Nature Day!

Kevin and I had a wonderful day of nature today. We are so thankful to live in such a beautiful place.

We went to Ellwood Beach and visited the monarchs.  The docent that was there said the estimate was over 21,000 butterflies and more to come. They have a fascinating life. This is their wintering ground. It's amazing that three to four generations from these, they'll return next year. How do they do that??  Read about monarchs here.

Clumps of roosting butterflies in the eucalyptus trees.

Closer view of clumps

A little sun on this clump.

After enjoying the butterflies, we went to Coal Oil Point. We had a mega-low tide today at a perfect time: 3:30 in the afternoon. It was a -1.6 tide, which is about as low as it goes!

Here are shapes and critters.

A miniature geology lesson

Tracks. Crab? I don't know.

A surf crab.

In a few hours, the surf grass will be gracefully waving in the water.

Anemoneeville.

Self-portrait

A couple little hermit crabs.

A chiton

A big limpet

                           Kevin in one of his favorite spear fishing spots! He loves to wait for fish along this rock!                                                       It's a little different when it's high and dry!

A sea cucumber

A field of sea grass and many other tide-poolers enjoying the beautiful fall day

When you come and visit, let's go tidepooling!

Happy Halloween!

Looked out my kitchen window the other day and saw this. Happy Halloween from the Autumn Spiders!

Dead(ly) Creatures

Wednesday. No work to do. Perfectly -- and I mean perfectly -- clear.  A trail called to me. It was my favorite trail: Rattlesnake Canyon.  I wanted to go all the way up to Gibraltar Road.

From Santa Babara Hikes: "This trail doesn't necessarily mean you will encounter a rattlesnake! That is just the name of the canyon."

From Great Outdoors.com:  "Indeed, you will be much more likely to see other hikers rather than rattlesnakes as this single-track trail snakes its way upcanyon."

From Hike SoCal.com: "Rattlesnake Canyon Trail is serpentine, but otherwise far more inviting than its name suggests."

From Wikipedia: "Rattlesnake Canyon stretches from Skofield Park into the Santa Ynez mountains. Its name comes from its serpentine shape and curves, not rattlesnake occupation."

Yeah. Right.

When I got to the top of the trail at Gibraltar Road, I stood enjoying the magnificent views. I was able to see Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa, and San Miguel Islands! Spectacular. After I took a couple photos, I turned around to go across the road to get in the shade to look at my photos. As I turned around, I found this guy slowly crossing the road!



I couldn't believe it... it was high noon on a record-breaking hot day (95ºF), and there he was, moseyin' along!

The still photo I took was taken with such haste (I was in a rush to get some video) that I didn't get his full tail in the shot, but you can enlarge it to see the rest of him real good!  I think he is a Western Rattlesnake.

On down the trail, not too far from the top, I saw this. I think the circle of life is fascinating. And I found out beetles are strong li'l creatures!

I didn't take too many pictures during the hike because I wanted to push myself. I kept a good pace. I felt good afterwards!  Next spring, I'll go back and stop and smell the wildflowers.

The reward!

Weekend in Paradise

You know what I love about Santa Barbara?

I love that you can have a gnarly mountain hike in the back-country one day and a relaxing time, soaking in the rays at the beach, the next day!  It was a spectacularly beautiful weekend!

Here are pictures from the trailhead of my hike yesterday. It was down, down, down about 2.5 miles, and then --ulp!-- up, up, up again.  Good hike. My buns feel it today!

We hiked down the north side, away from the ocean.

View of Santa Barbara, the Santa Barbara Channel and the Channel Islands.

View of the Dick Smith Wilderness

And today, beach day! It was fun to see some marine mammals. Here is a video of them. The first bit is of some dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). They were very active and splashy.  I think they were having a feeding frenzy. I wish I had had my regular camera with me. But I took video on my iPhone anyway. You can't see them very well, but I really enjoyed watching them!  You'll be able to recognize the species in the second bit.  And you can see the cruise ship that is parked nearby! Yay cruise ships!

Just Joshing!

Joshua Tree!  Another of America's treasures, and I got to enjoy it again last weekend.  I hadn't been for a couple years, so when I had a free weekend, I jumped at the chance!

The beginning of the trip was a little rough, literally.  At about 4:00pm, the car shuddered a little. What the....?  I looked at my dash and noticed the "Check Engine" light had gone on.  Oh, no!  I immediately pulled off the freeway to Middle of Nowhere, California. I asked around for a mechanic, and was pointed to a garage with really friendly folks.

By the time I got there, it was 30 minutes before closing, and they were full o' cars to tend to. But when they heard my predicament, Phillip came out to help right away.  A sensor that relies on oil pressure had been triggered. Phillip checked the oil: nothing showing. He asked about when I had my oil changed. Just a couple months ago. Any leaks? Not that I know of.

He put oil in, and it took 3 and a half quarts. Its capacity is 4 and a half quarts. He put it on the rack. No leaks. Conclusion: at my last oil "change," no oil had been replaced!

Thank goodness the consequences weren't worse!  And amazing that it lasted this long! I've been driving all over the Southwest with no oil!

Relieved, I hit the road again, and had spent only an hour getting the car repaired. The sun was setting as I zoomed into Twentynine Palms, so I headed on into the park. 

I pulled into a campground to wait till dark so I could star-gaze for a few minutes. A group of four young men retured to their campground, made a fire, and turned on--what else?--U2's Joshua Tree. Perfect! I listened to my favey album from my favey band and gazed up for a while, thoroughly enjoying my first evening.

The following morning, I headed back. Two roadrunners and a jack-rabbit later, I was hiking.

I walked around Skull Rock, through the Hidden Valley, up Ryan Mountain, over to Arch Rock, passed by Cap Rock and trekked to Forty-Nine Palms Oasis. I figured I hiked about 9-10 miles all told.  I was TIRED by the end!

I used my very cool Urbanspoon app to find a wonderful Thai restaurant in the nearby town of Joshua Tree.  Wonderful, yummy dinner! My day was complete!

Here are pictures!

Look carefull in the middle: Mr. Roadrunner!

I love the tenacity of life!

Live Oak picnic area. Here grows a big oak tree in the middle of the desert! It bore lots of huge acorns, which the birds loved.

The bigger they come, the harder they fall.

Forty-Nine Palms Oasis

A pool at the Oasis

The Fiftieth Palm trying hard!

A fire burned the trunks of these palms but they are healthy.

Climbers enjoy these rocks!

Made it! The elevation gain was 1100 feet. Nice hike!

I love the dikes through the monzogranite.

What are you waiting for? Get on Interstate 10 and get to Joshua Tree!