Carrizo Plain: would you like pronghorn with that?

Wanted to see the Carrizo Plain,

a super dry, somewhat elevated (2,000 feet-ish)

landscape that is home to the San Joaquin kit fox

(a species I've surveyed for many times w/o ever seeing)

and lots of other listed species.

It's a storied place, especially if you're a biologist in California.

Just mention that giant grassland, and a biologist's brain says

"oooooooh...."

Had no ambitions to see any specific wildlife or vegetation,

tho' we did plan a stop to check out the San Andreas fault.

So what are those creatures in the above photograph?

Pronghorn!

And we drove right by them.

Then Bear said "do you want to go back to see them?"

"Yes, and there was a sign for a bathroom back there."

"But it's 1.5 miles away."

"We're 30 miles from anything else!"

bb had to go (pardon).

And this landscape has SHORT short grass,

and is totally flat. NO cover.

Challenging even for an experienced (tho' bashful) field chick like me.

Here was the sign that made my heart go pitter pat:

See? The squirrel backed me up: "I'm 50 miles from nowhere."

Normally I'd be psyched about the kitfox reference,

but I was temporarily obsessed.

This cute little store was so isolated,

the dingdongs were still $1. Sold.

And the lady behind the counter was very happy

to chat about gardening, etc.

I think they don't get many customers.

Took a while to leave. =)

So, upon our return to the main road, we saw this:

pronghorn chewin' & chillin'

eep!

They'd moved MUCH closer to the road during our detour.

It's only the 3rd (or so) time I've seen them.

The first time in California.

Sooo coool!

Buns I'd happily gaze at.

Pardon the barbed wire; I didn't want to scare them off

by jumping out of my car to get above the fence line.

The lady at the store said that the farmers are fine with the pronghorn,

just plant extra wheat, and there's water at the wheat fields,

so the pronghorn hang out there.

All the time. =)

Good gig.

And if you are a spectacular running machine,

it's okay to live in a place with NO cover.

You can virtually outrun ANYTHING,

given a few steps to gather up speed.

For more on that, I highly recommend
Why We Run, by Bernd Heinrich.

It investigates why humans run,
whether they're built for it (v. just walking),
and devotes an entire chapter to
the spectacular endurance machine that is the pronghorn.

And whether or not Homo sapiens
could actually run that creature down.

Fascinating stuff.

And just one of the many exciting things the Carrizo Plain houses.
Glad we went. Gotta go back.

xobb 

coyote calisthenics first thing, today...

 
Benefit to getting dressed with shoes on at 7:20 a.m.? When you notice the chickens collectively STARING west, so you go outside to investigate (at 7:22) and see a coyote jogging through your property, you can run in your trail running shoes (vs. floppy fuzzy slippers) after him/her.

Didn't even look at me as it casually loped eastward (humming: doot dee doo, doot dee dooo), then into the back lot thicket. It knows all too well how piteously slow humans are. =) And I wasn't carrying a rifle or anything, so...

Anyhow, nice brief wake-up workout this morning, thanks to my coyote-cardio-trainer.

And a good look at a very fuzzy, beautiful creature.

=)

xobb

most amazing running trail EVER

    
Well, one of them. Unfortunately no pics from the trail (I was running; so NOT carrying a Nikon while chugging along) but the running/hiking trail on the south east side of the town of Mammoth Lakes has the MOST amazing views!!! How could you NOT use that trail if you lived here.

This shot from the highway is a decent approximation, but still no where near as beautiful as being on the trail, 'cause you're closer to the mountains, there's no road, there's babbling brooks, beautiful bumble bees happily visiting flowers, birds coloring the air with song, etc.

Rolling lovely foothills under your feet and between you and the mountains, beautiful grey-green shrubs, blooming native flowers, and stunning views all around.

HEA-ven.

I'm sorry, was I running just now? I forgot. I thought I was just moving forward and staring agog at this STUNNING PLACE.

Drafted this a few weeks ago when we went to Mammoth Lakes. Posting now 'cause I wanna post something today but working, so here 'ya go. =)

biobabbler

kneadless post & run

    
According to the gospel of "Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day" one needn't knead bread to have fabby, freshly-baked bread suffusing one's house with amazing smells, one's mouth with happy flavor and texture, and one's wallet with extra $$.

We'll see.

 My old friend, yeast (the "a"s and the alphas of undergrad). Looking like so many lemmings crowding the cliff's edge, then plunging into the sea (of flour). They are such tiny little tubes! Looking very bacterial, I must say....

Kneadless domestic scene.

Bought fancy bread flour, just for the heck of it.

Blended all 7.5 cups of flour (!) et al., including the wheat gluten I showed you earlier. Hoping that the fact that one of the two yeast packets expired 3 years ago doesn't hamper the results. (gulp)

Guess we'll find out!

Buying fresh yeast today, in BULK, thank you very much.

So, then you add warm water, stir so there's no dry patches, cover it "loosely," and let it sit for 2 hours.

Apparently, if there's no crack for impending gases to escape, bad things can happen.

I figured I'd make the crack using the last of the 2007 packet of yeast--its last act of service; it will be replaced today and summarily chucked.

So, I'll keep you posted. Now I venture forth to buy bulk yeast, seeds to sprinkle atop the (future) loaf, and try and cajole myself into a run at the gym.


Speaking of motivation re: running, something to ponder (get out your hip waders, it's gonna get deep):

The best reason I've found for running, the most profound motivation I've found so far is: Because I can. Or maybe "While I can."


On the numerous occasions I've been injured mid-running-mode I'm SO BUMMED I cannot run. SO bummed. I miss how much it refreshes me. Flushes all my stress. Calms me down, and clears my brain. And it's usually the most alive I feel all day.

And then I think "when I'm healthy and can run, I'll totally devote myself. I'll really appreciate it."


I'm not saying it always works. Or that I'm in any way a regular runner (tho' maybe starting back up?). Or that I even think about it every time.

But I do try to remember the joy of simply moving and being healthy, and how lucky I am to experience that. While I can. Since it's really just a matter of time until I am incorporated back into the carbon cycle. And then running is no longer an option.


biobabbler

turkey trot

Yesterday I finally got myself to drive in costume (as "runner") to where I run. This is a beautiful landscape with pretty much no dogs, almost no traffic, and a gravel road with views of the mountains and a long field filled with pale mares. GORgeous. Decided NOT to do my little "getting to 5K" routine but just do the usual run 3 min, walk 1, repeat, gig. Fine.

At the very start, during my warmup walk I spied a turkey.

(Technically this is and others are from our property, spring 2009, but you get the picture.)

Then a few more.

(dig the freaky pale one!)

Then more; a brown river of turkeys was flowing in front of me.

They were clearly alarmed by my presence, and their group was divided by the road, so ones on my right were rushing for safe places to slide under fencing to rejoin their group. I took my earbuds out 'cause I figured they'd be chatting mightily via their (not so) little contact calls (my presumption re: function of calls). I was not disappointed, and stopped walking to calm them. And to absorb this event.

They are charming, and seemingly very attached to one another.

Finally, after much anxiety, panicked chortling, and mistrusting glances my way, the splinter group scuttled across the road and up the hill to reunite. I counted 24 in all.

They are beautiful. I do enjoy them in and of themselves, but, they do NOT belong here--not native west of the Sierras. This is a huge pet peeve of mine that Fish and Game is paid $$$ to plant NON-NATIVE species which compete with and potentially spread disease to NATIVE species including, oh, I don't know, the STATE BIRD?!?! (California quail, a ground-dwelling bird like the turkey) among others, plus who knows what they're doing to the invertebrate population (which did not evolve with these HUGE creatures), the stability of the litter layer, etc.

(Studs Turkey)

So, I don't dislike them (the turkeys or F&G). I think they're just trying to get along. But I deeply dislike this policy.

How is it okay? I'd really like to see an EIS for this...

Anyhow, that's one of the things I thought about as I then trotted down the trail to see my other running companions, the stunning grey mares. I will work on bringing a SMALL camera along 'cause this place is gorgeous, and I really should share. =)

In the mean time, this has been another (phew, somewhat cathartic!) installment of...

the biobabbler