Lovely day out on the trails. Still plenty of water in the creeks and waterfalls, and the wildflowers are really starting to pop. Feeling very grateful to live in these beautiful mountains.
Backbone #10
Tag: santa monica mountains
Urtica
While gingerly investigating the nettle, I managed to get stung under my chin. The perils of nature journaling!
Charmlee
Our sixth nature journal club meetup was our biggest and (arguably) best yet! Certainly our best lunch spread—we are totally rocking the picnic buffet. Seventeen of us enjoyed perfect winter weather (70° and sunny) at charming Charmlee Wilderness Park in western Malibu. Such a joy.
Backbone #7
Section 7 is in the books. Most of this trail was new to us, and we enjoyed it a lot. The steep uphill sections and exposed ridge might not be fun on a hot summer today, but right now they’re just lovely.
Cardamine californica
This week in the perpetual journal. Milkmaids are one of the earliest wildflowers to appear on the shady banks and slopes of our local oak and riparian woodlands. They are in the Brassicaceae family.
Backbone #6
Easy section this time, in one of my favourite parts of Malibu Creek State Park. It was fun to see thousands of acorns sprouting on the forest floor, even knowing that only the slimmest fraction of them will grow into trees.
Schizophyllum
The widespread Schizophyllum genus contains six wood-rotting species. Schizophyllum mycelium only needs to generate one set of fruiting bodies per year. Unlike some mushroom species, split gill fungi have the ability to dry out and rehydrate, allowing them to open and close numerous times throughout a growing season. This is an excellent adaptation for climates with sporadic rainfall, and surely contributes to their success.
Backbone #5
The Backbone adventure proceeds apace. Five sections down, eight to go. This section is particularly enjoyable, with spectacular rock formations and awesome views. And, at this time of year, lots of fungi!
backbone #1
Over the next few months, I’ll be hiking the 67-mile/108-km Backbone Trail in easy chunks. Annette and I started with section one on New Years Day, Will Rogers to Trippet Ranch. It was a gorgeous day, and we were tired and happy at the end. A great way to start the year!
Deinandra minthornii
I went on a Geology field trip with the California Native Plant Society. Besides learning a lot about our local rock formations, I was introduced to a federally endangered plant that I would have walked right past if I hadn’t been with native plant geeks. We have LOTS of tarweed growing in our mountains, but it’s the common annual type, Deinandra fasciculata. This one is a perennial woody shrub. Happy to have met it!
hashiworks 