Here’s a little of what we saw today …
Chinese Houses (Collinsia heterophylla) Read the rest of this entry »
East Garland Wildflowers
April 30, 2011
4 Comments | 
Insects, On Foot, Plants, Santa Lucias, Wildflowers | Tagged: Carmel Valley, Garland Regional Park | 
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Posted by xasauan
Modoc Easter
April 25, 2011
The Warner Mountains at sunrise.
It may be spring in the rest of California, but winter is only just beginning to loosen its grip on Modoc County. Read the rest of this entry »
5 Comments | Plants, Wildflowers | Permalink
Posted by xasauan
National Trails Day
April 20, 2011While, as far as we’re concerned, every day is trails day, if not head-off-the-trail-and-see-what’s-happening-in-the-trackless-woods-day, this year’s official National Trails Day will be Saturday, June 4. To celebrate, the Ventana Wilderness Alliance, REI Marina and the California State Parks will be offering us all an easy way to help keep the trails in good condition. Sign-up opens at Big Sur Station at 9:00 am, with trail work projects available for “all ages.” They supply tools and refreshments. All you need are gloves, water, a hat, and closed-toe shoes (you weren’t really going to do trail work in sandals, were you?). See the VWA website for more information.
As there aren’t many endeavors in which a few hours toil can yield such satisfying results, this whole “Trails Day” thing is, basically, a sneaky way to get you hooked on the pleasures of this type of work – with the hope that you’ll then volunteer for more lengthy stints on the VWA’s backcountry trail crews. There’s certainly no doubting that the trails need more help than they’re getting.
So here, in honor of Trails Day and to inspire you to get out on the trails and get (or stay) involved in maintaining them, we present some scenes from the trailsides of Monterey County …
Tufted poppies along the Skinner Ridge Trail – Ventana Wilderness Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments | Big Sur, On Foot, Santa Lucias | Permalink
Posted by xasauan
Wildflower Show Opens in Pacific Grove
April 15, 2011
Clarkia rubicunda
The annual Wildflower Show opened at the Pacific Grove Natural History Museum this morning and will run through the weekend. With hundreds of species on display and plenty of experts on hand to answer questions, you can learn more about the native flora in an hour here than you can in a week anywhere else. They say it’s the biggest wildflower show in the northern and western hemispheres (does that mean there’s a bigger one in South Africa, or somewhere?). And it only costs five bucks! But it’s one weekend only. Miss it and you’ll have to wait for next year.
Hours are 10 to 5.
Sea Pink (Ameria maritima ssp. californica) and California Poppies (Eschscholzia californica) blooming on Granite Pt.
Leave a Comment » | Plants, Wildflowers | Permalink
Posted by xasauan
Flashback! The Pfeiffer Park Pool
April 2, 2011
Navigating the pool, while avoiding any unnecessary contact with the water – 1966 Read the rest of this entry »
6 Comments | Big Sur, History, Santa Lucias | Tagged: Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park | Permalink
Posted by xasauan
Xasáuan Today 