thursday evening and see what such a gathering would be like. She went with one focus in mind, and that was Mr. K and hoping that maybe connecting him with his ring would help his life get turned around for the better. So for two hours Ann did this prayer thing. And while she was at her prayer meeting, her friend from the shelter got some itch to go to a store at night (and this friend never does shopping at night), and guess who the friend found standing behind her at the checkout? Yep, Mr. K.

It was just after this unfolded that Ann emailed me saying she urgently needed to talk on the telephone, and so we did for an hour. And her entire story was told to me. All her efforts, meeting with this and that coach from the high school, following this and that lead, and then the prayer meeting and the way her shelter working friend went out at the very moment of that meeting and encountered the very man Ann was praying about.

Now, I'm not a religious person, but I do believe there are powerful, spiritual forces out there and things sometimes happen that show such forces at work. I got goose bumps listening to her on the phone, telling this part of her tale.

This part of the story unfolded about a month ago and I mailed the ring to Ann. Ann's got David's phone number from the friend who saw him at the store,and they spoke a few times. They finally met up this week and David got his ring back. It turns out that ring was lost long before I ever found it, like 15 years ago! A big bonfire with friends on the beach, and the ring went missing.

I'm happy to know the ring is back on the hand of a man who needed a bit of goodness in his life. He has a brand new baby from what I hear, and a life to live.

Death Valley 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:02:00 +0000

Death Valley National Park is nice during spring as that's when flowers bloom and the extensive expanses of barren land becomes alive with an annual burst of greenery and color. Last week I took a few days and camped there, taking time to do a lot of driving back roads and visiting various scenic parts of the desert park.

One of the back road drives that takes up a day (at least the way we drive, stopping often for photos and exploring) is the Titus Canyon road, a winding, mountainous drive along gravel and dirt roads that begins just outside the park on the Nevada side, and twists through rugged terrain that baffles the mind with all the colors and the remoteness of the place.

The road is rough and needs a vehicle with good suspension. There are some old mines along the road with ruins one can explore and even some old mined out tunnels that are safe enough the park has left them open.

At long last, after hours of slow driving, the canyon becomes very, very narrow, with water carved cliffs of dolomite

that rise far overhead. Mud could be seen 50 feet overhead, sometimes higher, still caught beneath overhangs that protect it from erosion, and witness to a flash flood of great height, at least in the lowest reaches of Titus Canyon.

And then, the tight canyon suddenly ended, and the slow drive, just about done. A few miles of additional gravel road down a huge alluvial fan, and the the paved highway was again reached, now back on the valley floor of the park.

Sierra spring

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 02:00:00 +0000

Springtime in the foothills is always so pretty. The hills turn green and if a fire happened to burn the previous year, poppies bloom in abundance, covering the burned areas with acres of orange.

Each year we get a few fires in this area, and the resulting flower display is always nice. The seeds of many of the annuals will lie dormant for years, decades even, awaiting the right conditions. For some of those seeds, a low intensity fire along with winter rains, triggers whatever it is within the seed that allows it to germinate, multiplied by hundreds of thousands of seeds.

Another springtime plant that grows in mass abundance is the miner's lettuce. It loves shady areas that get dappled sunlight. Carpets of these edible greens often grow beneath large trees in areas that get enough rain during winter.

Desert critters

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:56:00 +0000

All sorts of animals make their home in the desert, although you have to look carefully to find most of them. Many are tiny, such as insects and spiders, and close examination of plants or areas beneath rocks will reveal these tiny creatures. Since deserts get quite hot, many animals become active at dawn or dusk,and some remain active for the night, while things are cool.

Ants are abundant in the desert and their holes go into the cool depths of underground chambers. An active ant nest is often revealed by a large mound of piled up debris. This debris pile has a circle of plants sprouting around it. Perhaps some of the seeds the ants collected were rejected and added to the debris pile, and they sprouted. The slight elevation of the pile means any precipitation that falls would roll away from the opening to the nest and focus at the base of the mound, right where all those little sprouts are growing.

In the sandstone cliffs of one desert area, I noticed a lot of bees flying in and out of a large dark opening in the formation. They look to be your everyday honey bee. With all the flowers that bloom each spring, such a hive would thrive. The desert blooms in mass abundance during spring, but some species bloom later in the year, and others in the fall, providing the honey bees with a steady source of flowers. In the image, it looks like honey might be dripping along the walls.

Many insects live in the desert. When I encounter living beetles, they typically find the nearest plant and try to hide under it, or begin digging in the sand to hide. This animal found a small plant and chose to die there, or perhaps the plant grew up right by the already dead beetle. I moved it from beneath its plant to take the photo.

For those of you who LOVE WILDFLOWERS, please go to this web site where the most amazing of wild flower images can be found. When entire hillsides and acres of land are covered with flowers, the images are astonishing, and the scents, heavenly. The Desert USA website has folks adding current images and they update things regularly, so you can get an idea of how the current flowers are looking in the desert areas.

A few more desert wildflowers

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Flowers in the desert are not quite like flowers in wetter climates, as so little moisture reaches the desert floor the seeds can lie dormant for years, decades even. Seeds have special coatings that take a certain amount of moisture to break through, and in a very wet year (in desert terms), the number of flowers that do grow, bloom, thrive, is astounding. The past two years have been on the dry side, so flower numbers are just moderate, depending on timing and location. A few years ago the western Mohave Desert received a huge amount of rain and there were all sorts of flowers blooming that no one had seen in decades. I recall reading newspaper articles with botanists stating they were able to see species that hadn't been seen for 30+ years! I took a drive that year (alas, my camera of that era was very cheap and I have no decent photos), and recall the colorfulness that went on for hundreds of miles. It was a most amazing year for flowers.

With each passing week, a trip to the desert during the spring can vary as far as what's blooming and where. A few more images from last week's drive reveal a lot of yellow plants, and one desert tortoise burrow, with a very curved top edge. My guess is the tortoise must have used this tunnel for years, slowly growing and now fitting somewhat snugly in that hole, rounding off the top. Just a guess.

Fiddlenecks seem to grow over many parts of California, including this desert variety (above), and Desert Candles with their puffy stems and tiny little purple flowers were blooming in abundance in one area.

Goldfields, tiny little golden flowers that make massive carpets are in full bloom, all over the place.

Spring Cleaning

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:08:00 +0000

Changes always come with the arrival of spring. New greenery appears everywhere, and the warmer temperatures seem to motivate one to get out and explore, or to clean things up around the home. Me, I've been rather busy with classes and projects, and I've sort of left this site to fend for itself. But no longer!

My ho-hum black background is gone for good. I've been taking a class in web design (working with a program called Dreamweaver), and someday I hope to be able to do all sorts of great things on the internet. Meanwhile, I borrowed this background to prettify this site, and I'm hoping the colors are pleasing yet simple enough to go with photographs.

Enjoy your spring and whatever projects you may work on.

Desert Flowers and a bit about tortoises

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 02:39:00 +0000

The desert is currently blooming, although the wild flowers are somewhat sparse. It's been a dryish winter so just a moderate number of flowers seem to be appearing. Some areas have carpets of flowers, in other areas they are more dispersed. When color and greenery is abundant, the desert becomes a much prettier place to visit. Goldfields, tiny little gold colored flowers that carpet many of the flatter areas were out by the billions.

Last week I drove the hilly area around the town of Ridgecrest and saw quite a lot of flowers on one steep alluvial slope. All those flowers and the greenery reminded me that desert tortoises should be out of hibernation around now too, so this week I went to a tortoise preserve, hoping to see one of these desert natives. The drive was long, the terrain very bleak for a good part of the drive, but when we reached the preserve, there were lots of flowers and other herbaceous plants. The web site I visited that gave tortoise info stated the tortoises come out of their dens in the hottest part of the day in March and April, so we timed our arrival for noonish. Unfortunately, that web site's info was not the same as the info the on-site naturalist gave, and apparently the tortoises were already back in their holes, staying cool. He suggested visiting before 10 am. We wandered a trail through the preserve and saw a couple of tortoise holes and gazillions of pretty flowers that scented the air with a delicious perfume, but no tortoises.

The Mohave is home to the Little Gold Poppy, Eschscholzia minutiflora, which was also abundant, although not very showy. The plants were only 4 or so inches tall, the blooms about the size of a fingernail.

In some years, Desert Dandelion, Malacothrix glabrata, is everywhere, making carpeted fields of vivid canary yellow. There were some blooming, here and there.

Hummingbirds galore!

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 03:04:00 +0000

It is an amazing thing to be able to stand on my upper balcony and have little wings fan my face as dozens of hummingbirds vie for a spot at one of the two feeders filled with sugar water, in the middle of February! I typically hang a feeder most of the year, but this is the first year I put a winter feeder on my upstairs balcony, and I had no idea there were so many of these little birds flying through this time of year, until yesterday when my one feeder was swarmed by hummingbirds. I filled a second feeder and as each hour passed, the fluid levels dropped by at least one inch, in both of those feeder! There was a constant whir of wings all afternoon, and by dusk, the feeders were covered with little birds, perhaps 16 birds sitting at each feeder, all filling up for the night, with dozens more trying to land! There must have been hundreds drinking from my two feeders yesterday.

Today, I refilled both quart sized feeders by 4pm, although the number of birds seemed to be less today. I went outside with my camera in the afternoon and took a few photos and short movie clips. The number of birds on each feeder doubled once I went inside.

The location where I live is a major flyway for all sorts of bird species, and we get 8 different species of hummingbirds coming through, with Anna's overwintering.

I live on a hill and my upper balcony is way up high. Hanging feeders there is like having red beacons, visible for as far as a hummingbird can see.

The rural road

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 21:20:00 +0000

A drive over the mountains and down through the foothills can bring quite different scenes, especially on a snowy, winter day. In the southern Sierras there is a road that is open all year long, and it travels from the Kern River Valley, over a low crest, then drops rapidly into the Great Central Valley of California. At its high point, highway 155 travels through a conifer forest, and just a few days ago I drove this route, stopping to take photos along the way.

About 5 miles of this road was covered with snow, and the steep grade meant 1st gear and very slow travel. It was snowing off and on as I drove along. Gradually the pines gave way to oaks and grassland, although snow hid all of the grasses.

A few more miles down the grade revealed bright green grasses, covering the hills, along with oaks and California buckeyes.

Movement off to the side of the road caught my attention and an animal species I'd not encountered before had me hurriedly pull over and try to take a photo. As soon as I stopped my vehicle, the wild boar noticed and began trotting in the opposite direction. By the time I snapped a photo, he was almost out of range.

As I drove, I wondered where all the hawks and eagles were that typically sit in the tree tops all along this stretch of rural road, and once I began looking for them, sure enough, the rain did not keep them from their perches up high. One very large bird was sitting on a power pole and I stopped and took a few photos before that golden eagle (I think) flew off.

Driving a rural road on a rainy/snowy day is highly recommended.

Along the Rural Road

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:03:00 +0000

The lure of a windy, rural road is powerful. Scenery varies with each bend in the road, as small hills roll by and the view changes from dense forest to open woodland, to hillside meadow, to hilltop lane shrouded with overhanging trees.

A straight stretch of narrow road, framed by overhanging branches, beckons. I park in the road, and stare in awe at the quarter mile stretch of greenery with moss covered branches, ferns, and textured bark. I wonder how this small bit of natural beauty survived the clearcutting that opened up the hills to cattle grazing and farming so many years ago. Now, just remnant bits of woodland remain, dotting the hills, the loss extending for miles in all directions, clearly visible from this hill top. But the beauty left behind is also lovely, with golden grasses blowing in the wind, oaks and other trees breaking up the miles of grasses with dark patches of deep green.

Images such as this one are what draw me back, over and over again onto rural roads throughout my golden state. Golden with dried grasses so much of the year. Green for just a few short months each winter and spring. Perhaps colorful with a variety of wild flowers for a few months too.

Throughout the state, rural roads vary. Some are so windy one must slow down to merely a crawl as hairpin turn follows hairpin turn, climbing up mountain sides with slopes so steep one wonders how anyone could build on such terrain. Other roads curve through gentle valleys, following the meanders of streams, or moving up and down over countless small ridges and the low spots in between. I seek out such roads, travel them, wonder who lives upon them and what those folks do so far from neighbors and towns. I take my camera with me, stopping now and then to take a photo, a memory of the road traveled, so far from home, a road new to me, or perhaps last visited so long ago the memory is faint or faded.

Sometimes I wonder how many others travel these roads just for the sake of the beauty and remoteness, or the chance to feel the wind in the face and test the limits of one's driving skills.

California Sycamore

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 02:37:00 +0000

One of the prettiest of riparian trees is the California Sycamore. Imagine a leaf so large it would take both of your hands to cover it. Think of a puzzle made in shades of gray and imagine that surrounding the trunk of a tree that towers 60 feet overhead. Where the gray puzzle like bark ends, think of smooth whitish bark extending up the main trunk and out along each branch, with huge leaves all over, forming a canopy of green and gold through which sunlight shines, leaving dappled light upon the ground.

During spring and summer months, imagine green leaves forming a sun blocking umbrella here and there along streams, with a few leaves lying on the ground, brittle, dried, almost perfect in their palmlike shape. Sharp points at the tip of each lobe elicit a fingertip, testing, feeling for sharpness. A closer look at the tree trunk is followed by a hand, reaching out, feeling for smoothness, eyes looking to see how the puzzlelike parts fit together, mind wondering how such a beautiful tree came to be.

Revisit the riparian zone during late fall and early winter and find the same trees with leaves of golden orange, contrasting against smooth white bark and brilliant against a deep blue, clear sky. Visit once again on a drizzly winter day when the grays of the textured bark take on shades of greens and browns, and the leaves are all on the ground, reflecting golden brown hues up onto the trunk of the tree, lending colors from a low perspective, while up above, gray skies contrast against the white, smooth branches that twist and turn in long graceful arcs, with smaller branches and twigs sticking out in many directions.

Imagining such a beauty is not quite the same as standing beneath such a tree, in person, breathing its scent and touching its bark. To see such a tree one needs to find a riparian zone, as sycamores need to have their roots reach ground water, and that often means a nearby stream or damp area. Here in California, the California Sycamore, Platanus racemosa grows along riparian zones in much of the central and southern state. They are quite abundant on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada, at elevations below 3000 feet.

More information, and a map showing the growing areas of this sycamore can be found at the Jepson Manual website. More photos and descriptive information can be found at the Kaweah Oaks Preserve website.

Whale Watching

noreply@blogger.com (Zhakee) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 15:42:00 +0000

As the boat slowly left the dock and moved upon the waters of the harbor, memories of a past trip floated to the edge of awareness, of another excursion where the boat got so close to whales one could see barnacles upon their backs, and hear the sound of flukes as they hit the water. But that was then, and this was now, and a new adventure awaited. The idea of seeing whales up close had been working its way into my thoughts and the decision was finally made to splurge on a trip and go and see whales again. A couple of hours upon the water, an adventure to see a few whales up close, it would be worth the queasiness, upset stomach, and $30 per person fee, I hoped.

Now, we were on a 58 foot boat, and were nearing the jetty at the mouth of the small harbor at Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey, where hundreds of sunbathing sea lions were sprawled upon the rocks. At the very tip of the jetty, the sea lions became a dense mass, with many crowded upon the rocks, and dozens swimming in the water.

Once the boat cleared the harbor, it sped up, moving up and down each swell, heading 6 or so miles out into the deep water. Sitting at the front of the boat, each swell was reminiscent of a roller coaster ride, with a sudden drop down the lee side of each swell, then up the next. When swells were larger, the captain slowed down, riding each wave individually, then speeding up for the smaller waves. The ride was fun and chilly and filled with salty spray. Thirty minutes across the bay, we headed toward two other whale watching boats, then slowed and saw a distant spout of water and breath as a whale surfaced.

Ahhh, nice. A small pod of whales was moving about, surfacing, breathing, sinking, just doing what it is whales do. But, we never got close. Far away we were, and far away we remained. The boats all kept back, giving the whales plenty of room and not threatening the whales in any manner, but, we were so far away one could barely see the whales. This was not what I expected for the $90 I paid for three. An hour we spent sort of near the whales, with the diesel engine putting and stinking up the air, and the whales faintly visible. It was hard to get photos with the swell of the boat and one really could not stand as the waves were much too choppy to remain balanced. I did manage a few faint images, and cropping those pics you can sort of see about as much as we did, which is barely anything.

The captain apologized for how far back we were, but he had to comply with state regulations that were instated to protect the whales, and that meant 100 yards distance. I think we were more like 300 yards back, much too far to see any details at all. The trip, overall was fun (if one can ignore a very quesy stomach), and on way back we passed a huge herd of sea lions that were miles from shore, cavorting, swimming, leaping and hunting fish. There must have been a couple hundred of them and they were fascinating to see out at sea.

Once we re-entered the harbor, the captain slowly passed the moored boats, a sea otter, and sun bathing birds and sea lions. Then we docked and went ashore. An interesting day, but not quite what I expected.