CSERC Blogger

Finally, it’s winter in the Sierra Nevada again! This is my favorite time of year.

Those of us who live here tend to love it or leave it. Winters in the mountains can be cold, harsh, and dangerous, and many retired ‘snowbirds’ migrate to warmer homes further south, to return after the weather warms. But those who choose to stay are treated to some of the most spectacular scenery of the year. The mountains take on a majestic and awesome presence, with each fold and angle highlighted in white. The shapes of the different kinds of trees become distinctly accented with snow frosting each branch.

And of course, wintertime recreation brings out a completely different way to enjoy exploring our natural environment. Whether by ski, snowboard, snowshoe, sled, or snow mobile, moving on the snow is exhilarating! In Tuolumne County, many people from the Central Valley and San Francisco Bay area are drawn to recreate in the snowy mountains off of the Highway 108 corridor. There are many easy to access locations that both local and out of town people use to recreate. People pay to play at private businesses that cater to winter-enthusiasts, or public land on the Stanislaus National Forest for free or a small fee.

Backcountry trips with friends are a great way to spend time together.

Local skier Damien Johnson catching some air last season.

Over this past Christmas week, we received an incredible present in the form of a massive snowstorm depositing lots of the cold white fluffy stuff for us to play in. Winter seemed to come a bit late this year, so this first storm was waited on by many of us as we anticipated the fun that would come along with it. This was especially clear on Friday as I drove down the busy highway after spending an afternoon at crowded Dodge Ridge, our local ski resort. However, I couldn’t help but feel frustrated on that ride back from Dodge as I saw the throngs of people gathered at a well known sledding hill called Little Sweden immediately adjacent to the highway. Don’t get me wrong, as a person who wants to see a strong appreciation of nature installed in everyone, I am encouraged when people step away from their televisions, cars, etc. to get outside and play. To me, this creates a well-rounded individual while hopefully motivating their desire to see beautiful locations preserved instead of developed, so that they can continueto be enjoyed.

But as I drove by Little Sweden, I entered a chaotic world. Hundreds of people covered the hillside, walked and parked down both sides of the highway, barbecued lunch on their tailgates, and crossed the highway as though it was a neighborhood street. I had one dad and his daughter dash out in front of my truck just a hundred or so feet ahead of me, and the highway was icy!

A family visiting Little Sweden strolls down the middle of Highway 108 last weekend, a common occurence to navigate for those who regularly drive this route.

Cars line both sides of the highway by Little Sweden, despite the hazards and the clearly posted “No Parking” signs.

Since I have lived through many seasons of this phenomenon, I know that the story doesn’t end here. After everyone packs up and goes home, a lot is still left behind. The hills are covered in thousands of pieces of broken plastic sleds that are abandoned. Dirty diapers, broken bottles, cans, and every other kind of trash you can imagine are strewn about the hill. The trash left behind not only pollutes the land and water, but it is dangerous, and it disrupts the natural habitat. Little Sweden is just one of many free locations that people use to play at in the winter, and the story is repeated in each of these locations to some degree or another. Every year after the snow melts, volunteers or Forest Service employees come and clean up the mess that others leave behind in order to help keep the environment from becoming too degraded.

How does a community encourage a higher environmental ethic that promotes caretaking of a natural area versus the attitude that nature is here for us to use however we want? I would love to hear what any readers think in regards to that question.

As far as recreating in such a dangerous area (right off the main highway!) I hope more people start to consider locations such as Leland Meadows, where for a small fee you can sled down their groomed hills, and ride the newly installed rope tows back up.

View of Leland Meadows from above, before the rope-tow installation.

There are locations designated by Stanislaus National Forest that are actually for winter recreation that provide off-road parking, some services, and access to excellent snowy backcountry, such as Pinecrest or the Snow Park at the Highway 108 winter closure point.

All negativity aside, winter in the Sierra Nevada is amazing. It has a way of drawing people to the outdoors. Share with us a story of one of your favorite wintertime adventures, and we’ll share ours!

Julia Stephens
Environmental Associate

Most people that have visited or lived in the Sierra Nevada mountain region have observed that the climate pattern of this region tends to be warm and dry in the summer time and cooler and wetter in the wintertime. But have you ever noticed that this is rather unusual in comparison to most weather patterns throughout the world? If you looked at a seasonal precipitation map for the planet, you would likely observe that the majority of the earth receives most of its precipitation in the summertime. As it turns out, a large part of California is considered to be a Mediterranean Climate; one of only four locations in the world other than the region for which this climate is named in southern Europe and Asia (See Figure 1).

Figure 1

Only 2% of all land on Earth is considered part of a Mediterranean climate! All the incredibly diverse grasslands, wildflowers, oak woodlands, and even evergreen forests have adapted over millions of years to be able to grow in this specific climate region. So why is that, and should you care? Let’s take a look at the why, and through this a sense of caring and pride just might sneak up on you, if it hasn’t already!

Figure 2

Through an ongoing interaction between the sun, air, ocean, land, and life, climates as we know them are formed. How do these interactions create California’s Mediterranean climate and how can we see these processes? Let’s start with those hot, dry summers that make us so unique. Why so hot, why so dry? If you look at Figure 3 you can see that in the summertime a huge high-pressure mass of air sits directly off the coast of California.

Figure 3

This air mass is part of a global circulation pattern that creates different pressure systems (high and low) which is driven by differential heating of the Earth’s atmosphere by the sun from the equator to the poles. Check out Figure 4 to get the big picture on how this generally operates.

Figure 4

California’s high-pressure system (called the “North Pacific High”) is dry, warm, and (this is the key) pretty stable which results in very little opportunity for other wetter systems to displace it. All Mediterranean climates are located between 30-40º north or south of the equator, where the sun’s rays penetrate the atmosphere enough to create a lot of heat; not as much as at the equator, but much more than at the poles.

Another big role-player in the formation of climates are ocean currents. Mediterranean areas have a cold current that parallels their coast, and like all currents they are driven by the wind. Prevailing winds in California come from the northwest, and the cold “California Current” is brought down from the north in a clock-wise direction. The cold water is from upwelling cold-water coming from a deep ocean-floor current. Check out Figure 5 and 6 to see the ocean currents and winds that are described. This cold current serves as one more barrier for moisture reaching inland in the summer via the westerly winds; any moisture that may have managed to gather in the North Pacific High condenses into fog when hitting the current as the westerly winds blow across the ocean and onto land.

Figure 5

Figure 6

So, now the basic processes have been covered that create the dry and warm summer climate that draw so many people to live and visit California! But what about that winter rain? What has changed that allows moisture to reach our thirsty land? The amount of heat received by the sun is the main force behind the shift. As summer turns into fall the intensity of the sun shifts to the southern half of our planet, which in turn weakens the high pressure system that is so prominent in the summer, and shifts it south. This makes room for the polar jet stream to bring moist, unstable air masses further south and with it precipitation. Almost 80% of precipitation falls in the wintertime in regions that are Mediterranean! The moist air has an additional assistant in ensuring that the rain is dropped in our region and not pushed further inland by the westerly winds in the form of the Sierra Nevada. When the wind pushes an air mass into a mountainous barrier it moves the air up hill. The higher the elevation the cooler the air, and cooler air has less ability to hold moisture, and when it reaches its capacity it drops much of it in the form of rain or snow! Check out Figure 7 to get a basic visual of how this “Rain Shadow Effect” works.

Figure 7

Figure 9
All the rain and snow melt that runs down the mountain not only provides one the major sources of drinking water for California, they also provide the water needed to make the Central Valley agriculturally productive. Before humans started irrigating and damming these mountain rivers, the Valley seasonally flooded which did two major things. First, massive underground aquifers that lay below the valley were refilled. Secondly, nutrient-rich minerals that were broken down from the rock materials of the mountains were washed down into the Valley floor, creating an incredibly fertile soil that built up over centuries. Although these natural processes can no longer occur anywhere near the extent that they formerly did because of irrigation, the aquifers and soil resources still are still available and utilized today, although both are being depleted at a rate much faster than they are being replenished.

Figure 10

Climate has changed many times shifting and evolving throughout the history of earth. The Mediterranean region in California has at different points in the past been warmer, colder, more humid, and dryer than it is now. These changes have happened gradually over time, but recently much validation has been given by an overwhelming portion of the scientific community that a global warming trend that is occurring is happening at an accelerated rate and is likely being caused by pollutants being released into the air (atmosphere) from human activities. How much climate change will affect the climate that we are accustomed to here in central California is still unknown. However, now that an overview of the amazing weather patterns that define the Mediterranean climate has been covered, you have to admit, you can’t help but appreciate a little bit more how specific, unique, and complex our little corner of the world is.

Did anything you read in this blog create any questions you’d like to know more about? Is there anything that seemed inaccurate? What is your favorite part of the central Sierra Nevada region? Why don’t you comment and tell me?

*All images were obtained through www.creativecommons.org .

Julia Stephens
Environmental Associate

Half Dome is one of the most iconic images of Yosemite National Park and of the United States. It’s spectacular to view from the floor of Yosemite Valley and offers amazing views from the top of the dome as well. At 14 miles roundtrip and a few thousand feet of elevation gain (and then descent), it’s a challenging hike to reach the top, but not extreme. Needless to say, this hike is popular.

Last weekend, a few friends visiting from the east convinced my boyfriend and me to hike Half Dome. They planned it for September 27th, a Saturday, and while I expected crowds, I thought that it wouldn’t be nearly as crowded as during the height of summer. We started on the trail at 8AM with dozens of others that got off the shuttle bus with us and the race began. We started hiking quickly, passing several slower parties, but if we stopped to take off a layer, we were quickly passed by dozens more. When the trail bottlenecked, 10 or more folks would quickly file in behind the slower hikers. The patient would wait for the slow hiker to pull over, while the impatient would ask to pass.

For the first six miles of the hike it was like this, until we reached the top of the ridge with the view of the final climb ahead of us. Up until this point, we had been making pretty good time, hiking at this point for just under 4 hours, and hoping to make it back down well before dark to enjoy with some pizza and beer. We were naïve. Ahead was an impressive sight—lines of people like ants following the switchbacks up to the cables that assist the final steep push to reach the summit of Half Dome. Our pace was forced to a slow crawl, as we hiked for 15 feet, then stopped to wait for some descenders to pass on the narrow switchbacks. At the top of the hump just below the cables, you are almost at the peak—it’s just a final push to climb up the steep slab that’s protected by some sturdy cables to help your climb. At the base of the cables, we encountered a large swarm of people waiting at the base of the cables. Convinced on reaching the top, we got in the unmoving line. An hour later and 30 feet farther, we reached the base of the cables. Now it was only a few hundred feet to the top but we were at a dead stop.

There are two parallel cables that run up the steep slab to the top. If people climb on the outside of the cables and use one cable as the ascending line and one cable as the descending line, the pace would move smoothly and quickly. But people get scared with the exposure and steepness (understandably!) and instead, climb in between the two cables. When an ascender meets a descender head-on, one person has to step aside to the let the other pass, and the whole line halts. Thus, we were looking at another hour to climb a few hundred feet of cable. At this point, my boyfriend and I lost patience, and moved to the outside of the cables, quickly passing everyone on the inside. My east coast friends were a bit reluctant to leave the safety of the two cables however, and arrived at the top quite a bit later than we did.

After a quick snack, we began the descent. Again, the outside cable line moved quickly but the inside line was at a standstill, even at 3PM! There were several folks that were not going to make it down before dark. The rest of the descent flew by, and we made it back to the car just before dark, but hours after our estimated time of arrival. The pizza and beer tasted even better though.

Yosemite holds some fantastic treasures from the domes surrounding Tuolumne Meadows to El Capitan and Half Dome. But don’t expect to enjoy these sights in John Muir style solitude!

Have you experienced the crowds of any national park? Do you think there are better ways that the park staff could manage these crowds?

It seems a tragedy that as millions of people come to visit the wild beauty of Yosemite National Park each year, many black bears succumb to the fate of being killed by cars or trucks driven by nature-loving visitors. Just this year alone, 13 black bears have already been killed by vehicles in Yosemite Park!

Black Bear cub

In order to make people more aware of the need to slow down while driving on Park roads, Yosemite rangers post signs at each location where a bear was killed by a vehicle. But despite years of publicity and the “red bear = dead bear” program to alert the public to bear deaths, the slaughter continues. …and although bears get a high level of attention, it’s obvious that lots of other wildlife also gets nailed as animals freeze in headlights or move too slowly to evade cars.

Yosemite Valley

Busy road-way in Yosemite Valley

North Dome

Bridalveil Fall

Can you (or others who you share this with) think of ways to help reduce bear deaths from vehicle traffic in this magical park?

Other common clashes between people and bears occur frequently at campgrounds and backcountry campsites where some bears become accustomed to scavenging for food that is stored improperly by people. If a bear becomes too accustomed to human food, a bear may have to be put down. While the Park staff goes out of its way to avoid killing problem bears, careless food storage by not-so-bright Park visitors can ultimately lead to the Park staff having no other choice. Frequently-fed bears gradually lose their fear of people and can pose unacceptable risk to public safety.

Black Bear caught on camera at one of CSERC’s photo detection stations

What do you think about these clashes between people and black bears? How can a balance be found between the enjoyment of the beauty of a place like Yosemite and the protection of the wildlife that depend on these places for survival?

A couple weeks ago, while fires burned down below filling the sky with smoke, I went on a 38-mile trek along the Emigrant and Yosemite Wilderness boundary with Tom Hofstra, Steve Leach, and Dave Cornman. Like most of the CSERC staff, I love getting out and exploring this beautiful area as much as I can.

The hike began amidst the burnt region of Kibbie Ridge behind Cherry Lake scrambling over dozens of fallen logs that the trail crews had yet to get to. Surprisingly, however, in many spots, not all the trees had burned and the ground was bursting forth with the abundance of many wildflowers, shrubs, and other plant species. It was a great reminder that although fire kills, it can also bring forth new life.

Lewis’s Monkeyflower found on Kibbie Ridge

Heather hiking along Kibbie Ridge

Eager to know what lay beyond, the following day, we hiked over Styx Pass into the breathtaking, glacially polished Cherry Creek Canyon. This same trail is often frequented by kayakers carrying 100 pounds of gear seeking out the world famous Cherry Creek route. I was astonished to hear later of the waterfalls along the route that might seem like a death trap to the average person!

Cherry Creek Canyon from Styx Pass

Chatter marks on glacially polished granite

Hiking along granite in Cherry Creek Canyon

Part of our hike into the Canyon included going over the surging waters of Cherry Creek. Crossing over the fast moving area pictured below (being as small as I am) I would have slipped without the help of Tom. Surprisingly, however, Cherry Creek often dries up entirely by the end of the summer. The water was very cool, clean, and refreshing though, as we ended up stopping to eat lunch on the other side.

Steve crossing rushing waters of Cherry Creek

Hiking down near Huckleberry Lake, which stretches on for miles, the mosquitoes slowly became horrendous. As we walked quickly, we each carried our own cloud of insects seeking to poke at us. This is quite common in the wilderness near the end of June, but later in the season, Huckleberry Lake looks like it would be a wonderful place to swim!

Huckleberry Lake

Our final destination was camping in the midst of Sachse Monument where I was in my tent for much of the evening to avoid getting eaten up. It felt great to finally look out and see dozens of mosquitoes trying to poke my tent instead of me. It was also a great feeling to be in the peace and quiet of the wilderness.

Tom with a Mosquito net on in the foreground of Sachse Monument

Our last night, we hiked backed out and camped on the ridge of Cherry Creek Canyon near Boundary Lake. The views from our campsite were spectacular and reminded me why this spectacular region of the Sierra Nevada has touched me so much.

Heather, Dave, and Steve on ridge near Boundary Lake

Boundary Lake

Sunset at the campsite

Beautiful, white granite at sunrise

Walking back on the last day, my feet were killing me or rather “the dogs were barking” but it was an awesome trip. I’d recommend it to anyone who likes backpacking, only that it would be best to go later in the season so as to avoid the mosquitoes and get to swim in some of the gorgeous lakes!

-Heather Campbell, CSERC Staff member

What trips have you gone on or are you planning this year? Please share!

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Bob just finished his painted frog and it will arrive at the SNAC in Murphys hopefully this week. Here are a few pictures of the final product, and I can only imagine how spectacular this shading and texture must be in person.

So far, our blogs have focused on the efforts and interests of CSERC. In this blog however, we’d like to focus on the accomplishments and actions of our CSERC members who bring the local environment into their daily lifestyle. Recently, two of our CSERC members, Tracy Knopf and Bob Carabas approached us with an interesting and engaging fundraising idea. Every year, Calaveras County Chamber of Commerce has the Painted Frogs of Calaveras County fundraiser. It works like this. A local Calaveras County business sponsors the cost (including artist fee) for an enormous three-foot tall frog. A local artist paints or decorates the frog in any style, and then the frog is displayed in front of the sponsor business until October. The business gets the benefit of being “put on the map”—Chamber of Commerce publishes a tourist map with all the frog locations in the County displayed. In October, there is a big benefit where the frogs are auctioned off and the proceeds go to a designated charity.

Tracy Knopf, a loyal CSERC member and volunteer for many years, is an amazing mosaic artist. She collects old dishes, teacups, and glasses from yard sales and thrift stores, broken bottles, old hubcaps, and other supposed “junk” and turns this junk into beautiful mosaic stepping stones, mirrors, and yard art. Tracy has truly perfected the system of recycling! Tracy’s most recent creation is a mosaic Painted Frog of Calaveras County modeled after the native and threatened California red-legged frog. We first discovered her idea about this creation when she came to our Center looking for an image of a red-legged frog to model her mosaic. A Calaveras County optometrist sponsored her and she spent a month creating her mosaic frog for the October auction. You can visit her frog on display at Chatom Vineyards and the proceeds of the auction will benefit Bret Harte High School in Calaveras County.

Hubcap by Tracy Knopf

Painted Frog by Tracy Knopf

When Tracy found out that there remained one unpainted frog yet to be sponsored and decorated, she talked to another of our CSERC members who is also an artist, Bob Carabas. Bob is an abstract artist, using both acrylic and oil paints on canvas, and easily agreed to paint a frog to benefit CSERC. Bob and his wife Leslie, also a remarkable textile artist, are incredibly generous members of CSERC, and in addition to painting the Calaveras frog, have also donated the artist fee for this project, and donated even more money to help sponsor the frog.

Bob and Leslie Carabas with unpainted frog

Central Valley by Leslie Carabas

Fantasy by Leslie Carabas

Children of War by Bob Carabas

6×6 Yellow by Bob Carabas

Bob and Leslie take their love of the aesthetic even beyond their work and into their home. I visited their home and studios on the Art Trails exhibit, and explored not only their artwork but also their beautiful strawbale home. Bob and Leslie have perfectly demonstrated that a sustainable home can also be gorgeous. Their strawbale home is so well insulated, that on the 95 degree day that I visited (during our May heatwave) it was a maximum of 75 degrees inside (no air conditioner!). The concrete floor also helps with the cooling. During the winter, the strawbale insulation is also perfect for keeping in the heat. With the adobe plastered on top of the strawbales, the house has lovely rounded corners. In addition to the house itself, Bob and Leslie are also installing solar panels for electricity, and a 9,000-gallon cistern to collect rainwater from the roof to water their bright and beautiful native landscaping. Bob designed and helped build this house himself and also designed another 6 strawbale homes in Tuolumne County.

Kitchen in Bob and Leslie’s strawbale home

Bob’s studio

The Sierra Nevada Adventure Co. (SNAC), owned by CSERC members Tonja Peterson, and Jill and Shawn Seale will also be sponsoring our painted frog, and the frog will be on display at their new store in Murphys. SNAC is a wonderful local business with stores in Sonora, Arnold and now Murphys that provides top quality outdoor gear and also does their part to promote respect for the environment, in part by supporting organizations like us. Check it out if you get a chance, and if you really fall in love with the frog, make a bid at the auction in October!

SNAC’s new store in Murphys

-Brenda Whited, Staff biologist

Are you or someone you know a person who brings the natural environment around you into your daily lifestyle? Show and tell us!

For years, CSERC biologists have maintained camera detection wildlife stations in the Stanislaus National Forest in search of elusive forest furbearers including martens, fishers and wolverines. While we have detected the adorable pine marten throughout the forest (see picture below), we have yet to get photographic evidence of fisher or wolverine. Wolverine, as many of you may have heard, has been spotlighted in the media recently. This elusive carnivore, thought to be extinct in the Sierra Nevada, was recently photographed on the Tahoe National Forest. Oregon State University graduate student, Katie Moriarty, first photographed this furry blur (see picture below) on February 28, and Forest Service researchers later photographed wolverine and collected hair and scat samples on March 13. These researchers analyzed DNA collected from the scat samples and compared this DNA with samples from museum specimens of the historical California population as well as with animals from Washington and the Rocky Mountain Range. Unfortunately, this DNA evidence indicates this wolverine did not descend from the California or Washington populations but is related to the Rocky Mountain population. The nearest wolverines in the Rockies exist 600 miles away northeast in the Idaho Sawtooth Range. So either this animal has broken records in the greatest distance traveled by a wolverine or it is a released or escaped pet or captive. Either way, we continue our search for fisher and wolverine in the Stanislaus in hopes of capturing the image of one of these creatures. Share with us any interesting wildlife sightings that you’ve had in the forest!

Brenda Whited, CSERC Staff Biologist

The Pine Marten is one rare mammal that our camera stations have been successful in capturing.

Here is the now famous photo that first caught the Tahoe wolverine on camera.

This weekend, the staff at CSERC and close to 20 volunteers gathered at the Red Hills on Saturday morning. The mission: to work with Mark Pertersen of the BLM on cleaning up several locations that have been used as a shooting range over the years. As many residents of this area know, this is an ecologically sensitive area due to the Serpentine soil that defines the Red Hills. The unique qualities of this soil allows limited, often rare types of vegetation to successfully take root. The creeks that run through this area even have a fish known as the Red Hills Roach that is endemic to this spot alone! Needless to say, the continued use of this special location as a shooting range has been compromising the delicate diversity of the Red Hills. By picking up the accumulated waste and posting new signs, CSERC and the BLM wants the Red Hills not to be identified as a place that is acceptable for use as a shooting range. Washing machines, scrap metal, refrigerators, thousands of bullet shells, and more were gathered by our trusty workers, loaded into their pickup trucks, and taken to Waste Management for proper disposal. The weather was great and spirits were high, and by the time the volunteer crew was done the locations targeted looked much more like the natural environment that should be there. Check out these pictures to get an idea of what we accomplished!

What a mess!

Getting started.

A sampling of the trash that our volunteer’s collected.

Hard at work!

Gathering the thousand of bullet shells was tedious but unavoidable. Thank goodness for folks like Frank who are willing to do what has to be done!

A small portion of the bags of shells we gathered.

Our trucks were loaded down!

A job well done!

Happy volunteers. Thanks for your help!

-the staff at CSERC
Do you have any suggestions for potential environmental volunteer projects that CSERC could organize? Post them here!

Julia Stephens
Environmental Associate

Hello! The staff at CSERC has created this blog in order to be able to interact with the large community of people who care about the Sierra Nevada region and what CSERC does to protect it’s diverse ecosystem. We want this to be a place where we can be a little less formal and discuss issues, concerns, and things that inspire us about this area. Please stop in to our blog and say hello, provide us with feedback, or share your personal Sierra Nevada stories with us! We are excited to having a new avenue of communication with our community, and anticipate using this on a regular basis as things pop up that we think our readers may be interested in. Feel free to let us know if there is something you are wondering about which you think CSERC may be able to respond to. This should be fun! Look for more soon.

Your CSERC Blogger of the day- Julia, Environmental Associate

Wildflowers of the high-country are one of my favorite things that I enjoy about living in the Sierra Nevada! Last summer my favorite flower trip was in the Emmigrant Wilderness. Where is your sweet spot for wildflower viewing?