Wunderlich County Park
Wunderlich County Park
On an atypically overcast Sunday (for this time of year), D. and I went to Wunderlich County Park in Woodside. It contains what was once the Folger (of coffee fame) family ranch. Hoping the rain would hold off while we were there, I took these pics.
At the trailhead by the parking lot we see a Lost & Found post.
Ferns and moss flourish on this old stone wall.
Forget-Me-Nots and bracket fungi.
One of the many squirrels romping about.
Golden Brodiaea and lichen.
One of several hairpin turns on the Bear Gulch Trail as it works its way up the side of the mountain.
More bracket fungi, and a Three-band Garden Slug.
French Broom and California Honeysuckle.
The view to the east.
A Ganoderma fungus.
The trail passes through stands of redwoods.
We find a few California Buttercups along the path.
We also find an Abia americana sawfly larva on the side of the trail.
More views of the Bear Gulch Trail, going through a mixed evergreen forest of tanbark oak, madrones, California laurel, coast live oak, and Douglas fir.
Ripgut brome, and more honeysuckle about to pop into bloom.
A ripening Himalayan blackberry fruit is a bright spot in the green and gray forest.
Beaked Hawksbeard, and Quaking Grass.
Ookow is like an amethyst jewel in the forest's gloom.
Poison oak berries, and more quaking grass.
More trail.
Desiccated turkey tail fungi, withering away now that the winter rains are over.
When we reach Redwood Flats (elevation 1110'), I find a clam shell in the forest duff.
Apparently at the (private) Bear Gulch Rd. trailhead, people are allowed to decorate the signs according to their whimsy.
We decide to return from Redwood Flats on the Redwood Trail.
We pass by a pair of poison oak vines wrapped around each other, thick as my arm.
At Salamander Flats we reach the spring-fed irrigation pond, once a reservoir for the Folger estate, now a habitat for the rough-skinned newt, which breeds here from late winter to early summer.
The green surface makes it look solid like a pool table, but it's just a covering of duckweed.
Um . . . okay . . .
A tiny Cutleaf Geranium.
One of the many mossy gulches along the Redwood Trail. Part of the pipe carrying spring water to the irrigation pond is visible in the foreground.
On the Meadow Trail we pass through a stand of enormous blue gum eucalyptus trees, planted after the original old-growth redwoods were logged off. These fallen leaves show the lacy edges made by eucalyptus tortoise beetles chewing semicircular notches in their edges.
We also pass by a tiny stand of delicate Fairy Lantern, a.k.a. Globe Lily.
Sticky Monkeyflower.
Fernald's Iris.
.
On an atypically overcast Sunday (for this time of year), D. and I went to Wunderlich County Park in Woodside. It contains what was once the Folger (of coffee fame) family ranch. Hoping the rain would hold off while we were there, I took these pics.
At the trailhead by the parking lot we see a Lost & Found post.
Ferns and moss flourish on this old stone wall.
Forget-Me-Nots and bracket fungi.
One of the many squirrels romping about.
Golden Brodiaea and lichen.
One of several hairpin turns on the Bear Gulch Trail as it works its way up the side of the mountain.
More bracket fungi, and a Three-band Garden Slug.
French Broom and California Honeysuckle.
The view to the east.
A Ganoderma fungus.
The trail passes through stands of redwoods.
We find a few California Buttercups along the path.
We also find an Abia americana sawfly larva on the side of the trail.
More views of the Bear Gulch Trail, going through a mixed evergreen forest of tanbark oak, madrones, California laurel, coast live oak, and Douglas fir.
Ripgut brome, and more honeysuckle about to pop into bloom.
A ripening Himalayan blackberry fruit is a bright spot in the green and gray forest.
Beaked Hawksbeard, and Quaking Grass.
Ookow is like an amethyst jewel in the forest's gloom.
Poison oak berries, and more quaking grass.
More trail.
Desiccated turkey tail fungi, withering away now that the winter rains are over.
When we reach Redwood Flats (elevation 1110'), I find a clam shell in the forest duff.
Apparently at the (private) Bear Gulch Rd. trailhead, people are allowed to decorate the signs according to their whimsy.
We decide to return from Redwood Flats on the Redwood Trail.
We pass by a pair of poison oak vines wrapped around each other, thick as my arm.
At Salamander Flats we reach the spring-fed irrigation pond, once a reservoir for the Folger estate, now a habitat for the rough-skinned newt, which breeds here from late winter to early summer.
The green surface makes it look solid like a pool table, but it's just a covering of duckweed.
Um . . . okay . . .
A tiny Cutleaf Geranium.
One of the many mossy gulches along the Redwood Trail. Part of the pipe carrying spring water to the irrigation pond is visible in the foreground.
On the Meadow Trail we pass through a stand of enormous blue gum eucalyptus trees, planted after the original old-growth redwoods were logged off. These fallen leaves show the lacy edges made by eucalyptus tortoise beetles chewing semicircular notches in their edges.
We also pass by a tiny stand of delicate Fairy Lantern, a.k.a. Globe Lily.
Sticky Monkeyflower.
Fernald's Iris.
.