Santa Clara Valley Chapter
Santa Clara
Valley Chapter
Field
Trip Report: Sugar Lake Discovery, July, 2006Joe Cernac sends us this report from the Chapter field trip last July to Sugar Lake in the Russian Wilderness.
Seven backpackers we were, searching for the seventeen conifers reputed to occur
in this small watershed. It is said
that they occur in less than a one square mile area. We didn't keep track of
such units. Besides the usual "Sierran"
species (sugar, Jeffrey, ponderosa, and white pines, firs, cedars, etc.) which
we found on the walk in, our search was
mostly to identify the elusive subalpine fir and two timberline pines.
We earnestly started looking Saturday morning for a spiral/steeple-shaped, medium size fir. We found a handful only; they were young red firs. By the time of our impromptu lunch at midday, on a small terrace seep on south Sugar Creek, we noted small red and "white" cone bearing firs in front of us. Examination of the "white" firs led us to the agreement that it was the subalpine fir! Some of us claimed that they now could see the differences clearly; they were all around us in this watershed. The gestalt of it fails this writer. My recommendation is to take a trip to the Northern Cascades to become familiar with it, and then return to NW California.
Another agreement was that it was senseless to differentiate between the two red, Shasta red and Noble, and the two white firs, silver and white. The typical species description of each member came from far south or north of the Klamath Mountains. Here, they intergrade. Sunday morning we humped the ridge to bag foxtail and whitebark pines and common juniper. As at the bottom, the species diversity is remarkable, eight conifers of this rocky ridge. Later that day, we congratulated ourselves at Etna Brewery Pub. We were a cheerful group.
For the reader's reference, the seventeen species are:
Fir: Shasta red, white, subalpine
Pine: white, sugar, ponderosa, Jeffrey, whitebark,
foxtail, lodgepole
Spruce: Brewer's, Engelmann
Other: Yew, incense cedar, common juniper, mountain
hemlock, and Douglas-fir
Cool, verdant meadows awaited the wildflower enthusiasts who gathered at Fanny Arnold's ranch on the east side of Mt. Hamilton on May 1 (1993). The drive to Arnold's was punctuated with hillsides of goldfields and linanthus. Red Delphinium nudicaule was in bloom as were Penstemon heterophyllum and Mentzelia lindleyi.
At the ranch, Carl Sharsmith and Fanny led us past flowering meadows and vernal pools to the steep shale talus where Streptanthus callistus had originally been found by Helen Sharsmith. Nearby were Lewisia rediviva, Mentzelia lindleyi, and Asclepias californicus.
Lee Ellis led stalwarts up Mine Road to her property. This canyon was still green with many annuals blooming. After a campfire, Rick Ellis set up binoculars for star gazing, through which we could see Jupiter's moons. Those of us up at 4 a.m. looking for the effects of the Earth passing through the tail of Halley's Comet were treated to a coyote serenade, but no shooting stars.
We saw plenty shooting stars the next morning (Dodecatheon clevlandii) as Lee took us on a tour of her property. We also saw Orobanche uniflora, Thalictrum polycarpum, and Glycyrrhiza lepidota (wild licorice), among the some 350 native species identified on the site. Lee then led us down Del Puerto Canyon where we found Cirsium campylon, almost in full bloom, Collinsia sp., and Clarkia breweri. Our May Day weekend concluded in sight of I-5, the sun dropping below Mt. Hamilton behind us.
Don Mayall
The chapter field trip to Death Valley National Monu-ment from March 28 to April 2 (1993) enjoyed warm and windy weather and abundant wildflowers. Highlights included sightings of Enceliopsis argophylla var. grandiflora (Panamint daisy), Mimulus rupicola (rock monkey flower), and Astragalus coccineus (scarlet locoweed).
The trip leader thanks those responsible for making the outing successful: all the participants, who suggested itineraries, identified plants new to other members of the group, and who provided vehicles and acted as drivers when we car-pooled; resource people who provided advance scouting reports and suggested background material and contacts familiar with the Death Valley flora; and flower aficionados from other chapters and the National Park Service who helped locate the many treasures we remember from our trip.
Stephen Buckhout, trip leader
On the last weekend in April (1994), a small but enthusiastic group of Santa Clara Valley Chapter members ventured to see California's newest described species, Neviusia cliftonii. It is hard to believe that this plant, which we saw in four locations on both Saturday and Sunday, was never noticed until 1992. However, if I had seen it when it was not flowering I probably would have passed over it as a cream bush (Holodiscus discolor). The flowers are very different. They are made up of pure white stamens in upright clusters with an occasional white petal which may either be early-deciduous or perhaps just not formed in great numbers.
We arrived late Friday afternoon at the Forest Service group campground at Dekkas Rock, overlooking the McCloud River arm of Shasta Lake. Gilman Road from I-5 to the campground was lined with flowering mountain dogwood (Cornus nuttallii). Much to our consternation we discovered the promised campground water was turned off. However it was a large campground and we had it all to ourselves.
On Saturday morning we met some Shasta Chapter members at Water's Gulch trail at Packer's Bay road off of I-5. Our walk was led by Julie Nelson of the Forest Service and CNPS. The Neviusia was about a mile in from the trail-head, surrounded by poison oak. The trail was a flower garden. We admired Silene campanulata ssp. glandulosa, firecracker flower (Dichelostemma idamaia), pussy ears (Calochortus tolmei), pacific starflower (Trientalis latifolia), snowdrop bush (Styrax officinalis var. redivivus), Indian rhubarb (Darmera peltata), a beautiful peach-colored Delphinium nudicaule, and a rattlesnake, all in a forest of ponderosa and grey pines, and black, canyon and shrubby garry oaks.
Sunday we drove east on Gilman road, over the McCloud bridge to Highway 299, a trip of about 40 miles. This short drive was so interesting we spent the entire day stopping "just one more time" to see additional Shasta snow-wreath locations, plus Penstemon azureus, Eschscholzia caespitosa, clustered broom-rape, (Orobanche fasciculata), Collomia heterophylla, a huge false Solomon's seal (Smilacina racemosa), and a final highlight, our native hawthorne (Crataegus douglasii) in the Potem Creek drainage.
We arrived home tired late Sunday night, inspired by the beautiful plants of the Shasta Lake area.
Brenda Butner
Beautiful fall weather (October 1993) and clear vistas of the Santa Clara Valley rewarded the twenty plant enthusiasts who joined Jim Sugai and Anita Jesse for a look at the native trees and shrubs found in Villa Montalvo County Park. With redwood forest, oak woodland, chaparral, and riparian habitats, the park provides an unusually diverse sample of California flora within a short distance. Jim pointed out five native oaks, three native conifers, including California nutmeg, and a variety of understory plants such as creeping snowberry and sticky monkeyflower.
Within 3.5 miles of the Oregon border and at 4700 feet is Cook and Green Pass, accessed by dirt road north from Seiad Valley. Steven Darington, a Sedum, Lewisia and Iris aficionado, was able to show us 7 taxa (2 hybrids) of Sedum, including the rare S. oblanceolatum found on Copper Butte. Other rock outcrop species of great beauty are the Lewisia cotyledon and L. leana and their two hybrids. In a wet meadow to the west of the pass we also found L. triphylla and the glorious Erythronium grandiflorum var. pallidum. Two lilies were in full bloom, Lilium washingtonianum var. purpurascens and L. wigginsii. Unusual ferns included Polystichum lemmonii, P. lonchitis and the charming Cystopteris fragilis.
The area probably has over 500 species. Unusual soils comprise both serpentine and limestone derivatives. Some rare conifers include the weeping spruce, Picea breweriana, and in serpentine, the Siskiyou cypress, Cupressus bakeri ssp. matthewsii. Right at the pass itself are numerous Quercus sadleriana.
Northern flora elements are represented such as Oregon boxwood, Paxistima myrsinites (Celastraceae), Clintonia uniflora, Anemone deltoidea and 14 different orchids.
This area is still awaiting protection. It suffers because it is under two different U.S. Forest jurisdictions, the border falling right on the pass. First James Roof, later Wayne Roderick, and most recently Stu Winchester of Diablo Valley College, have all led trips to the area and have worked toward its protection.
There were two extra trips tacked on. Those who had time traveled on to the Smith River area of northern California and Steven Darington was able to show them eight different lilies in bloom, including the rare Lilium occidentale.
Most of those coming from the Bay Area spent Saturday at Mt. Eddy, whose summit at 9,025 ft and serpentinized peridotite derived soils make it home to numerous endemics. Special plant communities include the high wet meadows with masses of Darlingtonia californica, an extensive foxtail pine (Pinus balfouriana) forest, an area near Deadfall Lake with what might be a record size Cercocarpus ledifolius, and a high elevation scree slope with Hulsea nana, Lesquerella occidentalis and Polemonium chartaceum.
Sara Timby
Organized by Paul Rauscher, ten people hiked from near Markleeville (Alpine County) to a cabin in the wilderness (a private in-holding) for a two-night stay. All food and gear was carried in on the backs of most delightful llamas--light of foot, long of eyelash, and sweet of disposition. We enjoyed gourmet meals, and some of us slept under the starlit sky on a deck.
Heavy snows had nourished splendid wildflowers, and our plant experts (Don Mayall, Richard Robinson, and Alan Brubaker) were kept busy identifying the numerous, and sometimes rare and endemic, flowers and shrubs or the area. Lilium parvum bordered Raymond Creek, masses of Wyethia helenoides and W. mollis covered the gravelly slopes near Raymond Lake, and the prize finds were at Carson Pass: Geum triflorum (old man's whiskers) and Frasera speciosa (giant green gentian).
Betsy Crowder
Our most peripatetic botanizers are regularly torn by the desire to see more alpine rarities and new and different desert species. This summer's field trip offered both. The White Mountains, on the eastern edge of the state, include the third highest peak in California and the oldest living trees in the world. They also contain pinyon-juniper woodland, alpine fell fields and desert scrub habitats. We camped under junipers at 8,500 feet with views of the Sierra to the west, the desert ranges to the east, and at night, the Milky Way. At the Schulman Grove, where the oldest trees were found, the ranger gave us an overview of the bristlecone's natural history. CNPS is well known here, as the Bristlecone Chapter has been active in preventing the extirpation of a colony of rare astragalus, (A. kentrophyta var. elatus var. implexus) which had been in the path of construction of a new visitor center.
On the second day we drove the gravel road to the Patriarch Grove, seeing glimpses of bighorn sheep enroute. The fell fields above the grove were matted with a spectacular display of buckwheats, phlox, astragalus, and arenaria in bloom. A couple of intrepids went on to climb to the top of 14,246 foot White Mountain. The third day took us to Onion Valley on the east side of the Sierra to see the bristlecone's nearest relative, the foxtail pine. Our trip leader, Ken Himes, had visited the Whites a number of times and he maintained his usual standards of thoroughness in covering the flora, and conscientiousness in insuring that every participant on the trip had a memorable experience.
Don Mayall
