Redwoods in the Rain, Again: Stout Grove at Jedediah Smith State Park

 

Date: November 28, 2014
Place: Jedediah Smith State Park, Crescent City, California
Length: 1.3 miles
Level: easy

After our our wet hike at Myrtle Creek no one had any desire to leave the car for another hike. We drove slowly along the Smith River on a narrow, muddy, not all paved road that was the long way back to Crescent City. The heater was on full power and the rain tapped incessantly on our car. I tried to convince myself that I should be happy with the hike we did do and not glum over those we didn't get to do.                      
But the rain eventually east off and by the time we arrived at the little pullout which was the parking area for the Stout Grove trail it nearly stopped. I thought I'd be going down by myself to check it out but Grandma Quail wanted to join me and see the big trees. So grudgingly, Papa Quail and the chikas came along as well.

Our hike to Stout Grove as captured by GPS. The GPS capture wasn't accurate - the loop completes where I fixed it in black.

For a while there was only misty moist in the air, mixed with heavy droplets that fell off the trees. We walked along the Smith River, slowly descending to to the water.

Afternoon air laden with water. 

The only thing 'blooming' were mushrooms, and most of them were species I've seen on earlier hikes so I left my camera tucked under my rain poncho.
I did takes it out from time to time, though.

Banana slugs were out and about. It was nice to see them in bright yellow again.

Banana Slug

Little by little, almost without noticing, the rain got heavier. We crossed a couple of creeks that were gashing on their way to join with Smith River.
I love the redwoods, and the rain really brings forth their beauty in a very intense way. I is certainly worth getting wet to see that first hand. But - I got even more careful with pulling my camera out but many of my photos still got droplet smudges on them.

Sometimes those smudges add an artistic level to the photos ... or so I try to convince myself.
The redwood trunks we were seeing were getting larger and larger. All too quickly, they were impossible to hug all the way around.

Coast Redwood trunks (Sequoia sempervirens)

If there were any birds about - we didn't see or hear them. Papa Quail did bring his camera along but had kept it under his poncho throughout the hike (and later complained about the futility of having carried such a heavy thing for the slight chance of any bird posing out in the rain).
We arrived at the Stout Grove loop. The rain got heavier and Papa Quail hurried along with the chikas while Grandma Quail and I lagged behind. Grandma Quail doesn't like hiking in the rain but the giant trees worked their magic on her and she wandered among the giant trunks, craning her neck to get a glimpse of their tops (and getting rain water collecting under her poncho).

S/he who had never seen giant redwoods before may not understand the magic they work on their beholders. John Steinbeck had described it perfectly in his book, 'Travels with Charley in Search of America':

“The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always. No one has ever successfully painted or photographed a redwood tree. The feeling they produce is not transferable. From them comes silence and awe. It's not only their unbelievable stature, nor the color which seems to shift and vary under your eyes, no, they are not like any trees we know, they are ambassadors from another time.”

Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)

I only wish I could write like Steinbeck. 

The redwood forest floor is also magnificent. Some very common redwoods undergrowth are ferns, which love the wetness and truly come alive in the rain. 

 A Field of Fern, all glistening in the rain. 

Redwood base growth happens when the trees experience stress. Many of the Bay Area redwoods display ample base growth. The trees at Stout Grove have almost clean trunks - a sign of happy trees!

Redwood base growth

I also saw fewer burls on those redwoods. They certainly looked straighter and less gnarly than their southern relatives. More regal, I may add.

Redwood Burl

Upon completing the loop Papa Quail took the chikas and hurried up the trail back to the car. He had had enough rain for one day. 

Grandma Quail and I followed along slowly, taking the time before saying goodbye to those majestic trees and to Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. At the end of that hike we turned about and started our journey southward, and the last lag of our Thanksgiving vacation. 

On our way south, just before dark, we got to the exit for Fern Canyon and Papa Quail pulled out. This time, the meadow was full with elks. The chikas were asleep already. PaPa Quail and Grandma Quail were satisfied with b=viewing them from the car. I took the camera and stepped outside to get a clear view :-)

That night we stayed in the town of Arcata. Rain or shine, we had planned for the morrow to go bird-watching at the Arcata Marsh.

Thanksgiving on the Beach: Tolowa Dunes State Park

Date: November 27, 2014
Place: Tolowa Dunes State Park, Crescent City, California
Coordinates: 41.869259, -124.211796
Length: we walked 1.3 miles. The trail continues much longer.
Difficulty: easy

We had much to thank for, last Thanksgiving Day. On that day specifically I thanked for a fantastic hike at Lake Earl Wildlife Area that was very rewarding to us.
That hike had taken much longer than we expected and had missed lunch time by a couple of hours. By the time we were done with our belated lunch there wasn't much daylight left. Certainly not enough for a long hike.
There were ominous clouds hanging in the west but the promised rain hasn't started yet. We decided to go once more to Tolowa Dunes and take a walk along the beach.

Our hike, superimposed on a satellite photo of  Tolowa Dunes SP

There are several beach access points at Tolowa Dunes SP, and we chose the one at Kellogg Rd which was enough removed from town but not too far to drive to. We parked right by the beach, donned heavy sweaters and headed towards the strandline.

The beach access at Kellogg Rd, Crescent City

 We saw evidence of a seafood feast that was held there prior to our arrival. Most crab shells were damaged, but this one remained nice and whole. There is such a thing as a civilized gull, I guess.

 

After some aimless wandering we decided to take the trail on the dune crest. The trail is like a trench in a sea of grass.

European Beachgrass (Ammophila arenaria), invasive

The grass was very impressive. And very hard too, with sharp, pointy tips that poked through my pants and irritated my skin. It was so tall that it was easy to lose sight of one-another when the trail dipped into the dunes or curved a bit.
The wind was strong and the grass moved constantly, wave upon wave, towards the horizon.

This grass is an invasive species that took over the beach dunes. I wonder how these dunes looked like before: were there other plants to bind the sand down, or was it free to blow in the wind? Maybe the Tolowa people have the answers.
On superficial glance, it seems that nothing else grows on these dunes. But a closer inspection reveals a few other species, mainly in more exposed  areas. Among them are the beach strawberry,

Beach Strowberry (Fragaria chiloensis)

and beach morning glory, with its cute heart-shaped leaves.

Beach Morning Glory (Calystegia soldanella)

We didn't walk very far. The hour was late and the clouds were gathering. The sky was darkening fast. After about half a mile we descended to the beach.

A sea of water and a sea of grass in eternal standoff

We didn't see much in the way of wildlife. But there was a large group of western gulls hanging on the beach right where we emerged from the grass. (Come to think of it, these gulls may have been the reason Papa Quail chose that point to go to the waterfront.

Gulls on the beach

We strolled slowly along the water back to the parking lot. Ocassionally, a gull or two would take flight, circle above for a minute, then land back on the sand. A trio of southbound pelicans glided over the waves.

The shore was strewn with pebbles and seashells, rotting seaweed and pieces of driftwood, and some human junk. My family was ahead but I was walking slowly with my eyes on the ground, searching for something interesting. I found it in the form of a bunch of 2-inch long gelatinous-looking (and feeling) things.

Washed ashore

I knelt down and took a closer look. These white things were egg pods. Squid egg pods.
Squid females deposit their eggs, one pod each, anchoring them on seaweed. Apparently a group of squid have lost their offspring when that piece of seaweed detached and washed ashore.

Squid egg pods

Looking for interesting things on the beach isn't just my thing. There was another person there on the beach that day, revering the ocean. I arched my way around him, but as I was getting near the parking lot I turned around and saw him walking almost next to me. He showed me a pretty seashell and told me it was a fossil. It looked thicker than regular seashell, but otherwise, I wasn't able to tell the difference.


He went on and I staggered behind, hiding my discomfort in a piece of driftwood that was covered with white spots.

All dead barnacles. Like some pox disease.

At last I was alone at the beach. It was almost dark and the foretold rain has finally began to edge its way ashore. I gazed one last time at the approaching storm cloud, then turned around and rushed to the car. I managed to quell the general impatience that was building up there while waiting by telling them that I had a surprise for them to look at.

It was an egg pod that was separated from the rest and I took it with me to show the chikas. They got very excited and argued all the way back to the hotel who would have the honor of holding the squishy thing.
At the hotel room I cut it open for them, and tried to get a decent photo. Next trip I think I'll bring along my stereoscope. Or at least, a magnifying lens. It kept them busy enough while the adults were preparing Thanksgiving dinner.  There was indeed a lot to thank for that day.

Squid eggs with embryos

The Cherry on the Pie: A Thanksgiving Hike at Lake Earl Wildlife Area

Date: November 27, 2014
Place: Tolowa Dunes State Park, Crescent City, California
Coordinates:
Length: 4.5 miles
Difficulty: moderate

Last year we visited Humboldt Bay NWR. On my way out of the visitor center I picked up a few brochures they had there for give away. One of them was the Tolowa Dunes State Park and the Lake Earl Wildlife Area brochure. When I was planning our Thanksgiving vacation this year I pulled that brochure out and added the place to our list of hiking options by Crescent City. Augmented by a strong recommendation from one of the town's local residents, Tolowa Dunes and the Lake Earl Wildlife Area became our prime destination for Thanksgiving Day hiking.

Our hike of Lake Earl Loop Trail, as captured by Papa Quail's GPS

The chikas were off school for the entire Thanksgiving week, which meant going on a week long road trip. We traveled north along the coast and had several fantastic hikes. The prime destination of our trip was planned to be Fern Canyon at Prairie Creek State Park and indeed it was. Sometimes though, it is another place, an unexpected one, that captures the eye and the heart. Such was the case with Tolowa Dunes and as such, I post it right away ahead of all the other hikes of that trip, while my excitement is still tingling and I can still feel the breeze on my face.

We chose to hike the Cadra Loop Trail at Lake Earl Wildlife Area. The forecast for the day was rain, but precipitation hasn't started yet when we woke up, and I was hoping to get as much hiking done before it did, so we arrived early at the trailhead.
The field near the parking lot provided the first surprise of the hike: flowers! Not many, but still. Flowers in end of November. Flowers that shouldn't be blooming at this time of year. Either they didn't read the book or the book has changed.

Beach Knotweed (Polygonum paronychia)

We took the Cadra Point Trail leading towards Lake Earl, hoping to see water fowl in the water. The trail transverses an open field and plunges into the woods. Nowhere in sights were any dunes. The trail, however, was being used by others, encouraged out of their hiding by the recent rains.

Rough-skin Newt

When I planned to hike in a place that has 'Dunes' in its name I expected to see sand. As it was, we were hiking in a wet forest of mixed conifers and bare-branched, broad-leaf trees. The forest undergrowth was lush with blackberry bushes, ferns and other types of vegetation. The ground was covered with a thick layer of humus and fallen leaves on their way to become humus. A heavy, earthy fragrance was in the air.
The stage center was held by fungi. They were everywhere.

Turkey tail (Trametes versicolor)

Fungi, the silent and mostly invisible link that connects the life cycle on earth. The organisms who break down dead plants and animals and return the nutrients to the soil. The organisms who form  associations with plants and algae, increasing their fitness and enhancing mutual survival. The organisms who grow out of sight inside soil or dead trees but pop out in a spectacular bloom following the rain. The organs we see, those we eat or avoid eating for fear of poisoning, those things we call mushrooms, are merely the fruiting bodies of the fungus.

Fungi are not plants. I underlined this statement because I heard too many people claim that they are. Fungi make their own kingdom, distinct from plants or animals. They may be silent and mostly out of sight, but they play a crucial role in a healthy ecosystem.
Most people see mushrooms only at grocery stores and, following rains, as they pop out of lawns and under trees. Most of these mushrooms look similar: small, dull-colored umbrellas with fleeting existence. In the woods, though, the variety of mushrooms is simply astounding.

Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)

With my eyes constantly on the ground, it was easy for me to forget that I was walking in a forest. Until we came upon a clearing, that is.

And the clearing itself was a good place to look down at the ground.

This trail has a few side diversions that dead-end at Lake Earl. We skipped the first one but took the second one down to the lake. This side trails was overgrown with vegetation and it was hard at time to figure out where we were supposed to go. Some plants may have been unnecessarily trampled. Then again, it was an opportunity to see things that weren't by the main trail, like this yarrow in bloom:

Common Yarrow

At the end of the diversion trail we had to push through a thicket of willows, blackberries and reeds. Then the view opened up.

Lake Earl, view east

A heaven for waterfowl. But we saw very few of them there. Distant rifle shots attracted our attention and before long we detected the hunters far out on the lake.

Hunters at Lake Earl

If I were a duck I wouldn't be out in the open either, with them hunters about. Even as a Quail I felt very uncomfortable there, so I herded the family back on the trail. Papa Quail brought up the rear. In lieu of ducks he photographed a hawk:

Red-tailed Hawk

Once behind the vegetation barrier I felt more at ease and stooped down to look for more mushrooms.

Russula sp.

It was only when I got home and enlarged the images on the computer screen that I saw that some of them included tiny mushroom tasters too.

Some of the prettiest mushrooms were along that diversion trail to the lake.

Russula (rosea?)

And also some very un-mushroom-like mushrooms.

Purple Coral Fungus (Clavaria purpurea)

Back on the main trail we continued on northward. Half a mile further we saw the first and only dune on our trail.

To be honest, I must say that there were dunes all over the area. They were simply invisible under the vegetation. All the sand was bound down by roots and only at places where the earth was exposed it was clear that the soil is, indeed, sand.
"Look, Mom, Sunny side up mushrooms!" The chikas were yelling from behind me. Sure enough, there they were.

Bolbitius vitellinus

The 'sunny side up' mushrooms were right where the trail opens into a grassy area before the dune. By the trail side - one of the plants I saw blooming out of phase.

California Hedgenettle (Stachys bullata)

And another one, right in the grass: the selfheal, in full bloom, completely out of phase.

Common Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris)

And then, that red dot on the flower, enlarged: someone was enjoying the fall bloom.

Velvet Mite (Thrombidium holosericeum)

By the lake - a more fall-like scenery. A sea of grass waving before the lake. This is the best wind-shot I have from that hike. Trust me, it was blowing hard.

At that point we had a choice which I took - to continue on the narrow foot trail closer to the lake rather than on the wide dirt road which was Cadra Point Trail. Both were taking to the same place but I was hoping to see more interesting sights on the narrower trail. I was also hoping for a better view to the lake. 
There was no clear view of the lake on that trail, it was deep in vegetation. Trees, shrubs and tall grasses intertwined. This trail segment was also going up and down a lot, and occasionally so overgrown with plants that at points it was difficult to determine where to continue. We took it slow.
And all the while, I continued my fascination with the greenery. All kinds of them, even lichen.

 Lobaria Lichen (Lobaria pulmonaria)

Lichen, which are symbiotic organisms comprised of alga and fungus, grow on all kinds of substrates, including trees, standing or fallen.

Lobaria pulmonaria lichen with fungal fruiting bodies

Usually I pass them by, but some do catch my eye. This one, which at first I thought was a fungus, was so small that I was truly surprised to see that the photograph actually turned ok.

Lichen (Cladonia diversa)

That 0.8 mile between the dune and the intersection with the trail to Cadra Point took the larges part of our hiking time. Near the intersection we stopped for a snack break while Papa Quail took off on another diversion trail to take another look at the lake.

There are sand dunes under all this vegetation.

Once again on Cadra Loop Trail we were walking comfortably northward on a wide dirt road.

A few Douglas Fir overlooking Old Mill Rd

For a good mile the trail meanders through open prairie, dotted with occasional mushrooms or aster flowers.

Pacific (?) Aster ( Symphyotrichum (chilense?)

Most of the trees there were Douglas Fir. I couldn't tell, at first, because they were quite short representatives of the 3rd tallest tree species in the world. Foliage and cones, however,
are much better indicators than height.

Douglas Fir, bearing holiday decoration

After about half a mile we reached the intersection with Old Mill Road. From that point, Cadra Point Trail continues 2 miles more to the north tip of the peninsula that separates Lake Earl and Lake Tolowa. Going there, however, would have extended our hike well beyond the time we had, so we turned left and hiked southwest on Old Mill Road.
Right at the intersection point there is a bench overlooking Lake Tolowa, which is the western lobe of Lake Earl. Finally, we had clear view of the waterfowl.

Lake Tolowa

Papa Quail was happy.

Gadwall (male), mallard (female) and American Coots

The birds in the water were mostly coots. Coots are nice, but common. In between them, there were more exciting fowl, such as various duck species, cormorants, grebes and this beautiful pair of hooded merganser.  

Hooded Merganser, male and female

In the reeds: herons and egrets.

Great Blue Heron

And over everything, a northern harrier, ever searching for a bite.

Northern Harrier

The wind was picking up again, and soon we were back on our feet. The chikas started complaining: once again we overshot lunchtime. Luckily, there were enough interesting things along the way to get them distracted.
Like this HUGE anthill we saw shortly after the trail entered the woods again. Honestly, I have never seen anything like this before. It was so much bigger than any anthill I have ever seen in my life, and had many holes. The entire mound was swarming with worker ants, going in and out of the holes, some dragging pieces of plant matter.
I can't imagine all theses ants be progeny of a single queen. I am still looking for more information about this species.

Anthill. Actually, ant mountain. 

As far as ants go, this species is the beauty queen. They look so elegant!

Formica obscuripes

We all stood over the anthill lost in admiration for quite a while, and I must say that the ants were very patient with us and showed no signs of aggression whatsoever.
A few steps further down the trail we arrived at Beaver Pond.

Beaver Pond

We didn't see any beavers, but the pond itself was very pretty.

Beaver Pond Reflection

A cloud of little birds flew by. They were having fun in the wind.

A cloud of Pine Siskin

The chikas remembered they were hungry so we went on. We left the woods and were hiking in a mostly clear, grassy area with some tree groves here and there. There were a few old buildings near the trail, and I looked inside one of them to see if I could find anything interesting there, like bats. I didn't see any bats, but I did see yet another spring flower near that building.

Oregon Grape (Berberis aquifolium)

No, November isn't springtime! But it sure was nice to see flowers.

Seapink (Armeria maritima)

We increased our pace, and I resisted the temptation to stop and inspect every little thing along the way. But when the 'thing' presents itself right underfoot ... what can I do?

Why did the Banana Slug cross the road? 

As we neared the end of our loop trail we saw one more of those giant anthills, and more pretty mushrooms.  There is a lot to see in that place. An information sign posted at the last trail intersection listed six of the area's special organisms. We've seen four of them on that hike, we'll just have to visit again for the other two :-)

Turkey tail (Trametes versicolor)

What a place. What a fine find! While the Northern California Redwoods have international acclaim (and justly so), the pearl of Tolowa Dunes lies right beneath the tourists radar. I found about it by chance, and I feel like I hit the jackpot. We had some fantastic hikes on our Thanksgiving Break this year, but this one was my favorite. It topped them all.

The ultimate proof  that we hiked in wonderland

All of the bird photos in this post were taken by Papa Quail.

Many thanks to members of the California Native Plants Society for their help in identifying plants!

Also thanks to members of the California Wildlife Appreciators group for their help in identifying bugs :-)

And special thanks to CDFW Senior Environmental Scientist and to Dr. Horenstein and DR. Ward of UC Davis for identifying the mound-building ants. Such a fascinating species!