Humans Meet Nature: today's photo challenge theme

These photo are not from today, but I'm still okay w/that. =)

A few things: this theme is major, for me. I'm a conservation biologist, for Pete's sake.

And I've been in national parks on days visitors have died there.

I pretty much wrote what I felt about it

(incl. talking about when John Muir was blinded in one eye) 

in this post, after some waterfall fatalities in Yosemite,

so you can peruse that if you want.

Taking this photograph (Vernal Fall) was THRILLING.

My basic perspective is that the beauty in nature often comes with risk

and that's the way it is.

I'd rather have nature unimpaired with its risks

than guard rails and DO NOT ENTER signs everywhere.

My favorite word is freedom.

Taking this photo of Nevada Fall was also super exciting.

That fall was LOUD & at SUPER high water.

Nevada Fall from farther away--kind of a plunge, eh?

If you wanna "Meet Nature" ya might want to

educate yourself,

prepare yourself,

work on your fitness (endurance, balance, etc.),

learn about the conditions you may encounter,

pack food, water, sunscreen etc.,

wear appropriate clothing (this is huge)

and TRAIN.

PRACTICE.

If you're not experienced, work up to it, read books, ask people who work there, etc.

Training before you go gives you time to get your clothing/gear/food/water situation all sussed out.

That's incredibly important.

And if you've trained, you'll have WAY more fun and probably be a lot safer.

And it's another excuse to get outside with friends & hike & blab.

Which I'm always in favor of.

=) xoxobbb

Birthday hike in Yosemite, & random vocab quiz! =)

Happy Birthday to me!

Therefore, Bear & I hiked in Yosemite Valley today.

Other years we bike.

I ADORE biking in Yosemite Valley--it's the perfect scale for it.

However, bikes are still dusty from last year, so we hoofed it.

Here's a hint of how glorious the dogwood is right now:

It's a VERY good year for this tree-o-white-blossoms,

so if it's an option, I strongly recommend you get here ASAP.

We hiked up the west side of Mirror Lake Loop,

where we saw forest delights:

There are deciduous forests, and there are delicious forests.

This is a delicious forest. 

 Wild ginger. Check out that GORGEOUS glossy sheen. Phew!

More stunning dogwood flowers.

It's like passing by a supermodel on the trail;

can you REALLY ignore it?!? 

No.

Cool forest fungi

 Hubba, hubba.

Having crossed the river to the east side of Tenaya Creek,

we alit upon the source of the pungent trail decor...

 Might I say, though, nice buns!

On our way out,

we stopped to look at a fungus-laden tree Bear likes.

We were forced to park in this dreary spot

(panning from right to left).

*sigh*

Thank you, Yosemite & National Park Service.

You ROCKED it, hard.

Okay: QUIZ TIME!!

This week my eyes have landed on an outdoor object,

and every time, a word pops into my head:

ootheca

Discuss.

Please tell me what you think this means,

without looking it up,

and if you have ZERO clue,

please fling the wildest guess you can fabricate.

I heart correct guesses* (& bow to your brain),

but those who bravely chuck forth

creative BS guesses

have a special place in my heart.

=)

You know who you are.

xoxoxobb

*spot on "guesses" WILL be posted, but not right away,
so other folks can take a stab at it, unencumbered by the facts. =)

I'm a stick; don't see me... (quiz 4 u)

 I will hold my legs next to my side, and not move.

Rock as pillow, 'cause I'm tough.

 I believe this is a San Diego alligator lizard, Elgaria multicarinata webbii,

based on the distribution map here, and eye color.

If you check out that map, it's cool, 'cause I learned these guys

IN San Diego, then moved up north, RIGHT where they extend north.

=) An old friend.

Though this guy was LONG, but not big,

so I think "old" is inaccurate.

Because of my time spent inventorying herps,

I have a habit of looking at the tail of any lizard to see

if their tail is the original, or if it's regenerated.

If you see the nice pattern going all the way down the tail, it's original.

If the pattern basically stops at the tail and becomes just plain, it's regenerated.

QUIZ: So, what do you think? Original work, or re-tread?

This guy was right in the trail.

I 100% did NOT see it, but Bear did, and pointed it out.

Total stick impression.

I had been looking for mushrooms (in vain) to the side of the trail,

'cause that's where I've seen them, frequently.

Not now. Too dry.

But, it's never too dry for an alligator lizard.

Tough puppies.

And this creature NEVER MOVED during the photo shoot.

Good one, lizard! You won.

You're a stick, and we are leaving you alone.

xobb

mushroom hike: success!

We were SO LUCKY re: rain in the 1.5 weeks before the hike.

I was a little stressed we'd not find much. I was wrong.

The guy who instigated this had a nightmare the night before,

where he and I were hiking around, trying to find mushrooms,

and finding none.

Yes, if you are running it, even if it's casual & for free,

a stroll through the woods can be stressful. =)

Turns out it was awesome,

amazing group of people,

they found SO much cool stuff,

and everyone had a great time.

Hooray!

More photos later. I just wanted to share the booty. =)

Now I have to go lie down and rub my temples.

xoxobb

Tumbling photos, field work hazards, & rain saves my butt

My guess: Edith's checkerspot (Euphydryas editha)

on yerba santa (Eriodictyon californicum).

1. Am doling out more photos from the (fairly glorious)

CNPS hike along the Merced River,

including wildflowers, butterflies, etc.,

on Tumblr (click on that!) 'cause it's faster. For now.

Hope that's alright. xoxoxo

2. Hazards of field work, part 12

Found a good site for Saturday's mushroom hike: hooray!

Unfortunately, also found poison oak on my body.

I knew I'd gone through a patch 2 days ago,

during an exploratory hike of a potential site,

so washed my clothes with Tecnu.

Forgot to wash MYSELF with Tecnu.

Oops.

3. The recent RAIN we got saved my hiney!

Until about 10 days ago, we had almost NO mushrooms visible anywhere.

Cruised through a potential hike in the Sierra NF yesterday,

and saw over 6 species.

Some kinda TINY, beautiful, BRIGHT mushroom.

No clue, re: ID. In the Sierra National Forest, Bass Lake District.

Thus, I am saved.

From a mushroom-free mushroom hike.

And mushroom-free mushroom-seekers.

Who would need someone to blame.

And pelt with pinecones.

Thank you to the rain + warmth that --> MUSHROOMS!

And thank you, in advance, to the Sierra National Forest

for having handy, fruitful, and free forests for us to roam.

I'll think of you if/when I write a check to the IRS this year.

xoxoxo!

bb

Peeping at posies w/CNPS Power Plant People

Fiddleneck flower faces. Genus = Amsinckia.

Per Jepson, Amsinckia "Seeds and herbage TOXIC to livestock (especially cattle)

from alkaloids and high nitrate concentrations. Sharp plant hairs irritate human skin."

Translation: Look, but don't touch. Or eat. Pretty please.

CAVEAT: these few shots are from yesterday's lovely hike with

California Native Plant Society and their noble members,

and all plant names are approximate:

I have stuff to do today, didn't take notes yesterday,

and am not a botanical wizard so would have to key stuff out.

No time, but, much love. =)

Freshly popped harvest brodiaea, Brodiaea elegans, subspecies elegans.

It was a lovely day for hiking west along the Merced River

to its confluence with the North Fork of the Merced.

Frequently I'd ask some CNPS smarty what something was,

and the person reply by naming the species-end of the latin binomial.

As in look at my face and say "elegans."

And I'd look at their face and say nothing.

Then I'd swallow my pride, and ask "So, uh... what's the genus?"

The first step in learning is declaring ignorance. =)

Caterpillar phacelia (Phacelia cicutaria) mit bee (dig that fancy wing cut!)

Redbud, Cercis occidentalis. That flower looks like a pair of shoes, to me.

And last, but not least, lichen posing as California poppy:

xobb

what you don't want to see ...

 ... AFTER you've clambered down a hill, off trail, taking pictures of the veg.

Oops.

Sorry, state of Colorado, area of Boulder.

Won't happen again.

xoxo

bb

easy birding photo quiz + when your friends are silly...

Easy if you've ever encountered this creature before.

First time I did I almost passed out. STUNNING creature.

Not stunning shots, but good enough for ID.

bird one:

bird two:

Still shameless: annotated tour of Glacier Point and Sentinel Dome

 

Shot from Glacier Point of Half Dome (well named, eh?)

and just behind Half Dome on the left is Cloud's Rest.

Also well named, as I tried to show it to Sprout earlier

in the week but it was hosting clouds, so was not visible.

Half Dome and Cloud's Rest on the left,

And to the right, just left of Nevada Fall

is Liberty Cap.

When climbing UP to Nevada Fall

it sure seemed higher that that picture shows.

The scale of this place does that.

If we'd seen this view BEFORE that hike,

Sprout was sure she'd think

"Oh, easy hike. 30 minutes tops."

Hours later... =)

So we hiked the Mist Trail up to Vernal and Nevada falls.

Got SOAKED. Crazy wet from fall mist.

Fun, exciting, envigorating, kinda cold,

made the STEEP stone path a little scary,

but also TOTALLY makes that hike memorable.

Can you see the TINY people?

Click on this to zoom in a bit, if you can't...

Highly recommend. 

That hike is virtually all I remember of my 

1st trip to Yosemite.

That, and staring straight up giant granite cliffs,

mouth agape, stunned into silence.

GORgeous cup fungus we found hiking from parking space

to (the SUPER crowded) Glacier Point.

I LOVE serious glowing orange.

Feels like a life-giving color. *sigh*

The above photo taken by Sprout, bb's co-conspirator/visitor,

from Sentinel Dome, granting a view of

North Dome and Basket Dome on the left

(rounded granite thangs, left of snag),

and Half Dome on right..

Gee, can you spot me, blending in,

wearing ORANGE pants & wearing a red backpack?

I didn't know I glowed like that,

tho' Sprout assures me it wasn't so vibrant in person.

Here's the adorable Sprout, who's hat says "Moxie"

(which I LOVE), bravely tending to her toes.

We got soaked 2 days earlier (Mist Trail to Vernal and Nev. falls)

& hiked for HOURS, so her tootsies were unhappy.

If you look closely, you may see about 5 band-aids. =)

Waterfall in the background is Upper Yosemite Fall.

Sprout is sitting at Sentinel Dome,

which is behind bb (camera girl), to bb's left.

bb hiking back from Sentinel Dome,

walking gingerly over bridge

which is buried in about 4 feet of snow.

Again, glowing...

Sarcodes sanguinea, a.k.a. snow plant.

As mentioned in a bb comment here,

"According to botany.org, they parasitize fungus, but don't kill them.

They are not saprophytes (live off dead material),

tho' they used to be called that."

And, since they parasitize fungus,

they don't need chlorophyll to make energy,

so are free to dash headlong into intense colors

with no concern for being green.

Snow plant was really OUT this last week. NICE.

I heart red, so was super happy.

And in the words of Paul Harvey,

"So, now you know....

the rest of the story."

=)

biobabbler

Spring wildflower Mumday (somebody went hiking at Hite Cove...)

  

bb

And the ankle says "Snap!": amid huge Yosemite snowstorm, dodging self-pity...

  
In the aftermath of El Jumbo Snow Dump in Yosemite (well, really, it's still happening), Bear is thinking he'll maybe ski this weekend (he supresses a drooling-and-jumping-up-and-down-clapping response every time skiing and all this fresh snow are the topic).

And he's in Yosemite valley today, all day, for meetings.

My first thought last night was "Can I go to the valley tomorrow, too?"

Then I can hike in the freshly snowed valley, take amazing photographs, get them back to you (yes, I think about you a lot), then work (day job) on my computer in the Yosemite bar.

PERFECT!

Then I remembered.


biobabbler is lame


On my last day in New Orleans, after a week of hazards,

• super busy conference so overwhelmed-by-sessions-and-socializing-from-8am-9pm
• speed-walking back and forth between my hotel and the conference in new-professional-person-shoes (NOT used to them, trust me, I live in running shoes) amid traffic & construction
• sleeping-away-from-home exhaustion stupor
• getting yelled at by hotel security at 10:30 at night (guy was 10 feet tall, I SWEAR!) for TALKING (yes, talking)
• exploring French Quarter streets day and night with all the attendant people-freakiness and crowded, cobbly, bumpy streets
• eating famously fatty/hazardous food
• a pontoon boat tour of the bayou, rubbing shoulders with alligators

I injured myself.


How, you ask, did the ever-so-light-of-foot and (semi-) adventurous biobabbler succumb?


NOT running from alligators, as was suggested I proffer in lieu of the real story.*

(photo by Matthew Field)

NOT running from New Orleans muggers or cops or defending a helpless child using my new mixed-martial-arts-fitness-class skills.

(photo wikipedia user Nt2bd)

NOT dancing with the handsome kilted Irish men in the nighttime St. Patrick's Day parade.

NOT battling for beads.

NOT lugging 10,000 lbs of over-packed luggage 6 blocks from one hotel to the other 'cause I'm too cheap and carbon-embarrassed to use a taxi.

Nope, here's the pitiless marauder, the heartless villain:

(Paul Frederickson photo)

A lawn. I hurt myself walking across a lawn.

A LAWN.

Mind you, biobabbler has:

• Tromped MILES across the rocky intertidal zone, through ocean waves, on slippery kelp, teetering boulders, carrying piles of equipment. For YEARS.

• Climbed then hung head first off of the edge of crumbling sea stacks to measure owl limpets, dangling 20 feet above ocean and rock.

• Walked 27 miles in one day.

• Hiked down into, camped overnight at the bottom of (in rain), then climbed back out of the Grand Canyon, with rain-soaked (tent leaked, so everything was 20 lbs heavier) camping gear during a SNOWstorm that was blowing snow sideways (a friend I saw at the conference last week reminded me of that, and said that my face was blue) days after being really sick.

• Rafted down 87.5 miles down the Colorado River in Grand Canyon, including some of its most notorious rapids (and learned that only there and on major roller coasters can I scream at a bat-like high pitch).

This is the Hance rapid. It's the highest rated rapid of those I experienced (rated 7-8 on a scale of 1-10 for the Colorado River Grand Canyon, 10 is most crazy, 1 is mildest. Pretty sure our guides said the water level made it an 8).

• Been complimented on my balance by people I barely know.

• Been paid to relocate rattlesnakes.

(photo Tigerhawkvok)

• Was in a burning car once, briefly trapped, then escaped with just a slightly melted jacket and an irrational fear of the smell (so diesel exhaust freaked me out years afterward--I'd always look to make sure there weren't flames at my side).

And a lawn brings biobabbler down, making her ankle go "SNAP!" Sprained, not broken.

So I am biohobbler, once again.

And with all this (possibly record breaking?) SNOWY GLORY I do NOT get to SNOWSHOE IN AT LEAST EIGHT FEET of fresh snow in MARCH.

ARRRRRRGH!

Logic equation: If bb = snowshoeing, then bb = happy.

And today it's been snowing for hours at my house, so it's STILL piling up at Badger Pass.


Anyhow, I've not exercised for days, now. Too busy pouting.

And the options are pretty much pilates or sitting down/one-legged yoga and possibly free weights and pushups and sit ups (wheeee!).


However, I've decided on a new mental approach.

I will try to view this exercise as the start of my summer-hiking-get-in-shape program.

In high country with trail-dirty bum: bb happy.
Gaylor Lakes, Yosemite NP.

Work on building strength (since cardio will be hard to come by for a while), muscular endurance (lotsa situps, pushups, back exercises, core stuff), so I will not tire as easily as I might if I hike with bony back and arms.

The thought arose this a.m. while viewing photos of summertime Yosemite high country.

Trail side creek on hike to Elizabeth Lake,

Yosemite NP.

Unicorn Peak, from Elizabeth Lake,

Yosemite NP.

View south (I believe) from Gaylor Lakes,

Yosemite NP.

Yeah, could be worse.

And at least my legs usually work.

And I live pretty near a staggeringly beautiful place, and have the time and health to explore and enjoy it.

For that I am truly grateful.

bb

* BTW (by the way): who knew re: many sites telling you how to avoid, and most interestingly, survive an alligator attack. Think you don't need to know what and where an alligator's palatal valve is? THINK AGAIN! And, by the way, it can only be reached if your ARM is in the animal's MOUTH!


P.S. Do they really need to suggest you see a doctor promptly if you've been attacked by an alligator? How stoic can people be?!?


P.P.S. I just LOVE that there's a "crocodilian biology database"--that's where the palatal valve link takes you. TOO cool! University of Florida, of course. =) )