Coon Creek

On this day, I added one of my roommate-approved hiking pals to my bubble. It's always fun hanging out-of-doors together because we're just a couple of nerds that feed off each other's interests. This spot was really sweet because it was new to me and I could see the effects of different types of management in the surrounding landscape (partially due to my friend's background knowledge stemming from her thesis work in the PG&E land adjacent to the trail).

I really enjoyed looking at the beautiful stands of Bishop Pine and hearing about their small range of habitation. Learning that Bishop Pines are usually only found in coastal areas with maritime influence and cooler temperatures and that the man who gave them their name first discovered one near the mission in downtown San Luis Obispo made me wonder what climate conditions further inland must've been like back then to be able to support the species. As I watched the wall of fog whither away, I thought about what our current climate change rates might mean for the habitation range of this pine in years to come.

I also wondered how the serotinous cones would open up if these pines only stuck to cooler temperatures. Would fire be necessary, or would a warm day do? Either way, I thought it was pretty neat to see the effects of the prescribed burns on the steep hillsides, including all the young bishop pines that probably benefited from that.

Parts of the trail positioned us in a way that boasted beautiful panoramic vistas of wide green valleys backed by blue, while other parts wrapped around us in a cool, wet microclimate, surrounding our peripherals with lush ferns and thimbleberry. We only went out about 4-5 miles before we turned back, led by our rumbling stomachs.

Throughout the entire hike, we kept coming across Twinberry Honeysuckle, which we thought we knew and continuously misidentified way too many times. When I was home later that day, I got a call. As soon as I answered, my friend (an ex-professor, assumed to be my mother earlier that day) blurted "TWINBERRY- JUST THINK OF BALLS!" I don't know that plants have ever made me laugh so much.

Posted on May 26, 2020 04:45 AM by alexmichel