Lassen in June

This was the first week of June, 2007, and if I remember right, this is still-frozen Lake Helen (elev. 8,200 ft.), with Mt. Lassen in the background.

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel

Clark's Nutcracker

Mt. Lassen from Manzanita Lake, not frozen at 5,900 feet.

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Coast Trail

Although I totally support the protests against police brutality and racism, I'm glad we were able to watch the Golden Gate Bridge being blocked by protesters on the evening news, long after we had crossed it to get home. We left home even earlier today to set out on a different Mt. Tam loop than yesterday's, again returning to cross the bridge well before noon.

I believe this bouquet of lovelies is Golden Yarrow (Eriophyllum confertiflorum).

It was chilly and windy when we started, sometime before 8 a.m., but the air was beautifully clear. I even saw the Farallons for the first time in weeks. It seemed so close from our Bolinas Ridge vista that I thought it was a container ship at first.

We had long stretches of the trail to ourselves, which was a nice surprise. The Matt Davis Trail can be especially busy at times. Being early birds helps. By the time we circled back to Rock Spring via the Cataract Trail, we encountered all the people who start hiking at 10 a.m., and as we did so I thought of it as the Cataract Trail Superhighway, even though we probably crossed paths with no more than 20-25 people, far less than we'd encounter in single block around our neighborhood shopping district.

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Opening Up

The Rock Spring parking lot was open again. This is the first weekend it's been open since it all shut down a couple months ago. My wife and I were eager to walk on mountain trails once again, and it was a gorgeous day to be in the woods, and also to find a spot where we could take in the long view out toward Mt. St. Helena.

Although the coastal hillsides have very little green left, the woods still seem lush, with lots of new horsetail coming up along parts of Cataract Creek.

We stopped by Potrero Meadow where I checked up on the old geocache which I didn't find until May of 2014. It had been sitting out there since 2011. This morning it didn't appear that anyone had been in there in a long time, but in fact someone had been in the box as recently as August 2019.

It was great to open up to the wild again, to get some of that natural nectar made of sunshine and wind, scent of forest and meadow, to feel the trail under our feet, surrounded by birdsong and butterflies, to watch a browsing buck in its velvet antlers and a pair of coyotes that traversed a hillside that was going to gold with wind-blown grasses half as high as the coyotes, and all with so few people around that you feel you have it to yourself.

Even this fence lizard was opening up to new growth: I'd never seen a lizard shedding it's skin before. Its camouflage was so brilliant I probably wouldn't have seen it if my wife hadn't drawn my attention. Once the optometrists are open again I'll have to drop by for some glasses that I've been putting off getting for a long time. The woods are getting increasingly impressionistic, and I just flat-out miss little details like camouflaged lizards.

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Hummer at Twinberry Flowers

Although I'd just photographed Fern Canyon and Roosevelt elk around Gold Bluffs Beach back in June 2008, I still remember being most grateful for having gotten a photo of a tiny Allen's hummingbird feeding on native twinberry flowers (Lonicera involucrata) (not to be confused with twin flowers, Linnaea borealis). I'd first encountered twinberry growing along Redwood Creek between Muir Woods and Muir Beach.

I might have been especially pleased because I'd often photographed these hummingbirds in the man-made gardens of Strybing Arboretum, and there was something special about finally photographing them in a wild and natural setting where the birds are much less accommodating of close proximity to people. 

On my bike ride yesterday I noticed that Strybing Arboretum is open again, at least at the front entrance. The back entrance (nearer Stow Lake) was still closed. Unfortunately, campgrounds up around Redwood National Park are still closed, and I'm not too hopeful they will open at all this month.

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Yard Cat

This neighborhood cat is just the right blend of wild and domestic. She spends all her time outdoors but enjoys human company (especially if it involves ear-scratching).

Sometimes the wildlife camera actually does capture wildlife. It's pretty rare that a raccoon makes a daytime appearance, though. Cheeky.

The cat likes to sleep in several places, mostly at either of my next-door neighbors' yards (using the term "yard" very loosely). Sometimes she wants to be in the sun, other times she'll opt for the shade.

Lately, though, she decided to take her cat-naps directly in front of the wildlife camera, resulting in about 400 frames per day that look like this.

And this.

Sometimes the raccoon will saunter through, only to be followed minutes later by the cat, who I'm pretty sure is afraid of raccoons, and probably for good reason.

Kit-Kat, aka Fuzz, aka Coco.

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