Cold Canyon Trails

November Visit (11/23/2017)

Image | | robinleecarlson

On an overcast day that was comfortably cool, I tried to see as many different areas in the reserve as I could.  I headed up the trail towards Blue Ridge first and watched an oak titmouse (Baelophus inornatus) poking around in the dirt at the edge of the trail.  There were still bunches of nearly dry California cudweed (Pseudognaphalium californicum), along with the last blooms of coyote brush (Baccharis pilularis).

CudweedAndTitmouse_2017Nov23_sm

Tuleyome and the Friends of Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve have been continuing to stabilize the trail, shoring up the steep sections while the shrubs that ordinarily hold the hillsides in place are regrowing.

BuckeyeAndScat_2017Nov23_sm

The sky was filled with dramatic swaths of clouds, so I took a moment to capture the view back along Highway 128.

ViewsAndOaks_2017Nov23_sm

Many of the toyons (Heteromeles arbutifolia) that started regrowing immediately after the fire did not produce flowers and berries until this year.

ToyonAndOaks_2017Nov23_sm

In the overall grey of the day, the fall colors at the reserve stood out sharply:

FallColor_2017Nov23_sm

Because there had been a small amount of rainfall already this fall, the creekbed was damp and there were a few pools in places; enough moisture for mosses to have begun to rehydrate.  The view through the culverts that are now the official access route into the canyon is striking and I finally stopped to capture it on this visit.StreamAndCulvert_2017Nov23_sm

Here are a few shots of the sketches in progress:

September Visit (9/8/2017): View from the Trailhead

Image | | robinleecarlson

Just over two years after the fire, here is the view from the old trailhead.  Trees and hillsides are looking considerably greener, even at the end of summer.  Some of this is due to the wetter winter last year, but shrub and tree regrowth is also responsible.  Vines of wild cucumber and wild grape are taking advantage of the shrub skeletons that remain bare – many vines are visible in the middle distance in this painting – but shrub resprouting and reseeding is also widely in evidence throughout the reserve.

TrailheadView_2017Sep08_sm

The view in April 2017:

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The view in September 2016:

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The view in March 2016:

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The view in September 2015:

coldcanyonclosedtrailheadv2_2015sep11_sm

September Visit (9/8/2017)

Image | | robinleecarlson

Early September brought strong winds, which proved too much for some of the oaks in the reserve that had been weakened by fire.  The one below was on the trail just before the actual entrance to the reserve, very near where the new trail access meets the original trailhead at Highway 128.

FallenOak_2017Sep08_sm

Although weakened, this oak had been alive before it fell.  This is post-fire regrowth:

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July Visit (7/26/2017)

Image | | robinleecarlson

In the morning when the temperature was approaching 90 degrees F, a fairly short walk through the reserve revealed a number of plants I had not seen in previous visits, including green cudweed (Gnaphalium californicum) and narrow-leaved milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis), below.  I also observed galls on poison oak, which are made by a gall mite, Aculops rhois.

Wildflowers1_2017Jul26_sm

California fuschia (Epilobium canum) is abundant in the reserve in the summer, but I saw a new Epilobium in the creekbed this visit, denseflower willowherb (Epilobium densiflorum).  The puffy, plume-like fruits of pipestem clematis (Clematis lasiantha) were abundant in several places along the creek trail.

Wildflowers2_2017Jul26_sm

Thanks to the wetter winter, there was still water in the creekbed this July, and plenty of plants and animals taking advantage.  Red rock skimmers (Paltothemis lineatipes) buzzed me as I stood on rocks above the water, peering into the creek to see freshwater snails that are harder to spot when the water is higher.  I fished the head of a Jerusalem cricket (Stenopelmatus sp.) out of the water; I’m sure the rest of its body had been a juicy treat for something.

StreamLife_2017Jul26_sm

May Visit (5/29/2017)

Image | | robinleecarlson

Meandering down the trail in May, stopping every few steps to draw something else, I tried to find differences between last May and this.  As I’d noticed before, there were more vines this year, including western morning glory (Calystegia occidentalis).  There were abundant pipevine swallowtails (Battus philenor) both years, and this visit I spotted a mating pair and was able to get close to sketch them.

Wildflowers3_2017May29_sm

It seemed to me that there were many more Clarkias along the creek trail, including Clarkia unguiculata (elegant Clarkia) and Clarkia purpurea (four-spot).

Wildflowers1_2017May29_sm

Bumblebees were busy in the Klamathweed (St. John’s wort, Hypericum perforatum) and I watched a Chalcedon checkerspot (Euphydryas chalcedona) on poison oak.  A few gray pines (Pinus sabiniana) that seemed to still be growing after the fire now have so few green needles left that it seems they may not make it after all.

Wildflowers2_2017May29_sm

A couple of my usual views: Cold Creek and Blue Ridge.  I’ve been trying to capture them each time I visit, for an ongoing record of seasonal changes as well as changes over the years.

CreekAndRidge_2017May29_sm

 

 

I hadn’t yet spotted an alligator lizard (Elgaria multicarinata; I wrote an older synonym on the sketch) in the reserve, so I was glad to finally spy one darting across the trail in front of me.  They are zippy and more shy than fence lizards.

I started to draw the coyote mint (Monardella villosa) and then noticed a lady beetle (Coccinellidae) larva on one leaf.

AlligatorLizard_2017May29_2_sm

April Visit (4/1/2017): View from the Trailhead

Image | | robinleecarlson

Approximately a year and six months after the fire, it is apparent that the crowns of many of the trees near the trailhead have filled in considerably.  There is also a lot more vegetation on the ground than there was in March a year ago.  Chaparral shrubs are resprouting from their bases, but I have noticed this winter and spring that vines (wild cucumber, wild grape) are responsible for a lot of the newest greenery on the hillsides, growing up the trunks of the burned shrubs.

TrailheadView2_2017Apr01_sm

The view September 2016:

closedtrailhead2_2016sep29_sm

March 2016:

coldcanyonclosedtrailheadv2_2016mar23_sm

September 2015:

coldcanyonclosedtrailheadv2_2015sep11_sm

April Visit (4/1/2017)

Image | | robinleecarlson

The days are warming up and the butterflies are out in force.  Pipevine swallowtails (Battus philenor) were everywhere when I visited at the beginning of April, large dark shapes swooping across the trail.  I was excited to find a jumping spider (Phidippus sp.) on a branch of poison oak.

SpiderEtc_2017Apr01_sm

I watched a lone carpenter ant (Camponotus sp.) wandering along the mud next to a trickle of water running across the trail.  Purple sanicle (Sanicula bipinnatifida) is a beautiful wildflower that I didn’t see in the reserve last year.

AntEtc_2017Apr01_sm

Common buckeye (Junonia coenia) caterpillars were busy eating the tips of one of their host plants, California figwort (Scrophularia californica).  It is clear that vines are taking advantage of the bare chaparral shrub branches after the fire, and this year the vines are even more abundant, especially on the hillsides.

CaterpillarsEtc_2017Apr01edit_sm

I had been unaware that there were yellow variants of woolly paintbrush (Castilleja foliolosa), but both colors were growing along the creek trail.

Wildflowers3_2017Apr01_sm

I didn’t spot any live grasshoppers on this visit, but did see a very flat one in the middle of the trail.

Wildflowers2_2017Apr01_sm

 

There were lovely patches of fiddleneck (Amsinckia menziesii) and abundant wild cucumber fruits (Marah fabaceus).

Wildflowers1_2017Apr01_sm

The prohibition of dogs in the reserve is unfortunately ineffective.  Just about every third group of hikers I saw on this busy Saturday had a dog with them.

Dog_2017Apr01_sm

November Visit (11/30/2016)

Image | | robinleecarlson

In November, on a cool but not cold day, I hiked to the top of Blue Ridge.  Looking out at Lake Berryessa, it was easy to see part of the area burned by the Cold Fire last summer.

berryessaview_2016nov30_sm

On the way up the trail, I looked for mushrooms enjoying the damp left by rains earlier in the month, and observed regrowth of mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus betuloides), blue oaks (Quercus douglasii), and chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum).  The leaves of yerba santa (Eriodictyon californicum) along the trail were losing their waxy coating.  The waxy coating, presumably beneficial in retaining water during dry months, is resinous and highly flammable.  Yerba santa seeds may require fire to germinate and can also resprout from rhizomes following fire.

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Hillsides stripped of their erosion-controlling vegetation by the fire have been shored up with erosion matting installed by Tuleyome and Friends of Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve.

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Looking across Cold Canyon I was struck by the “rivers” of dead tree branches running down the canyons of Pleasants Ridge.  They made a ghostly grey against the greens of new growth and the hills still mostly yellow from the summer.

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A few mid-action photos:

October Visit (10/31/2016)

Image | | robinleecarlson

On a cool gray day, I thought that a scrub jay (Aphelocoma californica) in a gray pine (Pinus sabiniana) made a beautiful silhouette against the sky.

graypine_2016oct31_sm

A  number of spotted towhees (Pipilo maculatus) were foraging in the smaller trees along the trail.  I caught one on a perch next to some stairs, and then drew a close-up from a photo.

spottedtowhee_2016oct31_sm

All over the canyon, poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum) in its fall colors glowed vividly against the green and gray of the day.

poisonoak_2016oct31_sm

Mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus betuloides) resprouting.  I love the shape of their leaves.

mountainmahogany_2016oct31_sm

Female coyotebrush (Baccharis pilularis) flowers, and a view of coyotebrush resprouting.

coyotebrush_2016oct31_sm