North Grove Trailhead

Elica meeting her first Giant Sequoia

Sequoia roots

Red bark

Mountain Dogwood

Fallen Sequoia

Walking through a Sequoia

Dogwoods starting to turn

Me-in-a-tree

Elica and Sarah in a tree

Giant Sequoia

Abbott’s Lagoon

Dwarf Checkerbloom

Abbott’s Lagoon Trail

Windmill Pink

Abbott’s Lagoon

Beach Primrose

Yellow Sand-Verbena

California Manroot seedhead

Fuzzy caterpillar

Dairy Farm

Dragonflies mating

Abbott’s Lagoon

Pierce Point Trail

Anderson Thistle

Pierce Point

There has been quite a bit of trail work in San Francisco’s Presidio over the past couple of years, and we’d been wanting to see what the park folks have been up to, so when Sarah’s parents invited us to join them for a hike there, we happily joined them and Sarah’s sister.

We parked at the Presidio Habitat visitor’s center, which has a must-get map (the Presidio is very easy to get lost in), and some exhibits about the art installations and such, then hit the very obvious start of the walk.

The path veered through an overgrown field;  a sign explained:

It’s for the birds…
(and the butterflies too)

This area may look neglected.  Quite the contrary.  An area like this is valuable habitat for birds and butterflies to feed and breed.  We will resume our maintenance regimen at the end of the bird nesting season in August.  In the meantime, keep your eyes open for winged creatures.

Several chairs, one quite tall, provided a place to sit and look for critters in the field, but it was quiet out, being midday, and nothing much was stirring.

We walked along the buildings next to the field, several of which still had signs attesting to the military history of the Presidio.

Like many of the old Army buildings, these were unoccupied, perhaps waiting for seismic retrofit or cleanup before being repurposed.

This area was part of Fort Winfield Scott, and a nearby sign explained:

The new quarters are among the most elaborate and modern in the United States, and when the landscape features are completed, Fort Winfield Scott will be the finest… [and] most beautifully located army post in the country.”

- The San Francisco Call, June 18, 1912

The architecture of the Presidio’s buildings is interesting, and not nearly as drab as most military buildings!

Another art/nature installation consisted of large pots strapped to tree trunks to provide bird homes.  I don’t know if any birds had taken up residence, but it’s a cool idea, and it looks kind of neat having big blue pots dozens of feet off of the ground.

Fortunately Jim & Diane have done this walk before, as there is little chance I could re-create it on my own.  We continued through another neighborhood on the street.

Unlike Fort Winfield Scott, this area’s houses are back to their original function, and several dozen lucky families live in these pretty quarters.

A narrow footpath through a completely ivy-choked bit of forest brought us to another road.  I was fairly well lost as to where we were, and where we were going by now, but no matter.

An Army Jeep was parked alongside the road, now repurposed as a groundskeeping vehicle.

The next installation piece was a big geometric ball perched atop three sticks, intended to be a habitat for Western Screech Owls.

In parts, at least, the path was well-marked.

Plenty of people were enjoying the trails, both locals walking their dogs, as well as tourists.

A less-successful installation piece was a spiral of metal.  According to a nearby sign, it is intended to reflect the flight path of a hawk as it swoops down on its prey.  It just looked like leftover junk to us, though.

Although quite a bit of the Presidio has been restored, there are large portions that are crumbling, fenced off by barbed wire, probably due to toxicity concerns.

We walked on to San Francisco National Cemetery, which I had driven past many times, but never visited.  The footpath leading to its back entrance had stone inscriptions with an excerpt of  ”the Young Dead Soldiers” by Archibald MccLeish:

The full poem, a touching tribute to the war dead, and an exhortation to the living, can be found here.

The San Francisco National Cemetery is the only remaining cemetery in San Francisco, the rest having been relocated south to Colma many years ago.  It’s a beautiful place that I would very much like to return to alone to photograph.

The cemetery has outstanding views of not just the Golden Gate Bridge, but also Angel Island, Alcatraz, and much of the San Francisco Bay.

After cooling our heels here for a few minutes, we continued onwards.

Also in the “less successful” installation category was an imagined fox house constructed out of piled 4×4′s.  It looked like a pile of lumber to me.

The last installation we visited was also one of the best.  Straw-filled wire frames were staked into the ground, spelling out pithy sayings.  The intent is for birds to enjoy these, and they certainly were, with dozens of Dark-eyed Junco and Chestnut-backed Chickadees flitting about.

The phrases were mostly pretty facile (“resolve conflict with song”, etcetera), and I preferred the words standalone, which is how I photographed them.

This was the last installation we visited, and we made our way under an overpass, through a nice community garden, and back to the car.

This was a great walk, and will hopefully motivate me to do more semi-urban hiking in the Presidio.  There are plans for many more miles of trails, and the terrain and views are outstanding.

Give me these hills and the friends I love
I ask no other Heaven.
– Dad O’Rourke

Grand Collomia

The day after the 4th of July at the cabin, we decided to go for our annual wildflower walk at the Bradley Grove in nearby Calaveras Big Trees State Park.   Unlike the two other grove hikes in the park, this one does not have any Giant Sequoias, but rather is a grove dedicated to a patron of the park, and is second-growth mixed pine and such.

Mountain Pretty Face

Although it lacks pretty much any kind of grandeur or scenery, this short loop hike is easily in my top 5 wildflower hikes anywhere.  Many species that are hard to see elsewhere are quite reliable here (Snow Plant, Phantom Orchid, & Coralroots to name just three).

Fringed Pinesap

On this walk, to my surprise, I saw a new-to-me flower, the mycotrophic Fringed Pinesap, a ghostly fungus-feeder.

Phantom Orchid

As we climbed, we were pleased to see a good number of Phantom Orchids, another mycotrope.  This ghostly flower, once seen, is often easily seen again, but the first sighting can be difficult, as it blends in well in the sun-dappled forest duff.

Woods’ Rose

The wild roses were also blooming.  Despite being quite considerably less fancy than their cultivated counterparts, their scent is no less sweet.

White-veined Wintergreen

The tell-tale leaves of Wild-Ginger (not actually a ginger) were plentiful, but we saw none of their odd little flowers.  The similarly-leaved White-veined Wintergreen was blooming in a few patches, however.

Western Thimbleberry

As always in spring, Thimbleberry abounded in patches.

Queen’s Cup

Another common white flower nearly everywhere in Calaveras Big Trees in spring is Queen’s Cup AKA Bride’s Bonnet.  This lily exhibits perfect  three-symmetry, with three basal leaves, 6 petals, and 6 stamens.

Butterfly on Pussy Paws

We came to the meadow that marks the end of the slight uphill portion and saw fewer flowers there than usual.  Flitting about the Pussy Paws, however, was a new-to-me butterfly, whose name is unknown to me.   A nice fellow on Flickr’s ID Please group suggested it is one of the Parnassius swallowtails.  Do you know what it is?

No idea what this one is!

A bit father on, another mystery.  At first blush I thought it was another Fringed Pinesap, but looking now, I do not think it is.  Perhaps Sugar Sticks?  I really don’t know.

Mountain Pretty Face

There are usually good flowers along Beaver Creek, but not this time – little was in bloom of note, other than some not-yet-opened probable-Alpine Lilies.

Western Azalea

We crossed Beaver Creek, took a deep snort of the sweet Azaleas that grow here, and returned toward the car.

Torrey’s Monkeyflower

I’d missed them on the way in, but a little patch of the tiny magenta Torrey’s Monkeyflower bloomed in a sunny patch near the parking lot.

The Bradley Grove is always a wonderful walk in spring, and this time was no exception.

“In the flowering glade of the big trees, my peace I give unto you”
- John Muir

Distance: 2.5 miles
Time: 1hr 50min

Wildflowers seen:
- Bleeding Hearts
- Blue Nightshade
- Common Catchfly
- Crimson Columbine
- Deerbrush
* Fringed Pinesap
- Grand Collomia
- Hartweg’s Iris
- Mountain Misery
- Mountain Pretty Face
- Pacific Starflower
- Phantom Orchid
- Pine Violet
- Pinedrops
- Pussy Paws
- Queen’s Cup
- Royal Penstemon
- Snow Plant
- Striped Coralroot
- Torrey’s Monkeyflower
- Western Azalea
- Western Thimbleberry
- White-veined Wintergreen
- Wild-Ginger
- Woods’ Rose

We drove a couple of miles east down Sonora Pass and stopped at Sardine Meadow, intending to walk the mile or so up Sardine Creek to Sardine Falls.

Sardine Creek

Early spring flowers were going great, including the funky looking Elk Thistle.

Elk Thistle

This thistle, even more than others, looks rather alien-like to me.

Western Blue Flag Irises

A few patches of Western Blue Flag Irises bloomed, but by and large it was too early for most of them.  Come mid-August, the meadow will be a riot of purple and blue.

Sardine Creek

We walked along the creek, following an informal trail which then crossed the creek.  This presented a bit of a problem for us, as we were not equipped for a creek crossing and the creek was high and wide enough that there was no way to cross without getting wet.  Wouldn’t normally care, but we hadn’t planned for this,  and didn’t relish crossing barefoot without poles, so we walked upstream for a ways to see if there was another way across.  There wasn’t, so we wandered back toward the car.

Wildflower-strewn Sardine Meadow

Asters and Shooting Stars bloomed profusely, and myriad buds hinted at many flowers yet to come.   Back at the car, we continued east on Hwy 108 to Leavitt Falls Overlook, an easily-missed turnout that features, in addition to the nice-enough Leavitt Falls, wonderful views over the upper Walker River Valley.

Walker Valley

The setting is quite idyllic, with a green meadow, crystal-blue meandering river, and rocky snow-dusted peaks above.

Sandy mountain

We pulled out the camp chairs that happened to be in the car and ate lunch here, overlooking the valley.

Walker Valley

The classic meandering S-curves of the Walker River are always a treat to look at.

Looking east

We walked as close as we could to Leavitt Falls, but there was no vantage the afforded a look that would work in a photo, as the falls were in deep shade, yet the nearby hills in full sun.  After about an hour, we continued east.

USMC Winter Warfare Camp

The eastern Sierra drops off much, much more steeply than the western slopes, and we soon passed the US Marine Corps Winter Warfare Center.  When hiking in the Sonora Pass area, one sometimes runs across infantrymen practicing their rugged terrain skills.

Walker River

Near the USMC camp the Walker River continues its unhurried meander, and we followed it.

Western Blue Flag Irises

Near the intersection of Hwys 108 and 395, a large’ish patch of irises bloomed, so I stopped to photograph them.  Although common locally, it’s not a flower I see very often at all.  We drove north on Hwy 395, following the now-rushing Walker River, through the hamlet of Walker, turning west on Hwy 89/Monitor Pass.

Monitor Pass view

This pass I know very, very well, having bicycled up it 5 times as part of the Death Ride bicycle ride.  It has a desolate high desert beauty, and wide-open views all the way up its eastern side.

Monitor Pass view

The 2010 Death Ride was the next weekend, and I was a little surprised not to see any cyclists here early for training rides.  Down the pretty, but less-scenic western side of Monitor, we continued west on Hwy 4/Ebbetts Pass, which I also know well from crawling up it at a snail’s pace, sweat pouring down my eyes.  It made me kind of miss doing the Death Ride, difficult though it is, and demanding on one’s time to properly train for it.

Mosquito Lakes

Up and over Ebbett’s Pass, we stopped briefly at Mosquito Lakes, then drove the last 20 miles back to the cabin.

This is a long loop at around 200 miles, and it definitely takes all day if you want to soak in the sights, which after all is the point!  I like to do this drive at least every couple of years – it’s amazing to see how much the terrain changes in the course of 3 Sierra passes!

Filed under: Nature, Photography, Travel, Wildflowers ]]> http://blog.adampaul.com/2010/08/05/a-4th-of-july-high-sierra-drive-part-2/feed/ 6 Adam R. Paul http://blog.adampaul.com/2010/07/31/a-4th-of-july-high-sierra-drive-part-1/ http://blog.adampaul.com/2010/07/31/a-4th-of-july-high-sierra-drive-part-1/#comments Sun, 01 Aug 2010 01:48:45 +0000 Adam R. Paul http://blog.adampaul.com/?p=1178 ]]> 4 July 2010:

Sarah & I spent the 4th of July at our cabin in the Sierras, and since Sarah had a bit of a cold, we decided to take a long drive, rather than hike.

The family cabin

From the cabin, we headed west on Hwy 4, over Parrots Ferry through Columbia, Hwy 49 to Sonora, where we detoured at the local Wal-Mart to get some appropriately corny patriotic shirts (a tradition of ours, and the only time we ever go to Wal-Mart).  Suitable shirts were abundant, and sporting a stars-and-stripes california bear shirt and US map shirt, we continued on our way, heading east on Hwy 108.

Our initial plan had been to stop at Donnell Vista, which has a great view over a pretty reservoir, but it was closed and under construction, so we continued a fair ways farther up the road to Columns of the Giants, a great roadside stop on Hwy 108.

Anderson Thistle

We set out on the short interpretive trail to the columns and were treated to a pretty good wildflower display.

Smokey Mariposa

Smokey Mariposas bloomed sporadically in the grassy areas.  They, like all lilies of the Calochortus genus, are one of my favorite wildflowers.

Rushing river

That it was a winter of heavy snowfall was very clear as we crossed the bridge over a river, which has been flowing gently on all of my other visits, but was running high, fast, and presumably very cold this time.

Wood’s Rose

A few Wood’s Roses bloomed, but most were past their prime, although their delicate scent was still thoroughly enjoyable.

Chemise?

Huge bushes of a puffy white flower bloomed everywhere – I think it’s Chemise, but I’m not much good at identifying blooming bushes.

Interpretive sign

As we neared the columns, interpretive signs explained how the area was formed generally, and how the octagonal basalt columns came to be.

Scarlet Gilia AKA Skyrocket

Also blooming in abundance was another of my Sierra favorites, Scarlet Gilia or, if you prefer, Skyrocket.  This flower reminds me of a firework burst captured in flower form.

Columns of the Giants Trail

A large boulder jumble let us know that we were near the columns, and around a corner, they came into view.

Monkeyflower sp.

I struggled to avoid getting neck strain as I alternated between looking up at the columns, and down, in search of wildflowers.   A tiny monkeyflower grew here, but I am feeling too lazy to figure out which one it is.

Columns of the Giants

We soon came to the end of the trail at the base of the boulder jumble beneath the columns.  One could boulder-hop on up a ways if so inclined, but as we were not out to do any sort of real exercise and were walking in flip-flops, we didn’t.

Another interpretive sign

The columns are pretty interesting formations, exactly the same as the famous ones at Devil’s Postpile in the eastern Sierra, but smaller in scale, and you can’t get as close to them.

Column close-up

We didn’t linger, as it was warm and shadeless, and walked back the way we arrived.

Anderson Thistle

The thistles were particularly photogenic here, and there was a patch of Pussy Paws as well.

Pussy Paws

Back at the car, we continued east on Hwy 108 toward our next stop.

Sonora Pass!

After a very steep and scenic climb, we arrived at Sonora Pass and stopped to enjoy the scenery.

Historical sign

It’s hard to imagine how difficult this crossing would have been back in the late 1800s – it’s quite rugged and steep even now as a paved road.  One portion as you climb up the western side is a 26% grade, taxing for many vehicles, let alone horse carriages.

View east from Sonora Pass

Although this area lacks the high alpine splendor of Yosemite’s Tioga Pass, the next trans-Sierra pass to the south, it is nonetheless very pretty.

Common Wallflower

In contrast to the late spring at Columns of the Giants, here at nearly 10000′ it was very early spring, with the Mule’s Ear Sunflowers just starting to come into bloom, and many other flowers remaining in bud.

Spreading Phlox

The ubiquitous Spreading Phlox was living up to its name, spreading everywhere, and Western Wallflower competed with the Mule’s Ears in the yellow flower category.

View south from Sonora Pass

There was still quite a bit of snow on the peaks of the Sierra crest – I wouldn’t care to be hiking this part of the Pacific Crest Trail or climbing nearby Sonora Peak just yet!

We talked to a group of people at the summit, helping them with wildflower identification, and the continued east, now heading down the steep and ruggedeastern side of the Sierra Nevada, which are quite, quite different from the gradual slopes on the western side.

Continued here….

Flowers seen:

- Anderson Thistle
- Chamise
- Common Wallflower
- Monkeyflower sp.
- Pussy Paws
- Scarlet Gilia
- Smokey Mariposa
- Spreading Phlox
- Wood’s Rose

Linanthus sp.

There was Linanthus galore, its delicate yellow filament a dead giveaway.

Western Heart’s-ease

A few patches of Western Heart’s-ease Violets bloomed in shadier areas.  These are easy to ID if you just look at the backside of the top two petals – they’re purple in this species.

Yellow Globe Lily

The west-facing hillsides were covered with more Yellow Globe Lilies than I’ve ever seen.  They mostly stymied my attempts to photograph them, as Globe Lilies usually do.

Redribbons

Redribbons

A wild flash of pink caught my eye – something new!  I initially thought it was Elegant Clarkia, but a lookup in my books back at home shows it to (probably) be Redribbons (same genus, but different petal shape).

Ithuriel’s Spear

Clusters of purple Ithuriel’s Spear were plentiful, although we didn’t see  a single one of its close cousin, Elegant Brodiaea, which is usually present along with it.

California Indian Pink

Another bright flash, inconveniently-located high on a hillside – Indian Pink, an unusual flower that I’ve seen only once before.

Dudleya sp.

A rocky outcrop was almost completely covered in Dudleya, most of it blooming.

Kellogg’s Monkeyflower

The un-subtle flaming magenta of Kellogg’s Monkeyflower also caught my eye – another flower I’ve only rarely seen.

Unknown flower – what is this?

Down by the river, several clumps of the white flower above were blooming, but I’m afraid I have no name for it.  It almost looks like a checkerbloom.

Little green frog

As we admired the huge numbers of tadpoles in the river, Sarah spotted their source nearby – cute little fellow, huh?

Little brown frog

Blending in so well as to nearly be stepped on, this little frog cooperated pretty well for close-ups, unlike its green neighbor.

For a lazy 30-minute stroll on the cousin’s property,  I was pretty impressed with the variety of flowers still in bloom in late May!

Wildflowers seen:
- Baby Blue Eyes
- Broadleaf Filaree
- California Indian Pink
- California Poppy
- Chinese Houses
- Crimson Columbine
- Dove’s-foot Geranium
- Dudleya sp.
- Farewell-to-spring
- Indian Paintbrush
- Indian Warrior
- Ithuriel’s Spear
- Kellogg’s Monkeyflower
- Linanthus sp.
* Redribbons
- Royal Penstemon
- Scarlet Gilia
- Scarlet Pimpernel
- Yellow Globe Lily
- Western Heart’s-ease

* = new-to-me flower

Fort Cronkhite

Coastal Trail

Fog rolling in

Foggy bunkers

Hope ’09

Footsteps-of-spring

Striated rock

Foggy hill

Moss (or lichen?)

Tumbling fog

This must spell something … right?

Samurai

Smurfy

Found still life

Hill panorama

Blue Nightshade

Rodeo Beach and Lagoon

Having already covered the sights of Prague Castle here, I will let the photos speak for themselves in this, the last post in my Prague series.

Castle Turret

Narrow alleyway

Terraced gardens

The Loreta Church

Memorial

Red roofs and spires

Gargoyle

St. Vitus Cathedral

Memorial fountain

Castle walls

Stag fountain

Royal fig orchard

Bridges over the Vltava River

View over Prague

View south from Prague Castle

Thank you for reading.  At 25 posts, this series is much longer than any I’ve done previously, but I’ve enjoyed re-living the memories of our trip, now over a year ago!

For convenience, here is an index to the Prague posts I’ve written:

• Part 1: Vysehrad
• Part 2: Vysehradsky hrbitov (Vysehrad cemetery)
• Part 3: Karluv Most (Charles Bridge)
• Part 4: Vaclavske namesti (Wenceslas Square)
• Part 5: Letecke Muzeum Kbely (Czech Air Force Museum)
• Part 6: Stare Mesto (Old Town)
• Part 7: Staromestske namesti (Old Town Square)
• Part 8: Prazsky orloj (Astronomical Clock)
• Part 9: Josefov (Jewish Quarter)
• Part 10: Vltava River
• Part 11: St. Nicholas Cathedral (Chram sv. Mikulase)
• Part 12: Wallenstein Palace (Valdstejnsky palac)
• Part 13: Kampa Island
• Part 14: Mala Strana street art
• Part 15: Petrin Hill
• Part 16: Mala Strana
• Part 17: Mala Strana house signs
• Part 18: Strahovský klášter (Strahov Monastery)
• Part 19: Schwarzenberský palác (Schwarzenberg Palace)
• Part 20: Toy Musuem
• Part 21: St. Vitus Cathedral gargoyles
• Part 22: St. Vitus Cathedral (exterior)
• Part 23: St. Vitus Cathedral (interior)
• Part 24: Prazky Hrad (Prague Castle), I
• Part 25: Prazky Hrad (Prague Castle), II <– You are here!