The still explosions on the rocks

On the trail to Rancheria, above Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite.

Merry Crustmas from the California Lichen Society

From their latest email: "Winter is lichen season. The lichens are living their best lives, and there are few experiences more sublime in life than observing thriving lichens." 

I couldn't agree more!

 

Carson Pass country, again

Last week MK and I camped for a couple nights up at Woods Lake CG. I try to go every year, and this year for the third time I hiked what may be my favorite "day hike" in the Sierras: From Woods Lake up to Lake Winnemucca, then to Round Top and 4th of July Lakes, down into the Summit City Canyon, up to Forestdale Divide, and finally returning around the base of Elephant's Back to Woods Lake. "Day hike" is in scare quotes because this is a 16.5 mile round trip, with a total elevation gain of somewhere around 3,000 feet– a combo that pushes my physical limits, at least at my current level of non-conditioning. That said, the vistas and abundant and diverse wildflowers and other plants are breathtaking nearly every step of the way. Along the deep, rugged, and spectacular Summit City Canyon, you are alone in the wilderness– we encountered not another human soul after Round Top until we reached the Pacific Crest Trail at Forestdale many miles later.

Photos can't really do it justice, but here a few snapshots with the Pixel anyway. The lichen picture is a cheat, having been taken near the Meiss Col on the other side of Highway 88... but such lichens!

Grant Park lichens

In addition to plenty of birds, oaks, and vistas... lichens! Not the best lichen spot in the region by a long shot, but an interesting rock outcropping here and there...

Sonora Pass country

I camped up there for a couple of nights last week. The high country along the Pacific Crest Trail is now pretty desolate, the snow largely gone, but the rocks, lichens, and chilly blue lakes remain impressive. Little plants eke out a living, including thistles, gentians, and Whitney's milkvetch (Astragalus whitneyi), a prostrate legume that produces peas in a funny ballon-shaped pod. 

Down the hill to the west, a hike from Kennedy Meadows to Relief Reservoir is a nice workout up a Yosemite-worthy granitic canyon, carved by tributaries of the Middle Fork Stanislaus River. The reservoir itself, filled behind a 1910 dam and part of PG&E's hydroelectric system, is in a spectacular setting, although artificial lakes in beautiful canyons make me sad. The Kennedy Meadows Resort is the kind of place where you see a lot of oversized pickup trucks, enormous RVs, State of Jefferson signs, and not too many masks. I'm sure folks there are friendly. I didn't hang around long enough to find out.

I'm lichen it

You too? Coyote Hills.

The Lichens Family...

... is a small musical promotion operation in Chile. I have to approve of their choice of name and logo! They also represent the excellent Newen Afrobeat, recommended by Aidan. It's as if Fela learned to sing in Spanish... well, sometimes they adopt his pidgin too...

Lichens at Coyote Hills

Coyote Hills Regional Park is a special place tucked against the east shore of San Francisco Bay in Fremont. It is rich in habitat– from marshland to rolling hills featuring interesting Franciscan complex outcroppings– and has a long human history, indicated by an old Ohlone village site and shellmound. The lichens growing on the reddish radiolarian chert are the most lovely I know of in the Bay Area...

Lichen is fungal, mostly

It sops up the rain like a sponge... or a moss. I can't vouch for my phone getting the colors exactly right, but pretty close.

Lobaria pulmonaria...

... is the symbiotic relationship of organisms belonging to three different kingdoms of life! Fungi, algae, and cyanobacteria. I suppose the same will be said of humans once we fully understand our microbiome.

Sierra Vista

My friends from Mountain View (get it?) suggested a Sunday hike at Sierra Vista, a preserve in the foothills east of East San Jose. I'd never been there. My first impression was... meh... exposed grassy hills with plenty of cow patties... commanding views of the Bay Area were a plus, but those can be had elsewhere as well.

Things improved decidedly when we set off down the Kestrel Trail on the ridge above Upper Penitencia Creek, a rugged canyon lined with classic California chaparral.  Highlights for me included my first (to my knowledge) sighting of Lindley's blazingstar (Mentzelia lindleyi), a spectacular wildflower growing in abundance in places along the steep slope; gooseberries in the shade of an old oak; rock outcroppings made of thick layers of fossilized mollusks; and– yeah, you know– some excellent lichens.

Hidden Villa

What can I say? I love everything about the place, from visiting the farm animals to the fantastic trails to the historic Duveneck house. This time of year the lichens and fungi attract attention... mine, at least...

After the rain

A dry winter in NorCal so far, but we got a splash the last day or two. Foothills Park is vibrant and starting to spring...

Two varieties of Hericium, on nearby logs... H. erinaceus...

... and H. coralloides...

Moss, yerba buena, and miner's lettuce among downed bay laurels...

Moss (Dendroalsia?) likes the weather...

Lichens are likin' it too...

Silk tassel (Garrya elliptica), peak bloom... up close the flower looks like a chain of lacy bells...

Bay laurel doing what it does best...

Something yellow and slimy...




And some wee club-like fungi, sharing space with some wee ripe puffballs...