Monday, May 11, 2009

Spring comes a-creeping in

Camp Connell, CA -- It may be bad luck to say this, but I think we are done with snow for the year.
The dogwood are beginning to bud, and blooms are appearing even a few hundred feet down the mountain.
The birds are squabbling, which probably means they are in love, and four daffodils have actually bloomed with brilliant yellow.
The forecast for the next few days is sunny with highs in the upper 60s. Perfect weather for almost anything.
So here are a few pictures from our most recent hike in Calaveras Big Trees State Park, almost next door to our mountain home, along the Bradley Grove trail which follows Beaver Creek.
It's early yet at this elevation, but the mosses and mushrooms are obviously ready!

The first picture is of moss and mushrooms, refreshed by rain, on a stump:


The second picture is of a young Sequoia tree the squirrels scratched bark from to build their winter nests.



The third pictures is a wildly green plant, name unknown to me, but it is real pretty:


The last picture is of Pat, park docent and bat expert, checking out the roaring Stanislaus River. From the picture you'd think our drought was over, but the snowpack was low and it looks like the third year in a row for water supply problems in the valleys and cities below us.



We've already moved the deck chairs outside.

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