Day 60: Wolves and Rewilding!!

Did the Short Loop with Angel today. Both Joni and I have been nursing colds the last four to five days. Because of this, I've been taking it easy and not biking. When you have a cold, it is a message to take life more gently. Reduce stress. Sleep more. Rest.

Because of the cold, I've spent more time reading. I've read quite a few books over the last week. I finished a lengthy tome of the Rise and Fall of Communism. I finished a book I found in the library that has Jack London's travel pieces and sports reporting in it (quite good actually--especially his reporting of boxing matches). I've also caught up on our magazines.

Two articles caught my attention: A short blurb in Countryside and Small Stock Journal and the feature story of the new National Geographic. Both the stories are about wolves.

We are ambivalent about animals that can kill us. Especially large predators. Two success stories of the last twenty years have been the resurgence of the mountain lion in California and the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone National Park. Both populations have done reasonably well.

In Yellowstone, the wolves have slipped out of the Park and are now colonizing Montana, Idaho, possibly Colorado and even Washington. Their numbers aren't great. But for some ranchers and hunters, even one wolf is one too many.

Bush delisted the Gray wolf from the endangered species list, paving the way for the actual hunting of wolves in Idaho. The season will continue until the quota is reached.

The Countryside piece is disgusting. The author, Aileen Scott, goes overboard to warn readers of the depraved nature of the wolf. She also calls the Gray Wolf a "menace to all livestock and ungulates". She goes on to write that "Every person who raises meat for the tables of America should have the right to kill any wolf that comes onto their property without question."

Barf.

The National Geographic article is more balanced. The author lists the benefits of having a wolf population in Yellowstone and the surrounding States. And whereas predation of livestock has occurred (and along with predation the cattle have to move--leading to reduced body weight of the herd)--so far the wolf kill has been minimal.

Still, the author leaves the question of wolves in the west open. "When we say we want to conserve wildlife communities in America, does that mean including the wolf, or not?"

For me, both the California mountain lion resurgence and the fragile success of the wolf population are opportunities to get things right. Let the ranchers adapt to having wolves around. Bring back Shepherds! Reduce the hunting of elk and deer (Let the wolves have the prey!). Minnesota has embraced its wolf population; wolves are a matter of pride for the residents there (and predation hasn't been a problem). Perhaps the people of Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Washington and Colorado can develop the same sort of pride?

Isn't this the first step of Recovery? Doesn't this give us hope that we can Rewild America?

Day 59: Jazzy's Rite of Passage!

Okay, forget the first day of school, the first Communion, the first solid food, the first step, the first note sent to a member of the opposite sex--around here the best rite of passage is riding your bike for the first time on the Long Loop with Allan.

Jazmine has been asking to do this for a year. Today, I gave her the opportunity..

Angel has many faults. She is too enthusiastic around strangers. She thinks bears, skunks and mountain lions are her friends. She jumps on us.

But she does have one good attribute: she has a super duper attachment to the girls. This was her job given to her when we picked her out as a little puppy. We wanted a big dog to guard over the girls. Hence her name: Angel. As in Guardian Angel. She takes her job seriously--especially when the girls are riding their bikes or visiting neighbors.

Jazmine's big day. How will she do?


The Long Loop is someplace around three miles in length with two monstrous hills.


Teaching the next generation of Trespassers!


Exercising the girls Right to Roam!


Jazmine passes the first test: climbing a closed fence...

And rock barriers are a breeze for the girls...

The rule is that you can push your bike up the monster hills. However, If I assist them--the Rite of Passage doesn't count.

Kylie found this beautiful mushroom. She wants me to let Readers know that her foot is a SIZE SEVEN in WOMEN'S SHOES. Okay, I wrote that Kylie. No one will think you have little girls feet...

In the end, Jazmine completed the Rite of Passage. She didn't whine. She dug deep and completed the Long Loop. She is quite proud of herself!

In fact, I whined much more on the recent backpacking trip to Costa Rica than Jazmine did completing the Long Loop. A brave girl! Congratulations are in order!!!!

Day 58: Hope Springs Eternal...

At last, another sunny day. When I tell Joni that the rainy season is nearly over, she just looks at me with that rather incredulous look and says: "You are a dreamer". She is right.

Hope springs eternal..

I found a tree with blossoms on it. I have no clue what it is... cherry? crab apple?

The tree blossoming out...

Angel is next to a piece of "Three Rivers Slate". Joni would like me to gather a couple large pieces every time I walk and carry them home in order to start a patio. The best place to harvest the slate is half ways down the canyon. It would be a real act of love to follow through with this project. The slate is heavy. The road steep.

Yet doing something like that might get me in better shape for hiking season this summer...I wonder how long it would take me to drag up enough rock for a patio?

Angel and I ended up doing the three mile loop. Things are turning green. Flowers should become evident in the next couple of weeks. Hurrah!

Day #57: Manzanita

Angel and I did the three mile loop in the rain and sleet today.

Manzanita are most beautiful in the rain. The wet bark shows off it's beauiful deep red color. I've read there are some 60 varieties of Manzanita. I have no clue what variety this tree is. I do know this gnarly tree is old; takes forever for these things to grow. The wood burns hot and we've been warned not to use it in our wood stove (when we finally get the thing operational). Evidently the hot burning Manzanita can crack your stove.

We are on the cusp on this Ridge between the more Savannahish Foothills and the beginnings of the Ponderosa forest. Above us we have forest; below us the hot parched Savannah.

Thunder as I type this! A thunderstorm! Those are rare here in the Foothills. Reminds me that I don't have the Internet Satellite Dish grounded...

Days #55 and #56: Recovery, the Fourth "R"...

Rain yesterday. A short dog walk.

Today: Sun!! For a short while, until the next storm blows in to dump a few more inches of rain on us. Angel (the dog) and I took a long walk this morning. We were happy to greet about a dozen Steller jays. Oh how wonderful to see the sun even for a brief bit of time!

I got an invitation to be a "top blogger" at Healthblogger in the "Green Living" category. From reading through their invitation, they actually seem to read the blogs and to be a bit more choosy with their invitations.

So I accepted their offer--scam artist that I am.

A scam Artist? Well, I'm not the epitome of health. I don't eat enough vegetables; tend to be mostly an opportunivore in my diet regimen. I hike, walk and ride bike more to be outside than to accomplish any health goals.

As for Green Living? Living in a rural area, we tend to be car dependent. I drive 165 miles to work (but only twice a month). True, we do live in a partially constructed house made of mud, straw and recycled materials. But we drive way too much.

Green Living. What does that mean? What would Thoreau have to say about this nebulous movement? Ed Abbey? Companies green wash. Obama is said to have a green agenda. I've met Socialist Greens. I've met Libertarian Greens. I've met New Agey Greens. Pagan Greens. Most of the time, being Green is reduced to just being an expression of an alternative consumerism.

Here is an alternative vision for being Green: Having Devotion to the Planet and all life on the Planet. This devotion then informs us in all that we do. We love where and who we are. And we give space to other beings to be who they are and freedom to live out their lives. We make ourselves smaller so that the non-human entities can be larger.

Being Green ultimately is about Recovery. I'm a Recovery Green. The fourth "R" in the reduce, reuse, recycle chain of being.

Recovery means ending the oppression of a Human Centered Worldview.

Recovery might mean that we tear out half of the dams in California so that 50% of the rivers return to being free flowing (hence giving the salmon a chance to recover). Recovery might mean limiting our housing to 300 square feet per person. Recovery might mean changing jobs. Recovery might mean giving money to the Nature Conservancy. Recovery might mean working less; earning less; living more. Recovery might mean sitting in a tree or tearing down a fence. Tactics might be different, but Recovery for the planet is the goal.

That is Green Living to me.

Days #50 to #54: Sloth...

"To every thing there is a season" as the Byrds borrowed from Bobby Dylan and as Bobby Dylan borrowed from Ecclesiastes.

Last Thursday I drove to the Napa Valley for my obligatory work week. Along the way, as I usually do this time of the year, I came across the herd of elk in the top two photos. I got out of the car and spent half an hour with them. Watching them. The elk just watched me as I snapped a few photos of them.

Special.

So I worked my five days. After work, I didn't feel like doing anything. I didn't walk. I didn't ride my bike that I brought with me. I didn't go to the library. I didn't go to town. I just went to my Monastic Dorm room and slept.

It must be February. My legs were hurting after work. My back has been sore. So I decided to withdraw. Regroup. Read. Sleep. Watch the Olympics. And I must admit, I enjoyed my slothfulness. After 400 days of giving myself a daily assignment to "get outside"--staying inside was a decadent treat.

Sometimes we need to linger in our caves.

Days: #48 and #49: Nature Nerds and the Age 50 Transition...

Did the Short Loop yesterday, and again this morning. Taking it easy after a more strenuous hike on Tuesday. My legs feel strong.

Several of my friends are turning fifty. As such, we've been talking about "bucket lists". Nature Nerds get a little weird around the age of fifty. Out of storage come the hiking boots, guide books and dreams of taking that long hike you have always dreamed of taking. There is an increasing urgency as we notice the natural physical decline involved in aging. It is now or never.

We don't want it to be never.

My friend Patrick wrote me the other day (who turns fifty soon)--sending along his "bucket list". Hiking the Grand Canyon made his list. And Larry (who drops into this site once and awhile) just started a blog about his Age Fifty Transition. His bucket list involves lots of hikes and outdoor pursuits. He calls the blog "In Search of Birkyness" with grand plans of cross country skiing, riding his bike 100 miles and hiking the John Muir Trail. Larry turns fifty on Saturday. Give his new webstie a look-see.

Nature Nerds have an easier and healthier Age Fifty Transition. They lose weight. Stop some of their bad habits. Eat more vegetables and attempt to get more sleep. They stop worrying quite so much about their careers. Nature Nerds in the Age Fifty Transition are less likely to buy that Sports Car or trade in their spouses for that one last fling with a Twenty Something.

Nature Nerds who turn fifty have other dreams. They want to get to Everest's base camp or some other high mountain pass in Nepal. They get on their bikes and ride across the country. They lose the fog of inactivity and move!

Look for us Age Fifty Transition Males on a hiking trail this summer. You'll see us with our graying hair, brand new nylon pants; turning blue from panting with gigantic smiles on our faces.

Day #47: We Get Lost...

R. and I have hiked in Skyline Wilderness Park in Napa, California before. We thought we knew the way.

"We don't need to bother with the map", R. said. We had invited along a new MD friend to hike up to Lake Marie; followed by a trip along the Skyline Trail to admire the views of Napa and San Pablo Bay.

Nope.

We took the wrong trail. After walking in circles for a couple of hours; getting lost and taking "short cuts"; struggling up multiple climbs; traipsing up a stream bed only to find that we had gone in a full circle back to where we had started---We decided to give it up and call it a day.

Embarrassing.

Oops.

Next time we shall consult the map. Still--a good time was had by all. Getting lost can be fun if it is early enough in the day, with adequate daylight time to find your way back to the trailhead.

Day #46: Schedule It!

On my feet today. I did the short loop with Angel.

It is the nicest day of the year thus far! Temperature in the low 60's. Sunny. I put on my shorts and a new John Lennon "Imagine Peace" t-shirt. I bought the t-shirt at Target a couple weeks ago; somehow, it just doesn't seem right to buy Beatles paraphernalia at Target.

February has been a month of perusing hiking/backpacking books. Dreaming of the hikes to come. I came across a kernel of wisdom from one of the Authors in one of the books (can't remember which book right now).

The Author was asked: "How do you manage to take 200 hikes in a year?". His reply was simple: "I schedule it".

He states that if you schedule hikes (like we schedule everything else in our lives: work, dentist appointments, ballet classes or whatever) then you will actually do them. He recommends scheduling outings with friends--that way you can't back out of them.

Which is why I must travel to Napa today (on a day I would rather be outside than in the inside of a car). I scheduled a hike in Napa with a couple of friends. We are going to do a hike in a preserve that overlooks San Pablo Bay tomorrow. So I will drive down to R's house today, have a barbecue and sleep on his couch tonight.

Is there anything more enjoyable than taking a hike with friends? Drop me an e-mail. Let's schedule a hike together.

Day #45: Salvage Logging and the Concow Fire..

Over the past few days, I've been extending my bike range. My goal is to make it to the top of Sawmill Peak--an elevation gain of 2,200 feet and an unknown number of miles away on logging roads. I asked Angel (my dog) if she wanted to come with me today. Smart dog that she is--she refused. We went a tad far for her yesterday; she wanted to rest at home.

So I headed out. It is Sunday and sunny, which means that the ATV folks are out.

I met a family of four out enjoying the logging roads. They had come over across the canyon from the town of Magalia. My goal is to ride my bike to Magalia someday...

I had to ride my bike across a fast flowing stream...

This is as far as I made it. Sawmill Peak is behind my bike. I stopped in a "clear cut" zone of Salvage logging. A two and a half hour ride today.

If you look closely, you can see the Fire Lookout on the top of Sawmill Peak in this zoomed in photo.

A pile of Salvaged Logs (cadavers) and the torn up staging area. There are many of these torn up staging areas on this bike ride. The devastation that the logging does is very difficult to photograph. It is much worse than it appears in this photo (and subsequent ones).

Salvage logging in a clear cut fashion. This is right on the edge of the beautiful Feather River Canyon (northern branch). In the clear cut areas, the logging roads were all washed up and torn up from water run off. And all of the water, mud and debris runs down, unhindered, into the beautiful Feather River Canyon. This cut is on the very edge of the canyon.

The mountain looks as barren as the moon. And the water rushes down 1,500 feet or more to the Feather River. Goodbye trout!

A logging road that goes straight up a mountain...and the rain water is channelled down the road. In a normal year, we get around sixty inches of rain. This year is 120 percent of normal thus far. And from the condition of the logging roads, you can tell we've had a ton of rain.

The Concow Fire occurred in 2008 (the day we moved into our cabin). We were evacuated for a couple of weeks, in two seperate events. The fire burned some thirty five thousand acres--and pretty much ended at our cabin. This fire was a stand replacing "crown" fire. The worst kind.

I've been watching the forest recover over the last two years. The photo above shows an area that hasn't been logged. The burned trees fall down gradually--starting with their uppermost tips. Plenty of bio mass prevents water runoff (and the dead trees fall down in segments--almost by design). Bottom cover plants turn green. The area has had an explosion in the turkey population. The deer are doing well too.

Juxtapose the photo above, with the brown de-nuded clear cut areas. No life has returned there.

But don't we need the wood? In this recession, there is a wood glut. The mills have plenty of wood in their inventories. The Feather River is one of the more picturesque places in northern California. There really was no good reason to log this beautiful canyon area.

I found some nice raccoon tracks on my way home. This must be one large raccoon. The track is as big as my hand...

Back and front paws are evident in these tracks...