Flower or Weed?

Do readers of this blog and Rusty's blog get tired of photos from Across the Road? I find an endless supply of subjects to photograph, no matter how mundane. When I was walking the other day I noticed the different colors of the morning glories. I Googled morning glory and saw that there were over 1000 species. However this is field bindweed and when you give it that name it becomes a weed.morning gloriesThis is growing at the edge of the corn field.DSC_7347 UC Integrated Pest Management Program states "Field bindweed, a perennial broadleaf, is considered one of the most problematic weeds in agricultural fields throughout temperate regions worldwide. It is abundant throughout California ... is troublesome in many crops...  It can harbor the viruses that cause potato X disease, tomato spotted wilt, and vaccinium false bottom." Yikes! Nasty plant.DSC_7350 DSC_7345  DSC_7338 DSC_7334 I was intrigued by all the different colors. Speaking of colors, these two birds, also Across the Road, have names with color even though from my photos you wouldn't know it.green heron Green heron.white faced ibisWhite faced ibis. (Thanks to my birder friends who gave me the ID on this one.)  

Waiting in Texas

I'm in Texas waiting for the birth of a granddaughter. My daughter and SIL live in the Texas Hill Country and this is some of what I see on my walks in the early morning and evening.photo 4This is the road to the kids' house.DSC_6053I saw three of these when I turned out of the driveway early this morning and at first I thought it wouldn't be a very long walk. They eventually meandered through the fence.DSC_5971 DSC_5978 Lots of deer in the area.DSC_5982 I don't know what this bird is but it has a distinctive long tail. I need to google "bird with long tail in Texas hill country". At Katie's bird feeder there are a lot of cardinals and a very colorful painted bunting. DSC_6061 I want to look this plant up also. It was full of butterflies and some giant bees the last time I walked by.DSC_5984 MamaLu cooling off after a walk when Katie went with me.black buck in TX View from the kid's kitchen window. This is a Black Buck, native to Africa. There is a herd in the area.Libby What do you do when the baby is a week overdue? Let's go wash the horses. Libby is the horse that Katie got when she was in junior high. Libby moved with Katie to Cal Poly, to TX, to VT, and back to TX.Libby Slim Libby is not too crazy about baths, but her companion, Slim, loves the hose.Slim oak View through the oak trees.moss in the oak tree  Views from this morning's walk before going to the hospital where we are waiting for a baby.

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Road Trip - Day 7 - West to Oregon

The plan for this day was to end up near Pendleton, Oregon because I wanted to go on a tour of the Pendleton Woolen Mill on Monday morning, This was another early morning with no dawdling around camp. No rain or snow, no moths or mosquitos (see earlier posts), but it was cold and we had places to go. Before we left Yellowstone we checked on a couple of sites that we hadn't seen during the previous two days.DSC_4988 Boiling mud at Artists' PaintpotsDSC_5003 There are no photos, but we were struck by the crass commercialization of  the town of West Yellowstone, just outside the West entrance to the Yellowstone. It made us very appreciative of the Rockefeller Parkway, that preserves 24,000 acres connecting Grand Tetons National Park and Yellowstone. Some of this land was purchased by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. to prevent commercialization and ensure preservation of the Yellowstone Basin ecosystem. It is now administered by the National Park System.Continental Divide, Idaho DSC_5014 Once on the road we didn't stop very much so many of my photos are from the highway. I was continually amazed by the huge pivot systems up to 1/4 mile long which means they are irrigating circles of 1/2 mile in diameter. map booksWe were entertained by following our map books. We started out with California and Nevada. I think we picked up Idaho somewhere on the way. Later we found Montana and Wyoming in a used bookstore in Jackson, WY. Eventually we found Oregon in a bookstore in Pendleton. We found these books to be a way to keep the travel interesting even in the broad stretches of "nothing" in the high desert landscapes. There are always geological formations, land features, mines or mountain-tops with names and the books offer much more detail as far as land ownership and dirt roads than regular road maps. The books came in particularly useful when we wanted to camp along the way and find roads into Forest Service land. (Yes, I also have an iPhone and I use it, but there is not always service and sometimes it's just easier to see the whole thing on one page.)DSC_5017On Day 2 we got interested in the fact that our route followed the California Trail used by the pioneers in the 1800's. Now we were following the Oregon Trail. These map books also indicated these trails and all the interpretive centers along the way.DSC_5018  We stopped at Glenn's Ferry and spent about an hour at their historical center.Three Island Crossing at Glenn's Ferry, IDThis is called Three Island Crossing (those larger trees are on islands in the middle of the river) and is where the covered wagons crossed the Snake River. The river was much different before it was dammed and the crossings were dangerous.

While traveling in Idaho I discovered this very cool  Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide of the Oregon Trail as it follows the Snake River in Idaho. This guide includes info about the trail, the events that occurred at specific sites along it, and excerpts from pioneer diaries. I'm not much of  a history buff but this was a fun way to learn more about this part of our history and it is much more meaningful when you are seeing the landscape--rivers, mountains, deserts in much the same way that those pioneers saw them, but of course with much different perspective. I highly recommend traveling with the map book open on the lap while reading the info on the iPhone.DSC_5023 We made it to Oregon by late afternoon.DSC_5027Wide open spaces.DSC_5020

DSC_5024Oregon Trail Marker

There is a what looked like a very cool interpretive center near Baker City, Oregon but we were there too late in the day. This marker indicates...Oregon Trail …the remnants of the actual trail.

Even without the aid of the Oregon map book (which we didn't buy until the next day) we found a place to spend the night. We think this was Forest Service land, but maybe not.DSC_5037 Dan received Father's Day greetings from the kids.DSC_5042 We wondered a short distance from camp and enjoyed the greenery of the forest after driving through the desert. This area is part of the Blue Mountain Range which was a formidable obstacle for the pioneers. Columbine But it was close to dark when we stopped so once again we didn't linger over dinner. I don't even remember what it was--I think we were using up what was left…crackers, peanut butter, cheese, yogurt, carrots. We needed to get on the road fairly early to make sure we got to Pendleton in time for the 9:00 mill tour.DSC_5048 

Next up: A day of travel that includes wool and sheep.

 

Road Trip - Day 6 - Another Day at Yellowstone

In the last post did I say how cold it was when we went to bed the first night in Yellowstone? The cold plus the bison in the campground make me wish that I didn't have that middle-of-the-night call of nature. However, maybe that's a good thing because it was starting to rain and I shut the tailgate and the camper window. When everything is shut up it is warmer inside, but it is also stuffy and the windows get wet with condensation. There are trade-offs and stuffiness is probably better than feet in a wet sleeping bag especially when the temperature dips into the 20's. The green truck is too old to show the temp but that's what my iPhone said when I asked. So instead of rain we had snow during the night. Not a lot, but nevertheless, snow. Once again we didn't linger over our breakfast of instant oatmeal but got in the truck and turned the heater on. I chose way too many photos for this day's blog and I should cut some out, but I probably won't. I like blogs that are mostly photos...

Our plan for this day was to drive the northern loop starting with Mammoth Hot Springs and ending with the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.DSC_4745Not far from the campground we saw our first grizzly bears - from the safety of our truck. (Even though I have been told by blog readers that the bear we saw in Grand Teton was a grizzly bear and not a black bear we thought it was a black bear at the time and I prefer to think that we were hiking with black bears, not grizzlies.) The one on the left was eating a carcass of something and was wearing a collar. They were being watched by a park biologist. I wonder if the park personnel always keep track of bears that are collared and monitor them when they show up near a road? One thing that we learned quickly is that being a Park Ranger in Yellowstone means Wildlife Traffic Patrol. Do you know an easy way to spot wildlife?DSC_4801Just look for parked cars and people walking along the road.DSC_4750It didn't take long to find more bison...DSC_4755 …and more bears. This one wasn't alone.grizzly bear grizzly bearI know, the sagebrush is more in focus than the bears, but that may be my last grizzly bear photo.

It was still early and when we got to Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces the weather was not looking good. It was cold and windy and during our walk along the boardwalk trails it started snowing. But the changing conditions only made the views more dramatic.DSC_4781Mammoth Hot SpringsDSC_4779 

Mammoth Hot SpringsDSC_4790  We didn't hike any long trails on this day but there were many shorter hikes.Scanning for bears, Wraith Falls Trail There were people stopped on the road watching a black bear when we got out of the truck to take a half mile trail to see Wraith Falls. Dan was trying to decide if the bear was still entertaining people on the road or had retreated in our direction. Note bear spray with orange cap in the backpack pocket.

There are several one-way roads that you can use to get off the main road. Blacktail Plateau DriveBlacktail Plateau Drive is one of them and the scenery is majestic.Wild flax To my surprise Dan asked if I wanted to stop and take flower photos. I am usually teased about this habit. This one is wild flax.Phlox Phlox.

blue flower

I wish I knew what this flower is. From a distance it looks like single blue flowers. It's only when you get up close that you see that it is lots of little tiny flowers.1936 Yellowstone tour busWe stopped at another waterfall trailhead and Dan took this photo of a 1936 touring van that he had just read about. These were canvas topped vehicles used in many of the national parks. They seated 14 people and in cold weather (at least in the northern parks) they provided Pendleton wool blankets for the passengers. At least some of the vehicles were used into the 1990's when they were just too old to keep running. The Park Service replaced the old vehicles with modern Dodge vans but the visitors wanted the old touring vans. So they are on the road again but Ford kept just the top part and replaced the chassis (and all the important things like brakes) with new parts. raven

Speaking of vehicles it seemed as though each of the parking lots at the main attractions had it's own sentry. This one was eating crackers.

It was getting late in the day by the time we got to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. There are several access points and trails on both the north and south sides. We knew that we didn't have time to hike all the trails, but we went to  all the overlooks and walked a few of the trails. Uncle Tom's Point trail to Lower FallsWe took Uncle Tom's trail to a viewing spot of the Lower Falls. Writing this blog I'm in a tank top and shorts with the fan on and it's hard to remember that just 10 days ago I was bundled in two layers of wool, my Carhartt jacket, wool hat, and gloves. Uncle Tom's Point trail to Lower FallsOriginally this trail had over 500 steps and rope ladders. Now it has only 328 steps and no ladders. Lower FallsThe trail no longer takes you all the way to the bottom but you still hear and feel the power of the water cascading over the rocks. I love the green color of the water here.DSC_4922 This is a scene of the canyon and the river taken from another viewing area. Simply majestic.Osprey in nest I don't think that I would have spotted this osprey nest except that some other people were looking with binoculars.Osprey in nest See what I mean? The top photo is a close-up of this one.Grand Canyon of the YellowstoneDSC_4961Another beautiful evening. Again we got back to camp at dusk, ate a couple of cans of beans and went to bed.

Next post: On the road to Oregon

 

Things I see on the way to the barn

Bottlebrush Pink bottlebrushDSC_2601 Look at how tiny this new leaf is. Iris (1) One of my special iris plants that I got from Pleasants Valley Iris Farm.Iris Another one of the special irises.Rose (1) This rose  looks fairly common but the fragrance is spectacular.RoseSame for this one.Rose (2) These roses were on this property when we moved here in 1999. We moved them to their current locations. They don't get much TLC, but hang in there.Rose (3) Several of the roses also have branches from rootstock growing up around them. I can easily identify those branches when they are flowering, but I hate to cut them off when they are so pretty.YarrowYarrow.DSC_2672Amaryllis (not a flower).

Pinnacles National Park, Part 2

Does a 2-day camping trip warrant 2 blog posts? For me it does because we don't do this very often. And I took lots of photos. We discovered that we did sleep relatively all right in the truck, although I was told that I had more than my share of the "mattress". Huh!

The next morning we checked the map and chose the hike for the day.DSC_1127 This was the first leg of a 5.5 mile hike. Notice the word Condor. I took my binoculars on this hike, determined to identify a condor this day. Pinnacles is one of the few remaining areas where the endangered California Condors live and nest.DSC_1130

This trail winds up the mountain and behind those peaks in the distance.DSC_1134Getting closer to the peaks. At this point we talked to a wildlife biologist who was using an antennae to try and pick up a signal of the condors who are banded with transponders. She said that they do nest in these cliffs but today she hadn't found any. They don't always stay in the park area. We saw plenty of soaring birds but they kept turning out to be buzzards.DSC_1131  More of the trail.  DSC_1173 This is coming around the west side of those peaks. The vegetation was somewhat different than that of yesterday's hike except for one plant.DSC_1164There was plenty of poison oak, although these trails are wider than those on our Stebbins Cold Canyon hike so it's easier to avoid. I was struck by the beautiful shades of green in the poison oak.DSC_1190 Color abounds.

DSC_1193 This was an interesting trail. Notice that railing under the overhanging rock.DSC_1200The Park Service (or maybe it was the CCC years ago) thoughtfully provided steps (and, thankfully, railings) so that hikers could get over these rocks.DSC_1215 The views are worth the climb.CA GiliaWhat would a hike for me be without a few flower photos? Believe me, I took many more than this even though, due to the dry conditions in Northern California, there was not the abundance of wildflowers that I think there would normally be at this time of year. I think I have identified this as a patch of California Gilia (Gilia achilleifolia).DSC_1243 CA GDSC_1272 I think that this plant is Wild Cucumber or California Manroot (Marah macrocarpa). What we noticed on this hike is that the spiralling tendrils that look like a telephone cord (yes, that dates me) start out straight. When the straight tendril touches something it coils and hangs on. Amazing. 

As usual I tried my hand at wildlife photography. Those bee photos are the only ones I'll show. The bunny, the crow, and the lizard weren't all that great. The condor look-alike perched on a branch turned out to be a buzzard when I looked at the photo close-up. DSC_1296

This looks like condor country to me…DSC_1748…but this was the closest I got to a condor.  Good trip anyway.

 

Hiking Close to Home

Dan suggested hiking today. The closest place for a hike is to go to Stebbins Cold Canyon Preserve in the Blue Ridge Mountains southeast of Lake Berryessa. There is a five-mile loop trail that has enough elevation change to make you feel as though you had a workout, especially for us flat-landers.DSC_0064Do you see those switchbacks on the map? The rest of that isn't exactly flat. This was perfect timing to hike in this area. We finally had enough rain for grass and wildflowers to grow (although not nearly enough rain to make up the deficit).DSC_0031Dan walks. I keep stopping to take photos and then I catch up. This is the lower part of the area in Cold Canyon where there is a lot of greenery. It is a completely different ecosystem than what you find up on the ridge.Poison oakIt is good to stay on the trail because there is poison oak everywhere. Even if dogs were allowed on this part of the hike I wouldn't bring them because they would be covered with it.Dutchman's pipe The interesting flower of CA Dutchman's Pipe or CA Pipevine (Aristolochia californica).CA Bay California Bay Laurel (Umbellularia californica)DSC_9997Shooting Star (Dodecatheon)Wild cucumber or Manroot Wild cucumber or California Manroot or California Bigroot (Marah macrocarpa). The flower books say that the root of this deciduous vine may weigh 50-100 pounds.Indian WarriorIndian Warrior (Pedicularis densiflora) is parasitic, attaching to the roots of other plants.Digger pineAs you leave the canyon and start climbing through the chaparral the vegetation changes. This is a beautiful big digger pine.Poison oak  Did I mention the poison oak?DSC_0043 View of part of Lake Berryessa.DSC_0045More climbing to do before we start the downhill.DSC_0051 We didn't get enough rain this year for the grass to grow up through last year's old dead grass. Those hills are faintly green, but not enough.Dan saving my lens cap.  Dan recovered my lens cap after it rolled several feet down slope. Most of that is not poison oak, but "most" isn't "all". My hero.