Rock, paper, scissors

Last Saturday, I joined the Mt. Shasta Trail Association on their Seven Lakes Basin Hike from Gumboot trailhead to Echo Lake.  We had a large and lively bunch of young and old walking a three-mile portion of the Pacific Crest Trail that gave us views to Mt. Shasta, Mt. Lassen, the Trinity Alps, Castle Crags, the Seven Lakes Basin ... and SO MUCH MORE!

I, for one, saw two dragons (one rock, one wood) and lots of pretty flowers, some so small they qualify for the term "belly-flowers" cuz you gotta get down on your belly to see 'em.

Here's one dragon:

For more dragons and a sample of flowers big and little, please go to my photo album at 

Picasaweb.

A CNPS hike up Black Butte

What can I say? I'm a sucker for Western dogwood (C. nuttalli) and this one catches the light like the snow on Mt. Shasta.

The Shasta Chapter of the California Native Plant Society planned a walk up Black Butte, so we joined them on Saturday.  It was wintry-windy-cold, so Jeff and I didn't go all the way to the top.  But we went far enough to be rewarded with some stunning penstemon (P. newberryi) ...

and stands of mountain maple (A. glabrum) were showing off their beautiful scarlet seeds.  We also noted some canyon larkspur (D. nudicaule) and star-flower.  At the trailhead we found boo-koo Shasta lily and wild ginger, not yet in bloom.  Tobacco brush (C. velutinous) was in exuberant and bee-delirious flush of flower.

For more pix from this hike, go to More Photos

Jackrabbit in Winter

We had a small neighbor come spend the afternoon in our yard, about 12 feet away from the back door.  Black-tailed jackrabbits sleep during the day, with their eyes wide open--quite disconcerting!  When dusk fell she left lickety-split.

Welcome to My Beautiful Siskiyou

Siskiyou is both a county in northern California and a bioregion named for a group of coastal mountains in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon.  The Siskiyou Mountains form the north border of the Klamath River watershed.

The region is blessed with some of the most interesting geology in the country, an artifact of its location at the western edge of the continent, where uplift and plate tectonics meet volcanism and erosion.  Where most mountain ranges in the northern new world run north and south, the Siskiyou ranges trend roughly east-west.

This difference shows up in our serpentine and volcanic soils and in the special plant communities that inhabit them.  The Klamath National Forest boasts almost two dozen "Areas of Botanical Interest," a mere smidgeon of what is out there.

But there's more to Siskiyou.  We're also part of the State of Jefferson, an imaginary political district known for its independent thinking.  We are small, rural towns like Dorris and Weed and Etna and Forks of Salmon, and we are bigger rural hubs like Yreka and Mt. Shasta.

Our natural gifts are many.  We want to share them with the world.  On these pages you will find photos and stories about our beautiful Siskiyou.  Come see.  Come share.  Come visit.