This blog talks about the daunting presence of the sequoias and the rich habitat that surrounds them.
Leaving Stress Behind
I have to be honest. The 80+ changes the current administration is implementing to weaken environmental laws and regulations has really gotten me down. Each day, more regression. Each day, more species lost. But a half-day trip into the redwood forest at Samuel P. Taylor State Park relieved my anxiety and re-inspired my commitment to…
Outfoxed
A big, bushy, beautiful silver tail passed over the path. The grey fox stole away into tightly enmeshed bushes of poison oak, ferns and coyote bush before I could see its face. If you assessed its health by the look of its tail, this was one healthy fox. Knowing it roamed here explained the scat…
Sustainable Forestry Near Big Basin Redwoods State Park
I did not expect to run into loggers on my journey through redwood parks. But adjacent to Big Basin Redwoods State Park lies property that belongs to the reportedly largest timber company in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, Redtree Properties (formerly Santa Cruz Lumber). Bruce Baker, a retired logger of 30 years and…
Redwoods to Rosebuds
What draws visitors to Armstrong Redwoods State Nature Reserve is of course the two 300-foot-plus redwood trees on the forest floor as well as the rest of the old growth redwoods thriving there. But rather than name it after a land investor, why wasn’t it named after the area’s local residents, the Kashaya, Southern Pomo…
Who’s Zooming Who?
“The highlight for me was lying down, and while taking time to be silent, looking up at the trees and feeling the peace of the redwood cathedral within myself.”
Launching a Redwood Expedition
By day, the silence and peace transformed my state of mind. After night fell, moonbeams aiming right into my body fully recharged me.
Jumpin’ With Natural Wonders
Alum Rock, the City of San Jose’s largest wild park, was jumpin’ last weekend with people and plants.
Blooming Botanical Wildflowers
Botanical gardens are hot spots for seeing Spring wildflowers in bloom. Okay, they’re not totally wild, but they’re certainly well cared for. Nature Rhythms visited the Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden park recently. Some species that grow under the redwoods showed more blossoms than in past years. Take the alluring but poisonous Wake Robin,…
Rain and the Work of Volunteers Have Nursed Sausal Creek Back to Health
Yesterday, along Sausal Creek, I saw the usually trickling waterfall, which is located midway down the canyon, turn into a cascade. And the width of the creek was equally stunning. The rains have challenged the creek’s edges but not, as far as I know, breached the sides. As I left, a Cooper’s hawk stood perched…
Golden Drop
Right after another rain, this week’s redwood hike revealed so many natural glistening things, like a large golden drop. A misshapen spider web had caught a sphere of amber liquid, which sparkled like a jewel. I wonder if the web’s host would drink it. Our hike on the Bridle and Orchard trails showcased birds, moss…
Wet Redwood Forests
Nature Rhythms had our first public hike today in the redwoods. Recent rains have made their mark, yielding stunning results. Redwood creek is over 4 feet, the highest I’ve ever seen it. Moss covered the bay trees 360 degrees. And the lovely tri-petal white blossoms of a few trillium have now opened. On the Chown…
Vargas Plateau
Wildlife and domestic animals thrive in the oak woodlands of Vargas Plateau in the Fremont hills. Dozens of cows and six-month-old calves are roaming the fields right now. You can see Western bluebirds with their cobalt feathers and orange bellies alighting on fences and posts, then flying out to grab insects before looping back to…
Warblers in Winter
Yellow-rumped warblers are tearing through my backyard like wind-up dolls.
Acorn Rain in the Redwoods
The height and stature of the old growth in Big Basin Redwoods State Park astound you as soon as you arrive. When my friend and I began hiking recently, we heard various rustling sounds every few steps. We looked around expecting to find some hungry squirrels racing through the leaves eating nuts off the trees…
Mount Umunhum
Mount Umunhum (pronounced “Um-un-um”) invokes the sound of humming and means hummingbird. It combines the root words for hummingbird in five Ohlone languages. Valentin Lopez, Chair of the Amah-Mutsun Ohlone tribal band tells the original creation story of Ohlone peoples, “How Hummingbird Got Fire.” https://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2011/07/19/web-extra-how-hummingbird-got-fire/ For some 10,000 years Ohlone and other tribes tended the…
