Moments in Dirt and Ink

Map link. I seem to have run out of steam once the short term goal of researching the nearly northernmost 100 miles of the California Coast Trail got sorted. I did finally manage to do a minor bit of volunteer work on May 1st. It was at the future home of the Little River Trail, which will pull the bicycles off the freeway and make hiking more reliable for that section of, yes, California Coastal Trail. But it's time to check on the azaleas again. I have been expecting there to be flowers, although not quite peak. It's been so long since the camera was out that the first thing I found was the battery was dead. Well, I have a better camera, but the dSLR was quite dead too. The extra batteries weren't where they should be. Apparently I have the 16 year old Pentax in that bag too, but I didn't have to try it because I found the superzoom that replaced it. I loved that little camera. I don't remember it being quite so little. It's batteries were dead too, but ...

Click for map. It's April, so time to check on the azaleas. The web page for the reserve says they should be blooming in April and May. I wasn't expecting much. The listing for Rhododendron occidentale on iNaturalist does show an increase of observations in April, but the majority are May, June, July. The number of observations marked "flowering" lags a little with "budding" coming up most in April and May, but only about 16% of observations have had anyone bother to mark them at all. I didn't find much. They might be leafing out to try to identify them from the nude sticks, but none were ready to flower and none of the leaves I photographed were them. I did find other flowers as I toured the loops in exactly the same order. It had been a nice order. Twinberry honeysuckle was green buds, a pair all yellow, and this pair. I spotted some berries in Colorado and wanted to see the twin flower to go with the twin berries. The budding leaves can ...

Click for map. I probably ought to have visited this little postage stamp sized piece of the state park system. There is no entry fee, but it does only offer a small, rough parking lot, a pair of picnic tables, and a pair of loop trails that don't quite make a mile together. It is suggested that one should visit in April or May, the same suggestion that didn't work out for me so well in visiting the rhododendrons in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. (Azaleas are also genus Rhododendron.) I expect June would be better, but I've noticed a few buds on the plants in way too much sunshine, so thought I might as well see it now. It is easy enough to come back. Signs direct traffic to the right road, but the parking itself is only signed at the far end. I picked the trail heading west past the sign to start. There's some nice trees along the way, but past the first big one, I was immediately struck by how much ivy has been allowed to run over the area. It is everywh...