2017 - Robert's botanical adventures in Northern California

[Robert]

Hi Trond,

I look forward to posting my next report too! I am going to have to find a new internet service provider. Now even at 2:00 a.m. (out time) the system is overloaded and does not work when I am in Sacramento. Getting connected, not to mention even posting the outing, is impossible much of the time. At least I am able to get through right now! 

It looks like, our wintery-rainy weather will be returning soon.

It sounds like the seasons progress slowly in your part of Norway?

[Hoy]

Robert,

The Internet is as fast as I want here, but the spring is slow! The spring develop much faster in the inland of course but it hasn't started yet.

[Robert]

CACHE CREEK WILDERNESS

NORTH CENTRAL REGION

Wednesday, 15 Mach 2017

Sacramento Weather

Weather:Cloudy
Temperature, High: 75 F, 24 C
                      Low: 56 F, 13.5 C


This winter I started exploring the southern portion of the Northern Coastal Mountains in California. Much has changed since I last visited the region on 1 February, when Dalton and I explored the ridges below Snow Mountain. 30 days of torrential rainfall has caused considerable land slippage and extensive flooding in northern California. In addition, 10 days of dry weather with temperatures 10 to15 degrees Fahrenheit above average has triggered the early spring wildflowers into bloom. I was quite eager to assess the current conditions in the area, as well as observe the early spring wildflowers. Gathering information on the range and health of populations of Fritillaria pluriflora and several Calochortus species including C. uniflorus are high on my list of priorities.

I set out early on Wednesday morning, 15 March. Today I was traveling alone as Dalton’s work schedule has changed and he was unavailable to accompany me. My goal this day was to explore the north central region of the Cache Creek Wilderness Area. If I arrived early I could explore a good portion of Cache Creek area below the confluence of the North and South Forks of Cache Creek. The most direct route is through the Capay Valley, then through the Blue Ridge Mountains to Highway 20 and then on to the trailhead.

Capay Valley is home to the Cache Creek Casino, a large resort-gambling hall out in the middle of “nowhere”. The casino owners want to keep a steady flow of gamblers arriving at their gaming hall, so it is important to them to keep the highway open. Unfortunately, it was not until after I drove past the casino that the signs announcing the closer of Highway 16 in Cache Creek canyon appeared! Now, to get to the trailhead would require a lengthy amount of backtracking and a completely new route far to the north taking me to the town of Williams where I could connect with Highway 20.

Beyond the casino, north on Highway 16, there is a short-cut via Sand Creek that could save me a lot of time, so I decided to take a chance and check it out. Sand Creek Road is an unimproved road running northeast through the hills to Williams and Highway 20. I bought an AWD vehicle so I could easily travel on less than idea roads. Unfortunately, this road was completely washed-out by the February storms. Now I had a long drive back to the town of Capay before traveling north to Williams.

When I arrived at Williams I thought that my delays were over. Sadly, there had been considerable damage to highway 20 in the Coastal Mountains west of Williams. The highway was still open, but there were long delays due to road repairs and construction. I was not going to give up easily, so eventually I arrived at my desired destination.



The trailhead, elevation 1,736 feet (529 meters), into this part of the Cache Creek Wilderness is in a Blue Oak (Quercus douglasii) savannah, the trail traveling south in the hills.



There were large patches of Ranunculus occidentalis var. occidentalis blooming on the hillsides above the staging area. In the past this land had been used as rangeland for cattle. The invasive species were prolific. The dried seed heads of Cynosurus echinatus, Dogtail Grass an invasive species, can also been seen in the photograph. I spent some time surveying the invasive species around the staging area before setting out southward toward Cache Creek.



Miner’s Lettuce, Claytonia perfoliata, is a prolific native species found in shaded moist areas this time of year.



Less common is Claytonia parviflora ssp. parviflora. The cauline leaves of this species are similar to those of Claytonia perfoliata, however the long narrow basal leaves distinguish this species from C. perfoliata.



There was a considerable number of species to check on. In a half an hour I progressed about 30 meters up the hillside. Sanicula bipinnata was blooming everywhere along my route up the hill.

[Robert]

My route traversed a hillside along a ravine with a small seasonal creek. The north facing slopes of the ravine were covered with large swathes of Primula (Dodecatheon) hendersonii and Ranunculus occidentalis var. occidetnalis in full bloom. It was an awesome sight.



In sunnier areas there were patches of a white form of Collinsia sparsiflora var. sparsiflora in bloom. These too were very beautiful to see.



Growing on hot south facing exposures were mats of the annual Fabaceae, Acmispon wrangleianus. The gray-green leaflets are covered with attractive long soft hairs.



Common Manzanita, Arctostaphylos manzanita ssp. manzanita was the dominant Manzanita species in this plant community, however I did find a few specimens of Arctostaphylos viscida ssp. pulchella (pictured). The fruit of this subspecies is very glandular and sticky. This characteristic can even be observed on old fruit as well as on the developing ovary.

Another interesting plant I found in this area was a specimen of what appeared to be Quercus palmeri. Quercus palmeri is not common in this part of California and has not been found in Lake County. I have found this oak in eastern Colusa County about 30 miles north of this site. In the autumn I will return to this site  and check the acorns to confirm this finding.



I found large colonies of Primula (Dodecatheon) hendersonii throughout the shaded north facing hillsides. I checked the developing seed capsules and found them full of developing seed. Another indication that the plants in this area produce viable seed was the variance in characteristics I observed, such as flower color. It was quite obvious that they were reproducing from seed.

[Robert]

Near the crest of a ridge I found a large colony of Fritillaria affinis growing in the shade of some very large Common Manzanitas, Acrtostaphylos manzanita ssp. manzanita.



They grew in a full range of colors; from dark, almost inky, purple mottled with yellow through pale yellow-green mottled with purple. Some of the previous season’s seedpods still remained, however the seed was long gone.



A fire had passed through this area one or two years ago. Ehrendorferia chrysantha is a species that often regenerates well after a fire. Young seedlings of this species were growing abundantly in this ridge top area.



Cynoglossum grande was also enjoying the shaded protection of the trees and shrubs on this north facing slope.



As I continued toward the crest of the ridge I found a small number of Delphiniums in bloom. They were D. patens ssp. patens, a species that I frequently see in the Sierra Nevada foothills. There are a number of Delphinium species that grow in the Coastal Mountains that are not found in the Sierra Nevada. Unfortunately, I did not see any on this day.

[Robert]

Near the Delphiniums I found Lomatium utriculatum. I was surprised to find this species growing in this type of environment. Generally this species enjoys growing in rocky areas with full sun.



Lupinus albifrons was another species I found near the Delphiniums that seemed a bit out-of-place.



Common Manzanita, Arctostaphylos manzanita ssp. manzanita, may not have grown abundantly along this route, however they did grow in a considerable variety of forms. Some of the plants had twigs that were densely non-glandular hairy and resembled A. glandulosa ssp. cushingiana. The plants did not have burls so they were not A. glandulosa ssp. cushiniana, and the hairs were not glandular, so they could not be A. manzanita ssp. wieslanderi. I am sure that they represented part of the natural variance within this species.



There was much to see thus my progress was extremely slow, however I eventually reached the top of the ridge. I was quickly running out of time and I had only hiked 2 km!



On the sunny ridge top a few Lupinus nanus were coming into bloom. I needed to make a decision soon. Would I return to the Outback and check on the road to Bear Valley or continue on? There certainly was not enough time to reach Cache Creek.

[Robert]

I am always curious; so I continued on to see what I might find. After a short distance, there were some nice stands of Blue Dicks, Dichelostemma capitatum, blooming near the dried pods of a Calochortus species.



From the top of the ridge there was a striking vista of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the southeast.



As I continued on, in the distance I noticed an area of dense chaparral that had burned during the recent fire. This looking interesting, so I decided to investigate this habitat.



This burned over hillside turned out to be an extremely interesting site to explore. Young seedlings of Ceanothus jepsonii (pictured), an obligate seeder, were growing throughout this site. Other chaparral species such as Chamise, Adenostoma fasciculatum and Eriodictyon californicum were grow back strongly.



I was extremely fascinated by the annual / perennial species that were recolonizing this area after the fire. I could not key this Camissonia / Camissoniopsis to species.

[Robert]

The native Brassicaceae, Caulanthus lasiophylla California Mustard, had colonized portions of this hillside.



With it, another native Brassicaceae could be found, Athysanus pusillus. Erigeron canadensis, Epilobium brachycarpum, Bromus madritensis ssp. rubens, Acmispon wrangelianus, Trifolium hirtum, and Lactuca serriola were among the mix of species observed in this burned over chaparral.



The shrubby Fabaceae, Acmispon glaber, was making a strong comeback after the fire.



I could have spent all day exploring this burned over section of chaparral, however I had now definitely run out of time and needed to return to the Outback quickly.

Too bad! There was still fascinating territory to explore.



I raced back to the Outback hoping I would not be returning home late. I still needed to deal with the traffic delays on Highway 20!

I guess I can still hike quickly. When I arrived at the Outback there was still time to do something productive. I drove back toward Williams and turned off on Bear Creek Road. There was not enough time to reach Bear Valley, however I could check on the condition of this gravel/dirt road. I did not find Fritillaria pluriflora this day and I would most likely need to travel this road to reach Bear Valley where I know I will find this species.

[Robert]

Both sides of Bear Creek Road are well posted with “No Trespassing” signs. Bummer! This was extremely fascinating territory. The banks of the road were lined with Eschscholzia caespitosa in full bloom.



In other areas there were wide swaths of Gilla tricolor in bloom.

It is easy for me to get carried away when I am exploring areas like this, however good reason did over come me and I turned around and headed home.

Despite the road closures and delays this outing turned out well. I have business to tend to this coming week so the next outing will be to the Salmon Falls area of El Dorado County. I hope to check on the “mega” Erythronium patch and continue my exploration of the South Fork of the American River.

The following week I hope to reach Bear Valley to see Fritillaria pluriflora and all the other wildflowers in this area. Time permitting I will continue on to the Snow Mountain area. There is much to look forward to.

Until the next time……..

[Gabriela]

Another very successful outing Robert! So very nice to see so many wildflowers coming into bloom

[Robert]

Another very successful outing Robert! So very nice to see so many wildflowers coming into bloom

Thank you Gabriela!

The rain has returned to Northern California. My rain gear works well, however photography can be problematic. I will see what I can get done on Wednesday. 

[ian mcdonald]

Robert, we also have Claytonia/Montia perfoliata. Here it is an introduction from the US and is called springbeauty. It flowers later in the year in the UK.

[Hoy]

Robert,

Very nice to follow in your steps to look at the spring flowers! If I had accompanied you your speed had been considerably slower 

[Robert]

Robert, we also have Claytonia/Montia perfoliata. Here it is an introduction from the US and is called springbeauty. It flowers later in the year in the UK.

Ian,

Claytonia perfoliata seed is also sold in the U.S.A. as a salad green - vegetable crop! Of coarse I never have to plant it as it grows abundantly in the wild.

Robert,

Very nice to follow in your steps to look at the spring flowers! If I had accompanied you your speed had been considerably slower 

Trond,

I am actually pleased to hear that you would travel at a slower pace than I.    Sometimes I think I go too fast and miss things. When I am out with my wife I go much slower.

When I was looking over the plants in the burned over chaparral area I was crawling around on my hands and knees with a hand lens. Some people came hiking up a nearby draw and saw me crawling around - actually their dogs saw me crawling around!    They must have thought I was "mad" (insane).

Tomorrow I will be in El Dorado county checking on the plants near the South Fork of the American River - maybe Traverse Creek too.

Today it rained so hard that we almost had to pull off the highway because we could not see where we were driving! There were tornado warnings to the south of us today. Wild weather! I hope it is not so rainy tomorrow! I was out in heavy rain earlier in the day with my rain suit on. It works extremely well. I stayed nice and dry. Tomorrow I will be out rain or shine.

[Shadylanejewel]

I love reading about your explorations.

Thank you!