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Redbud Chapter Field Trip Schedules

Spring 2007 trips and events
On all field trips, please bring water and a hand lens. Sunscreen, hat, dark glasses, snack, and a plant book are good things to have too! On trips to high altitudes, it is a good idea to bring something warm plus rain gear. No dogs are allowed on any of our field trips. Unless stated otherwise, our trips are easy, as we travel VERY slowly so as to view, key-out, and talk about each plant. Needless to say, we usually do not walk very far…maybe 3 miles at most. If you have a question about the trip, you may call the leader. If the weather looks “iffy” please call the leader to see if the trip will “go”. For more information, call Roger McGehee, Field Trip Chair. His email is rogm@sbcglobal.net.  Please allow a day for e-mail or phone replies.

• Spenceville Field Trip
  Wednesday, April 11 • 8:30am
  Leader: Julie Carville

  The hike will be leisurely, about 4 miles roundtrip and will go to lovely Fairy Falls. We’ll cover basic botany, Nisenan plant uses, pollination processes and fun stories about the plants.  Bring lunch, water, magnifying glass if you have one.  Children 9 yrs and older welcome.  Meet at the Rood Center in Nevada City at 8:30 a.m. We’ll be back to our cars in Spenceville by approximately 3 p.m.  For more information or questions email Julie at mtngypsy1@sbcglobal.net (if weather is questionable on that day Call (530) 265-4741 after 7 a.m. to get recorded message to see if hike is still a go.)

• Placer County Vernal Pool Field Trip
  Saturday, April 14 • 9:00am
  Leader: Joe Medeiros, Biology Instructor at Sierra College
  Meet at Sierra  College, Sewell  Hall parking lot, 5000 Rocklin Road, Rocklin,  CA

This  field trip will visit the Hofman Ranch,  a 420-acre working cattle ranch  with vernal pools, and possibly the Swainson's Grassland Preserve, 469 acres  of vernal pool grasslands and grazing land, in the Coon Creek watershed near Lincoln, which are  being preserved as  part of Placer Land Trust's West Placer Habitat Protection Program.

Vernal  pools are miniature ecosystems: natural depressions covered by shallow water  for variable periods from winter to spring, they are typically dry for most  of summer and fall. A diverse array of plants and animals adapted to a  waterlogged spring followed by a parched summer have evolved that thrive  under these conditions. Many of these are native species endemic to vernal  pools or related wetland habitat. Because of the extreme environment there  are relatively few introduced species that can compete with the natives. In  addition to providing habitat for the resident species, vernal pools provide  resting sites for migrating birds and foraging grounds for bald and golden  eagles. 

Golden  yellow wildflowers like California goldfields, tidy-tips, blennosperma, or  the azure and violet-blues of downingias, pale amethyst blooms of vernal pool brodiaea, and monkeyflowers in an array of pinks and yellows.  Seas of  pearl-white meadowfoam, navarretias, and the silvery-green foliage of  coyote-thistle are also typical of the vernally-wet habitats of vernal pools.

In  the spring of 1868, naturalist John Muir said about the staggering numbers of  wildflowers that once carpeted the great plain of the Central  Valley "Sauntering in any direction, my feet would press  about a hundred flowers with every step...as if I was wading in liquid  gold".

Prof.  Joe Medeiros writes:  "In spite of what we now know, California's vernal  pools continue to vanish at an alarming rate - all due to Man's relentless  activities. These unique micro-ecosystems, every bit as important as the Galapagos Islands themselves, are being plowed under  and buried by concrete, asphalt, and lawns.  Millions of years of  evolutionary evidence, along with countless unlocked secrets of survival, are  lost forever.  These tiny, ephemeral, expressions of life's ecstasy, are  Placer County's own Giant sequoias, their Bristlecone pines, and their coral reefs.  That we don't  aggressively protect them is a mystery to me."  

Meet  at Sierra College, Sewell Hall parking lot, at  9:00 am, to get directions to our destinations.  Plan on a half day  trip, walking approximately one mile, to explore this critical vernal pool  habitat in western Placer  County, with Prof. Joe  Medeiros.  Bring a hand lens, field guide, water, lunch and wear sturdy  shoes or boots. 

For  more information contact: Joan Jernegan, CNPS Redbud, at (916) 874-5619(w)  or Jernegan95602@wildblue.net <mailto:Jernegan95602@wildblue.net>    or Richard  Rivas, CNPS Sacramento,  at (916) 714-1104 x 111 (w) or (916) 799-7659  (c)  or  Richard.Rivas@ca.usda.gov <mailto:Richard.Rivas@ca.usda.gov>   799-7659 (c)  or  Richard.Rivas@ca.usda.gov

Osceola Ridge/Deadman's Flat Field Trip
Wednesday, May 2 • 9:00AM to 1:00PM
Leaders:  Karen Callahan, Roger McGehee, Julie Carville

   In our last newsletter, Karen Callahan wrote about a letter that she had written on our behalf supporting the BLM proposal that Deadman’s Flat be preserved as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern. Karen wrote about the rare species, sensitive species, and species of local concern that grow there, as well as the great variety of other plants that grow there. Julie Carville, Karen Callahan, and Roger McGehee will lead you through this interesting area. Meet at the Safeway parking lot in Grass Valley at 9AM to receive a map to the trailhead. (Call Roger at 530-265-4173 for more information. If rain is predicted, at 7:00 AM a recording will be placed on his answering machine stating whether or not the field trip will take place.)

Rock Creek & Skillman Field Trip
Saturday, July 2 • 9:00AM to 1:00PM
Leaders: Roger McGehee, Julie Carville, Karen Callahan

Rock Creek and Skillman Flat are both shady, cool, moist areas known for their wildflowers. Both have all-year creeks lined with riparian vegetation. And between the two sites, there are several species of orchids represented. We will be walking on wide, gentle, smooth trails. Meet at the Rood Center at 9:00AM in order to receive a map to the trailheads. Call Roger at 530-265-4173 for more information. If rain is predicted, at 7:00 AM a recording will be placed on his answering machine stating whether or not the field trip will take place.

Where The Wild Flowers Are…
Sunday, July 15, from 9AM to 4PM, Moderate walk
Leaders: Roger McGehee and others . . .

It is hard to know where the wildflowers will be blooming in mid-July, so the leaders will scout out the best location and take you there. This trip will be at a high altitude, and may involve more walking than the others. Please be prepared physically, and with adequate water, food, and clothing. Meet at the Rood Center at 9:00AM for directions to the trailhead. Call Roger at 530-265-4173 for more information. If rain is predicted, at 7:00AM a recording will be placed on his answering machine stating whether or not the field trip will take place.  Contact Roger McGehee, 530-265-4173

Key Out Trees!
Sunday, August 12, 9:00AM to 4:00pm, Easy walk
Leader: Roger McGehee and others . . .

Bring a copy of Pacific Coast Tree Finder by Tom Watts. (I will have a few copies for loan or sale…) We will work our way up the Sierra Nevada by way of highways 20 and 80, stopping in a few locations to identify our trees. Hopefully, by the time we finish, you will not only know several species of trees by name, but will also be able to key out trees that you don’t know by using the book. Call Roger at 530-265-4173 for more information. If rain is predicted, at 7:00 AM a recording will be placed on his answering machine stating whether or not the field trip will take place.

 

(If this info is stale, sometimes it helps to see the current newsletter (if it's not stale) for field trip information.)

Volunteer to lead a field trip this spring or summer to your favorite wildflower location!

Volunteer to be a Field Trip Host. A  host assists the field trip leader on the day of the field trip by bringing information about CNPS and the Redbud Chapter and by helping to keep the group together during the walk.

Volunteer to be on the Field Trip Committee. Assist the Field Trip Chair by:

•     Developing and maintaining a list of field trip leaders and hosts.
•     Coordinating the scheduling and plans for field trips with the leaders and hosts.
•     Providing written descriptions of field trips to the Newsletter Editor and Publicity Chair for use in the chapter newsletter, on the Web site, and for advertising to the public.

Volunteer to be Field Trip Chair. Contact Frances Jorgensen, retiring Field Trip Chair, at 265-4838
or e-mail her at fjorgen@sbcglobal.net to volunteer or to ask questions.

Other Groups' Field Trips

The Sacramento Valley chapter of CNPS may have field trips.

And see the (perhaps stale) ncorgs page for links to outings sponsored by other groups.

About our trips

All field trips, outings and other events are open to the public. Field trips are generally easy walks suitable for all ages unless otherwise noted. Most are from 1 to 3 miles in length. Remember to bring lunch, liquids, hat, sunscreen and comfortable walking shoes. Field guides, binoculars, cameras and hand-held lenses are optional but will greatly add to your enjoyment of the trip. Heavy to moderate rain will cancel most field trips. If in doubt about cancellation, or if you have additional questions or need more detailed directions, call the contact person listed for the trip in question. Details are still being worked out for many of the Field Trips, so be sure to check with the contact person for any change in plans.

Nearly 2,000 species and subspecies of wildflowers, conifers, ferns, shrubs, broadleaf trees and grasses grace the northern Sierra Nevada counties of Placer and Nevada more diversity than in all of the New England states combined! These two counties include nearly all the life zones of California and our field trips take you on a journey of our local diversity from the oak woodlands and vernal pools at the base of the west slope foothills, to the serpentine and gabbro lodestones of the mid elevations, granite outcrops, conifer forests and river canyons up and over the crest to the sagebrush scrub and montane meadows of the east slope of the Sierra Nevada.

Last updated
May 25, 2006