Laguna Lake Open Space

Locality: USA, California, San Luis Obispo County, San Luis Obispo, Cerro San Luis/Laguna Lake Open Sapce.

I visited the Laguna Lake Park for the first time with a friend yesterday for a hike. It's pretty close to my house, but I had never really made an effort to go because I thought it was just a park with a small murky body of water. There was a park and small murky body of water, but I was surprised (although I shouldn't have been) to find out that it's an actual natural open space area with a trail system that connects with the Cerro San Luis hiking trails. The main trail leading out towards the seemingly more "natural" area and away from the people was around 8 feet wide, very straight, and with very little variance in elevation that I could see. As expected, soils were clayey and so compacted you could probably sweep the dust off like a hardwood floor. And people moan about cows... (jk...kind of). Mooving on.

At first, I asked my friend if he had directional preferences, but I felt like I was interrupting every time I did, so I decided to just lead the way, knowing he'd probably follow. As I listened to a live podcast about the chemistry of coffee (he's a new coffee shop owner), my eyes were scanning and jumping everywhere, not realizing that cool things like fluffy orange ants and pretty mariposa lilies were luring me off the main cow trail and into the calf-high grasses. I did wonder what the disturbance level and type might be. The Podcast followed, I think unknowingly. Poor Podcast.

I started to feel a bit self-conscious because every time I'd stoop down and interrupt The Podcast and exclaim something like, "WHOAH, look (at this tiny pinkish-red spikey flower's color next to the blues of the serpentine)!", I was met with glazed parental eyes that so obviously were trying to emit a relateable level of intrigue, and a slightly higher-pitched, "aw yeah...so anyway". I made up my mind to return the next morning on my own.

Glad I did! Noticed some more cool stuff.

There was yellow starthistle everywhere (not cool)! To my knowledge, it's an extremely invasive pioneer species that's difficult to control. It was especially present near areas with significant disturbance, like the edges of the main pathways. I remembered that cows I've worked with are more adventurous than others and like the taste of milk thistle. But I've always wondered how the seeds spread. If cows were to eat yellow starthistle, would they help eradicate or exacerbate the problem? What happens to the seeds when they're ingested and end up in a cow patty? Is there some kind of neutralization that goes on? Would it be better to address it with an Rx burn? Herbicide? Mechanical removal?.... Is it edible?

I also loved spotting all the mariposa lilies. I know there are other types of Calochortus around, like Calochortus obispoensis, which I have yet to see, so it took me a while to attempt to figure out what the specific epithet was for type I was looking at. It'd be fun to find all the different types in SLO and lay them down, side by side, to differentiate them. I'm not really sure where I'd go to find them, though. (Update: That's probably a good thing, as I've been reminded I'm not supposed to pick them. Oops.)

I had to get back in time for bio lecture, so I headed home, but plan to return soon. On my way out, I saw a bald eagle. Definitely didn't expect that.

A note about frogs:
As I was walking around, I came across a water tank, which people intended for cattle. As always, I looked in to see what was living inside. Just past the facade, a blinding reflection of passing clouds, was a blue-green world of depth that moved like a slow rhythmic whirlpool, carried by hundreds of little pollywogs. (Protein for the protein?) My shadow scattered them, so I picked a blade of oatgrass (Danthonia californica) and used it to encourage the path of one that had resurfaced, herding it around to different parts of the tank. I also noticed that when I was out of sight, the little tadpoles were coming up, almost vertically, sucking the surface of the water, I think for oxygen, but I'm not sure. I moved a careful finger over the reflection in a way that was probably a little deceptive. Out of overhead sight (but where the heck are their eyes?), I felt the suction of the little pollywogs. It's pretty neat how life springs into things that humans often intend for a specific and let's face it, often selfish, purpose.

Posted on May 13, 2020 12:04 AM by alexmichel