Coast Tar Weed,
Italian Thistle?
.
My son Ben and I parked off Sky Oaks Road across from Pumpkin Ridge Trail.
Just as we got out of the car a Great Blue Heron ghosted by. They always remind
me of Pterodactlys...
What an awesome day for the day after Thanksgiving -- 70 degrees, clear blue
sky. As we entered the trail, we saw a pair of black-tailed deer we watched us
for a while, and then trotted off. All along the ridge trails it was incredibly QUIET.
No birds, no wind, no nothin'. I re-introduced Ben to the differences between
Redwoods (flat sprays, soccer ball cones) and Douglas Fir (round, oval cones).
We saw some tiny tiny mushrooms, not much bigger than the head of a pin,
growing out of some of the Douglas Fir cones. While we were watching a
red-tailed hawk ride the thermals we turned and saw some great views of Mt. Tam --
all three peaks in one shot. We took Hidden Trail from the road to the lake.
We stopped for about 5 minutes to watch and listen to two Wrentits who were
working their way around some cut Coulter Pine underbrush. Cool.
The trail along the Lake was extremely warm and we were down to tshirts
in no time.
With all our gum gone we got a chance to walk and a chance to talk, Ben about his experiences
as a sophomore in college, and me as a freshman entrepreneur. Good stuff.
I hope we can do this in Portland some time.
Here's what we saw:
Birds
Double-crested Cormorant,
Great Blue Heron,
Turkey Vulture,
Red-tailed Hawk,
"Red-shafted Flicker",
Scrub Jay,
Common Crow,
Bushtit,
(Red-breasted Nuthatch),
Wrentit,
Rufous-sided Towhee,
"Oregon Junco"
.
Mammals Black-tailed Deer, Grey Squirrel.
Mushrooms
Reptiles & Amphibians, etc.
Shrubs
Scrub Oak
.
Trees
Coulter Pine,
Douglas Fir,
Coast Redwood,
Coast Live Oak,
Tanoak,
California (Bay) Laurel,
Toyon,
Madrone.
Wildflowers
Coast Tar Weed,
Italian Thistle?
.
Return to [hikes95]
-- Michael Paul Thoma
I'd value your comments. Email me at mike@thoma.com
Last updated 30 Dec, 1995.