The Trilliums Are Blooming!

One of the pretty little Trilliums now blooming at Samuel P Taylor State Park.

This is a picture of the first trillium of this season for me to see.

This was February 13 - two days later than when I saw this same one last year.

I was really watching this spot, but didn't see it emerging.

A different trillium on the same day as the first one, just beginning to unfold.

They seem to be taking a very long time to get from this stage to fully opened.

These trilliums are quite a bit smaller than the ones I knew in Humboldt County, 

and sometimes that makes them harder to spot.

    Our youngest grandchild, Naomi, turned 6 on January 22, but we didn't get to celebrate her birthday with her until January 30. Both she and her sister had Covid, so were quarantined for almost two weeks. Sophia, 8 years old, tested positive, but had no real symptoms except feeling a bit tired and Naomi felt sick for just a couple of days. Her birthday party, complete with lots of kids, pizza, cupcakes and a pinata was in Burg Park, just a block away from son Shawn's Richmond home.

Naomi blowing out her six candles.

Shawn with the pinata he finished making at 3:00 AM.

I think it was a "Wishful Dragon," that didn't manage to get its wings in time for the party.

The kids liked breaking it open to get what Shawn said was leftover Halloween candy.

    Monday, January 31, on our day off from camp hosting, we headed to Colfax to spend time with daughter Ruth and granddaughter Avienda. Had a good visit and got in my favorite morning walk from the house up to Weimar Water Company at the top of the hill.

Avienda on her scooter when she and I walked and "scooted" to the mailbox a half mile from the house.

A pretty pile of logs on a neighbor's property.

One of the hundreds of fallen and/or broken trees that resulted from the December snow storm.

I tried to capture in pictures a bit of the tree devastation, but it really doesn't show up well in pictures.

One of the many trees that fell into the Boardman Canal, the source of our irrigation water.

    An interesting thing for us to watch at Samuel P Taylor State Park in early February was the trail crew taking down a very large Douglas Fir Tree that was considered a hazardous tree in the campground, just a short distance from our campsite. The project spanned several weeks as they prepared ahead of time, and then maneuvered the fallen tree into the creek to provide fish habitat. The crew would work one day at a time, then have to go do some work in another location.

It's hard to see in this picture, but there is a ladder on the right side of the tree,

placed there to later come back and tie a cable around the tree 

that was then tied to two trees between it and the creek.

Cutting the wedge on the creek side of the tree.

You can see the tree leaning to the right as it starts to come down 

- behind and between the two trees in the front.

And now it's really starting to fall.

It was quite exciting to hear and see it come down!

And here is the top of the tree that fell into the creek after breaking off from the lower part.

Obviously, it made a huge splash!

The stump of the tree - notice how far away the tree landed.

Another view of the felled tree.

And now the work begins to move the main trunk into the creek.

This was a "push me, pull me" project that spanned two days of work with the tree moving in very small, almost imperceptible increments.

Here is the pulling part with the use of cables tied to trees across the creek and the use of an 8 ton "come along" - they said it could pull 16 tons the way it was rigged.

And here is the tree finally in the creek.

The young people involved expressed a real sense of accomplishment as they helped to provide improved habitat for the endangered salmon who continue, though in small numbers, to return to Lagunitas Creek.

    

    It had been over a year and a half since Rob and I had been to Angel Island where our daughter Erin works for Angel Island State Park. When we were here at Camp Taylor last year the public ferries were not running due to COVID. Though the park went many months without many visitors, Erin and other staff continued to work. Erin was mostly involved with online education through the State Parks Ports program in her position as a seasonal Interpretive Specialist. On Valentine's Day Rob and I headed to Tiburon to meet Erin at the State boat with our bicycles so we could spend the afternoon on Angel Island with Erin. We were also celebrating with Erin her promotion to Interpreter I, a professional position with California State Parks. She has moved into her own office in the Visitor's Center and will now be moving fully and permanently into a house on the island. Woo Hoo!

Here we are with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

The Golden Gate Bridge from the Perimeter Road on Angel Island.

   As I have mentioned previously in a blog post I hate, I deplore, weed blowers. They are evil in my opinion with the air, noise and water pollution they contribute to. The job they do can be done with a broom, but of course it's more labor intensive. Last year when we were here at Samuel P Taylor State Park Rob and I started a daily practice of sweeping. The leaf blowers are still used - the two of us sweeping an hour or less a day can't take care of all the asphalt in the campground, but at least they get used a little bit less. I hadn't been doing much sweeping this season since I was working on the trail sign project, but a couple of weeks ago I joined Rob to start sweeping near the 25 Creek Side campsites that needed to be cleaned up in preparation for opening them on March 1. Those campsites are closed from December through February to help protect the spawning salmon and because during heavy rainfall they flood some from run off. With the help of another campground host we got most of the area well swept and then the wind came and we had to do it over. We compare sweeping the roads here to painting the Golden Gate Bridge - it's a job that is never finished!

The road after the winds messed up our good sweeping efforts.

Rob sweeping.

After "finishing."

    

    As I've mentioned before our "official duties" as campground hosts are to do camp ground checks twice a day, sell firewood and shower tokens, and to be available to answer questions or assist visitors to the park. We are expected to "work" 30 hours a week, but we are generally "on duty" much more than that and always willing to do anything the staff asks of us, and to offer to do things we see that need to be done. The parking lines and especially the numbers by campsites 2 through 6 were very worn out and Rob was itching to repaint the numbers especially. When he offered to do that to the head ranger, she immediately went and bought paint and supplies.

Here is Rob painting a line - there is a number barely visible over his left shoulder in front of the orange cone. The numbers and lines came out very well and now campers won't be confused about where to park as they have been in the past.

    

    Monday, February 28, we headed back to Colfax for a visit. We also went to see my sister Theresa in Grass Valley. She is preparing to sell her house there and eventually move to Washington state near her daughter in Portland. I wanted to see the house before she sold it - a lot of family memories have been made there. We also wanted to see her brand new travel trailer that she will use to be a campground host. Her first "gig" will be at Sugar Pine Point State Park at Lake Tahoe this summer - less than a half hour from where we will be at Emerald Bay. I recently read a mystery by Allie Pleiter, On Skein of Death. There was a knitting pattern for a dog sweater in the back of the book and I thought of Theresa's Chihuahua, Spencer. I finished the sweater and wanted to deliver it.

Spencer in his new sweater - now I'm working on one for his larger pal, Pippin.

    

    As I anticipated retirement, before COVID shut things down, I envisioned us attending a variety of churches as we traveled the country and even as we became camp hosts. That was of course not to be as most churches, in the interest of protecting everyone, stopped in-person services, and since camp hosts, like pastors, work on Sundays, we don't really have the time to visit churches on Sunday mornings. Over the past year and a half we have taken in some online services and in October, between campground host positions at Tahoe and Marin County, we attended worship at three different foothill churches, but we have been content with not attending in person worship regularly. I have regular personal devotional practices and I find deep spiritual nurture in the world of nature. But as Lent, the 40 days prior to Easter not including Sundays,  approached this year I knew I wanted to begin the season with the receiving of ashes on my forehead to remind me of my mortality, and so off to St. Columba's Episcopal Church and Retreat Center near Point Reyes I headed early yesterday morning, March 2. I have been on a couple of retreats at St. Columba's and felt like I was "coming home" when I arrived and was warmly greeted by Father Vincent and three other early morning worshipers.

Ashes in the sign of the cross on my forehead.

    By the time  Rob saw the ashes he said they just looked like a smudge, not a cross. Most years on Ash Wednesday I have attended or lead an evening service so once the ashes are on my forehead I just went home, but this year the whole day was in front of me and I would be encountering folks in the park. I debated whether to wash them off, but decided to leave them be and notice what reactions there might be. Either no one noticed or chose not to comment! I had some wonderful unrelated conversations with park visitors. Perhaps they just thought I had a dirty face. Anyway, I'm glad I started out Lent with receiving the ashes - "Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust. Remember you are Ashes and to Dust you shall return."

    Besides the Trilliums there are lots of signs of spring appearing in the plants around us - flowers blooming, tree leaves budding, ferns opening.

Milk Maid - One of the first flowers to bloom, and in lots of locations.

Some pretty fungus with lichen.

I have no idea what is budding here.

A pretty, striated rock with fern growing on and around.

Just finished a wonderful book by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss.

I'll never look at ferns the same!

Now reading Braiding Sweetgrass by the same author - highly recommend both books!

Sunlight coming through the trees on the Pioneer Tree Trail on a Monday morning.

Hounds Tongue blooming

A Hounds Tongue blossom starting.

"Pretty" Poison Oak leaves just appearing.

Some pretty mushrooms

Saw this beauty newly emerged this morning - couldn't pass it without a picture.

The relatively un-photogenic Stair Step Falls on February 7.

I was surprised there was still this much water in them - we need rain!

Purple violets not too far from our campsite - I didn't see these last year.

Did I miss them? Or did they just appear?

There are lots of these Stream Violets in lots of locations.

Circinate Vernation - the fascinating way ferns unfurl.

This picture was taken February 13 and the next of the same fern yesterday, March 2.

Seems like it's taking this Maidenhair Fern a long time to un furl!

A Bracken Fern opening - picture taken February 15.

This one is very close to the Maidenhair fern in Wildcat Canyon on the Pioneer Tree Trail.

The same fern today - notice how tall it has gotten.

A Close up view of the top of the emerging Bracken Fern.

The previous ferns are just to the left of the fire scarred tree in the center of this picture.

I wonder if this tree is the tallest tree in Marin County?

I know that one of the trees in this area of the park is the tallest tree in the area, but daughter Erin told me that the tallest tree in Marin County is in Samuel P Taylor State Park - that means our tall tree is taller than the trees in the popular Muir Woods in Mill Valley. 

I walk past this tree every morning on my way to the bench by Wild Cat Canyon Creek.

Circinate Vernation in a Sword Fern.

This one is a little closer to our campsite.

The opening Sword Fern up close.

Some more cute mushrooms

California Pipevine or Dutchman's Pipe.

This very distinctive vine is near the entrance to Camp Taylor, and attracts the California Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly - and several people recently to take pictures of it's blossom as seen in the next picture. The butterflies aren't here yet, but we're watching for them.

California Pipevine flower

Another interesting vine - no idea what it is.

Buckeye leaves opening up.

A pretty tree with lots of catkins - flower clusters - in the Orchard Hill Campground.

Catkins up close

    There are just two weeks left of the 10 week California Naturalist Course. I have thoroughly enjoyed the class, the excellent instructors, the beautiful location and the other students. The topic on January 29 was Stewardship and Grasslands where we learned how the native perennial grasses send their roots up to 22 feet deep in the ground. The topic on February 5 was Botany Basics Plus Ferns and Mosses - one "take away" is that healthy moss and lichens means an area does not have a lot of pollution as these plants are very sensitive to pollution. The topic for February 12 was Forest Ecosystems and Oak Woodlands and I learned that when Douglas-fir trees have lots of room they send low branches out and the trees look very different than the tall, growing straight up ones of a dense woodland. I had noticed this difference on Barnabe Peak at Samuel P Taylor State Park. The trees looked so different that I was confused about whether the gnarly one with big fat spreading branches was really a Douglas-fir. And I learned that Douglas-fir trees are not actually Fir trees, thus the hyphen. They are members of the pine family. On February 19 our topic was Amphibians and Reptiles. A "take away" - the instructor referred to the critters we were looking for as herps - short for Herpetology - study of non-avian reptiles and amphibians. Last Saturday, February 26 the topic was Birds. I've been feeling like a failure at birding, but I came to realize I know and recognize more birds than I realized I did - a "take away" was that Stellar Jays can imitate the sounds of other birds. During class we heard what we thought was a hawk, but when we looked, it was a Stellar Jay.

January 29 - on our way to plant native grasses at Pepperwood Preserve.

Our van got stuck on the way back from planting the grasses.

We were starting to walk the couple of miles back to the Conservation Center when we got "rescued" by another vehicle. I was disappointed to have the walk interrupted. I love the California Naturalist Course, and we spend most of our time outside studying nature, but we never walk very far.

A beautiful Hummingbird Sage in the native plant garden at Pepperwood.

Can you see the shadow from the contrail? I don't think I've ever seen one before.

This is a Live Oak Tree that was burned in the Tubbs Fire in 2017 - It is growing back, showing the incredible resiliency of the Live Oaks.

A Douglas-fir Cone - notice the parts that look like the back of a mouse - feet and tail?

The story we heard is that the mice hide in the Douglas-fir cone to get away from the Coyotes. A different version is that the Douglas-fir trees were the only trees that would let the mice hide in them.

The beautiful picturesque Turtle Pond where we went looking for herps.

Turtles on a log in Turtle Pond.

Can you see the newt coming up for air in Turtle Pond?

    We are seeing and hearing more birds at Samuel P Taylor as spring gets closer, and sightings of other critters.

A chipmunk near our campsite.

We aren't seeing nearly as many raccoons in the dumpsters as we once were.

We figure there are a few reasons - the young ones are getting bigger and can now get out by themselves, there are more campers so that means more garbage and the dumpsters are not so deep, and maybe some of them have learned they get stuck! We woke this one up after it had given up trying to get out - it eagerly climbed to freedom!

A Commas butterfly in Devil's Gulch

A Banana Slug - we don't see very many of these.

A Salamander in Wildcat Canyon

"The Claw"

Elsie reaching out begging to be petted by Rob.

Elsie sitting pretty and posing for the camera

Straus caught by the camera.

He keeps proofing hard to get a picture of - as soon as I lift the phone to take a picture he gets up and comes too close and moves around. I got this picture when he was sleeping and he turned around to see what I was doing, then immediately jumped down.