Perfect Winter Hike - Looking for Color

Just another day of perfect December hiking and taking in the challenge to find some color. Our winter nature study is shaping up to look more like fall....warm temperatures and dry, dry, dry. We looked at each other after lunch today and everyone was in agreement. We needed to be outside.

I quickly filled the backpack with water, snacks, and camera then we were out the door. The parking lot at the trailhead was about half full of vehicles and most of those were trucks with horse trailers, a few with bike racks. We opted to hike since the Kona dog wanted to take a swim at the river. It was that warm.


The trail starts off on a downward slope and if you look in the distance you can see our landmark "lollipop" tree (farthest hill with a single tree). We aim for that tree and know that the river is somewhere over there. It is an easy hike with several trail options. We took the Long Valley Trail down to the river and the South Fork Trail back up.


Along one section of the trail we observed lots and lots of goldfinches having a seed feast. Amazing yellow color in real life...our first real color of the hike. We also stopped to observe another little bird who sat on the cattails in the ditch. It was a new bird and we took the time to really look with the binoculars, noting shape, size, color, eye-stripe, beak shape, tail shape, and song. (We identified back at home as a Bewick's Wren=new to our life list!)


The river was running high and we had the place to ourselves, except for some barn swallows swooping overhead and a couple of fellow travelers on horses. This is a gorgeous section of the river all lined with oaks in the winter sunshine.


Kona took a swim right off the bat and I decided to rest on the rock overlooking the river. She splashed and retrieved sticks for the next half hour. One man in a canoe and one woman in a kayak went past. I was happy to be dry up on my rock but I waved a friendly wave as they floated past.

I soaked in the sun, watching the water rush by, and contemplated the beauty.

I was grateful. My heart felt refreshed or maybe just cleansed of the everyday.


The view from my rock spot was enjoyable and it is easy to get lost in your thoughts as the water rushes by you. So much power and so much potential...wondering where the water will end up at the end of its river journey. I even thought for a few minutes about the rocks just under the surface of the water, the rocks the kayaker succeeded in navigating around on her trip down the river. We all need to know where the rocks are.



Here is my favorite image of the day showing the winter color of my world. The shore of the river is always changing but these multi-colored rocks keep the river from eroding the banks away except in the highest storm waters. What are your favorite colors found in the rocks? The green? The pinkish orange? The speckled? The white? I put one in my pocket and now it is sitting on my shelf as a reminder of my winter color walk afternoon to the river.



We had to drag Kona away from her beloved stick fetching and started back up the hill towards home. Along the way we watched two birds in flight over the rolling hills...stopping to hover over some prey. We used the binoculars but were unable to really identify this second new bird of the day. We noted behavior, wing shape, size, color. At home we identified this new bird as the White Tailed Kite.  How exciting is that?

It was a very good day.



My December nature journal entry in progress...notes and things I want to remember about this month....to be continued as the month rolls along.

"Never Saw a Discontented Tree"

"I never saw a discontented tree.They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do They go wandering forth in all directions with every wind, going and coming like ourselves, traveling with us around the sun two million miles a day, and through space heaven knows how fast and far!" ~John Muir

Trees in winter are amazing. As much as I like the leafy greenness of spring and the blazing colors of autumn, a winter tree with its bare branches showing is so appealing to look at...almost like a sculpture.



Our local area has been plagued with fog for the last week and it makes me so grateful that we live just high enough in elevation to be above the fog line. Sunday afternoon we decided to venture the trail to the river and as we started out we could see the fog sitting low in the distance. It is about a mile and a half walk from the parking lot to the river along this winding ranch road and where the fog is lies the river.


Along the trail are lots of trees and rocks. My son and I both really liked the way these particular rocks were stacked and painted with lichens and moss. The oak tree on the left seems to be holding them all up but in fact, I think the rocks are sheltering the oak.


The rest of the hike was refreshing because it is a gentle downhill slope to the river. The sun was bright and as we approached the river we could hear it roaring! I scrambled up onto the rocks for a closer look at how wide and deep the water is this time of the year.

That is pure snow melt....freezing cold and crystal clear.



The fog had lifted and now the skies over the river were blue and cheerful. We sat for a long time and watched the water flow by. As long as you were in the sunshine it was warm.


Not all of us hiked on this day. Mr. A brought his mountain bike and he took the high trail up on the ridge...somewhere up on the top of that hill. He was a muddy mess when we got back up to the car but he had enjoyed the time alone on the bike.

I'm sure we will travel this trail a few more times this spring and with each trek we will see the progression of grasses and wildflowers. For now we were content with the trees, the sky, and the refreshing goodness of a good hike down a familiar trail.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Hiking On A Winter Day - California Style

We had the opportunity to hike down at the river, sunny skies and warmer temperatures were just too good to pass up. The Kona dog went swimming and brought us a bunch of sticks to throw for her to fetch. She was one happy dog!


This sign is for rafters, not hikers. There are stretches of the river that flow through "private" areas and you are not supposed to be loud and rowdy there but then when you hit public lands you can have water fights and swim and holler as much as you want. There were no rafters on the river this time but in the summer there is raft after raft of water lovers floating down this section of the river.


Hiking still means climbing on things for my teenage boys. This time it was an old oak tree lying on its side. It is a sad sight to see one of these old oaks giving in to the elements. I know it is home to creatures and soon it will melt into the floor of the woods but it still makes me sad.


Down at the river the boys made Andy Goldworthy style rock piles again but in the end my rock sculpture was the best.....


What do you think? At least it didn't fall over before I could take a photo....just friendly family competition/fun. It is not as easy at it looks to stack rocks, big and small, into something that looks nice.


Hiking back up from the river I spotted this little mushroom growing in the moss on the side of a tree.


Here is another one that we thought was interesting. My boys call me the Fungus Lady for a reason. :)

Seriously, our part of the world is not a winter wonderland but it can get cold. I decided that it is pleasantly warm enough afternoons that it makes our cold winter mornings bearable. I have never lived anywhere else and I just don't know how I would cope with really long, snowy winters. We have days at a time where it is cold and we get a few inches of snow but it melts and the sun comes out and we see green. Our green season is really from about this time of the year until the end of May.....they our state turns "golden".  I like "golden".

Shhhh...don't tell anyone. Barb is admitting that she doesn't care for winter as much as summer.

154 days until the first day of summer but I'm not counting.

I am going to have to postpone our winter snow study until we actually get some snow. We are working on our winter tree study though so stay tuned for that this week. We also took another fabulous hike to a different part of the river today...I know....we are spoiled but loving it.



Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Winter Hike to the River

Before all our rain and snow, we had the opportunity to visit one of our favorite spots on the river.


We chose the Long Valley Trail this time which is a little less than two miles down to the river. It is a long sloping walk so it is very enjoyable even on a chilly, hazy day.


The first thing we noticed was that their were many brown cattails along the trail where there is a little creek running. Of course we had to stop and take a look.


You see right where the water runs because the cattails are growing along the edges of the creek.


About half-way to the river, there is an old homestead with some lovely old oaks. The tree swallows were swarming in the tops of the trees and we enjoyed stopping to watch them and listen for a few minutes. I love the silhouettes of the winter oaks.


The greens and reds on this rock caught my attention and I loved the composition of the various mosses, lichens, and plants growing together on the rock. Very pretty.


Once we reached the river, the kids and our dog were all off and running. Some climbed rocks, some skipped rocks on the water, the dog went swimming for sticks and I spent some time enjoying the reflections and ripples in this little eddy off the main part of the river.


How do these trees grow so large out of the middle of a huge rock? Perseverance.


Eventually we all sat at the river's edge and watched the water flow by on its way down the mountain. This is the American River where gold was discovered in 1848. We all joke about someday finding a gold nugget along the edge but for now we are content to marvel at all the different types of rock found all together in one spot.


One last photo to share of our day. Winter weeds can be quite lovely if you really take a look at them. I found these growing on the edge of the water and with the nice backdrop, it makes for a nice photo.

Well, there are a few of our experiences from last weekend. What started out as a chilly, dreary day turned out to be quite refreshing. We headed home hungry so I was glad I had planned a big spaghetti dinner.

If you are looking for some winter nature study ideas, you may want to check out the entry I wrote last year giving some simple ideas for winter nature study...most indoors.

Winter Nature Study-Taking it Inside

Have a great nature study weekend.
Barb-Harmony Art Mom

To The River We Go On A Hot Day!

We took a hike to the river today because it was *hot*!

Twenty minute drive, 1.2 mile hike and then we were at the river.

Since I am tired tonight, you will get a photo essay instead of a lot of words. :)


Mr. A brought his bike and decided to take the scenic route....up the hill, across the ridge, and then down to the river.


We took the old ranch road which is much more direct.....no trees but a shorter distance.


You can't beat this landscape of flowers and green grasses.


We made it to the river and there were lots and lots of river rafters coming by the whole time we were there. Many of them were wearing wetsuits since the water is still ice cold. We sat, watched, and waved as they paraded by in their rubber boats. Some of us took off our shoes and dipped our toes in to cool off. The sun was hot, the water was cold, and we had a glorious time sitting on the rocks.


There were a few kayakers as well.


Even Kona enjoyed watching the boats. One boat had a dog with a lifejacket on and Kona thought maybe she would like to go down the whitewater in a raft. We have a raft but we have not taken it out in some time. Hmmmm.....


Wildflowers were still to be found along the banks of the river. I think these are some kind of aster.



As the afternoon progressed and we made our way back up the hill to the trailhead, we again saw the thunderclouds building up over the Sierra.

There was some complaining about the heat on the way back up to the car...Okay, so it was me whining about the heat. :) It was not only hot but it was humid as well which makes it even worse and that combination always makes me cranky. We had ice cold drinks waiting in the car so that helped my mood just thinking about it as I hiked those 1.2 miles back up the hill.

Hope you had some outdoor time this weekend. We enjoyed every minute of ours.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Gold Country: Some Random Things to Share

Our part of the world is best known for being the place that gold was discovered in California back in 1848. We live very close to the South Fork of the American River and in fact, we spend much of our outdoor time in or around the water of this river. My parents live even closer to the actual gold discovery spot and have remains of an old town where the Chinese workers came to work in the mines and along the river.

The river was used for hydraulic mining which destroyed much of the habitat and you can still see remains of ditches dug for diverting water and piles of river rock where the soil was washed away looking for gold. The scars remain even today.

So much history left behind for us to explore and experience today.


This is an abandoned mine that we discovered on our regular hiking trail. This was taken a month or so ago and we were just there yesterday and it looks very different. The water level has dropped inside the mine and you can step inside a little to check it out. The water is not raining down inside as heavily either. The plants around the opening are getting green and somewhat covering up the entrance.


We took a hike to a different part of the river two weeks ago and it had lots of rocks that looked like this with the quartz encased in the other rocks.


This short video gives you an idea of what the rock and the river is like where we are. In the beginning of the video you will hear my husband's narrative....please know he was trying to be silly. Don't miss me almost falling into the river at one point... the rocks are hard to walk on especially when you are taking a video.


We had packed along our gold pans and the boys tried their hand at finding some gold. No luck this day.


The water was really cold and they decided there is a definite skill to panning. We wondered about the gold miners back in the 1800's and how they must have remained motivated by either their success or the success of others around them. It is back breaking work.


On another hike, we saw this guy alongside the river on the North Fork getting ready to start using his sluice box for gold mining. Here is an easy explanation of how a sluice box works. My husband has used one before and he says it just is an easier way to sift through the gravel looking for flakes of gold. He took a geology class where they actually did gold dredging in this river and he was surprised that there still is quite a bit of gold if you take the time to look for it.


I bet you don't see this very often. We have one place that we like to hike to along the river because it has a perfect spot for skipping rocks when the water is low. We went there the other day and for the first time we saw these signs posted everywhere. I have to do some research because as far as I know, this place is on Bureau of Land Management land which seems like an unlikely place for someone to post a mining claim. Anyone know how that works?
Edit: Here is a link to answer my questions: BLM FAQ

Well, I hope you enjoyed my little glimpse into the gold country around our house. It is something that interests my boys so we might just need to tackle a geology course and use mining as the basis for our study. We already have a ton of rocks that we have collected over the years to study and identify. I should look at it as a project.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom