Field Trip Descriptions

 

FT 1 - Flora of Desolation Wilderness: Lake Tahoe Basin

Friday - Sunday 7/28 - 7/30
Starting Time: 8:00 am
Field Trip Limit: 10 People
Lunch Included: No

Trip Leaders: Colby J. Boggs, North State Resources 500 Orient Street, Suite 150 Chico, CA 95928; Office (530) 345-4552; Fax (530) 345-4805; E-mail: boggs@nsrnet.com;
Beth Brenneman, E-mail: bbrenneman@fs.fed.us

We will lead a small group into Desolation Wilderness of the U.S. Forest Service's Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit located west of Lake Tahoe in the northern Sierra Nevada Range. On the first day participants will view a diversity of coniferous plant communities and associated herbaceous taxa while hiking along a trail leading west from Emerald Bay that includes mixed conifer, white fir, red fir, lodgepole pine, mountain hemlock, western white pine, whitebark pine and mixed subalpine conifer from an elevation of 6,800 feet near the trail head to 8,500 feet near Dick's Lake. The second day will include a presentation and inspection of the subalpine flora in the vicinity of Dick's Lake and implementation of the Forest Service's rare plant monitoring program specific to long-petaled lewisia (Lewisia longipetala), an endemic to the northern Sierra Nevada of California. We will hike out of Desolation Wilderness and return to Chico on the last day.

FT 2 - Ferns in the Feather River Canyon, and Beyond

Saturday 7/29
Starting Time: 8:00 am
Field Trip Limit: 20 People
Lunch Included: Yes

Trip Leaders: Alan Smith, University Herbarium, 1001 Valley Life Sciences Bldg. #2465, Univ. California, Berkeley, CA 94720-2465; Phone: 510-643-1000; Fax: 510-643-5390; E-mail: arsmith@berkeley.edu
Ruth Kirkpatrick, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-2465; E-mail: ruthkirk@berkeley.edu.

Join the annual Fern Foray; Professional and amateur fern enthusiasts in a full- day outing exploring the ferns of the Chico region!

We will go from Chico up the Feather River Canyon and into the northern Sierra Nevada, viewing ferns and lycophytes, with a nodding glance at flowering plants. Along the way, we hope to see Adiantum aleuticum, Aspidotis densa, Athyrium spp., Botrychium multifidum, Cheilanthes covillei, C. gracillima, Isoëtes sp., Pellaea mucronata, P. brachyptera, P. bridgesii, Pellaea hybrids, Pentagramma triangularis, Polypodium calirhiza, Polystichum munitum, P. imbricans, Selaginella hansenii, Thelypteris nevadensis, Woodwardia fimbriata, and other interesting botanical and geological diversity. Tentative stops will be in Butterfly Botanical Preserve, Plumas-Eureka State Park (both Plumas Co.), and Sand Pond-Sardine Lakes area, at the foot of Sierra Buttes (Sierra Co.).

FT 3 - Fens of the Northern Sierra

Sunday - 7/30
Starting Time: 8:00 am
Field Trip Limit: 18 People
Lunch Included: Yes

Trip Leaders: Catie and Jim Bishop, E-mail: cjbishop@cncnet.com

Fens are special peatlands fed by groundwater, with unique plants and plant communities. The trip will include one or two fens, with a short field demonstration of the major fen features and plants, and the opportunity to independently explore the fen. The setting is fir forest at about 5500 foot elevation. Travel time from Chico to the field area is about 2½ hours.

FT4 - Butterfly Valley Botanical Area

Sunday - 7/30
Starting Time: 8:00 am
Field Trip Limit: 25 People
Lunch Included: Yes

Trip Leader: Jim Belsher-Howe, District Botanist Mt. Hough RD, Plumas NF 39696 Hwy 70 Quincy, CA 95971; Phone: (530)283-7657

Butterfly Valley is about 9 road miles north of Quincy and about 2 hours from Chico. The field trip should be limited to 25-30 participants. Butterfly Valley has long been recognized as a botanical treasure. Diverse habitats in the 500-acre botanical area include fens, meadows, mixed conifer forest, and riparian areas. The area is best known for its abundance of California pitcher plants, Darlingtonia californica, and other carnivorous plants. Several other rare plants such as Oreostemma elatum and Eleocharis torticulmis can be found in the fens and meadows.

FT5 - Geo-ecology of the Feather River Canyon

Sunday - 7/30
Starting Time: 8:00 am
Field Trip Limit: 20 People
Lunch Included: Yes

Trip Leaders: Hugh Safford, UC-Davis and USDA Forest Service-Pacific Southwest Region

The Plumas National Forest encompasses one of the most biodiverse landscapes in California. In this part of the northern Sierra Nevada, the very high level of geologic diversity is a key cause of both high species richness and a high number of rare, edaphic-endemic plants. The voyage from Chico and Oroville up Highway 70 through the Feather River Canyon crosses the most varied geologic landscape in the Sierra Nevada. From the alluvium of the Central Valley, the route crosses Tertiary volcanics (passing the famous Lovejoy Basalt at Table Mountain), the northern arm of the Smartville Ophiolite, Paleozoic metavolcanics and metasediments of the Calaveras and ShoeFly Complexes, Jurassic and Cretaceous granitoid rocks of the Sierra Nevada Batholith, and a variety of ultramafic outcrops, including serpentinites and the Feather River Peridotite Belt. Each of these geologic substrates supports different plant communities, and a different suite of rare plants. We will traverse geologic history as we travel up the canyon, going back into rocks of the Paleozoic Era, more than 400 million years old. A major focus of the field trip will be the geologic history of the Sierra Nevada, as told by the outcrops encountered along the way. The other focus will be the geoecology of the landscape, and the close connection between geologic and landform diversity and patterns of plant diversity and endemic richness; the geoecology of ultramafic “serpentine” substrates and vegetation will be emphasized. The trip will culminate in the famous Serpentine Canyon of the North Fork Feather River, finishing at 6350 feet on the summit of Red Hill. This mountain of serpentine and peridotite rises 4000 feet directly above the Feather River and affords spectacular views of Mt. Lassen, Bucks Lake Wilderness, and the Feather River Canyon.

FT6 - Trip to Lassen Volcanic National Park

Sunday - 7/30
Starting Time: 7:00 am
Field Trip Limit: 15 People
Lunch Included: Yes

Trip Leaders: Mary Ann Showers, E-mail: MSHOWERS@dfg.ca.gov
David Showers, E-mail: dshowers@water.ca.gov

The geologic history of Lassen Park as well as its location between two major mountain ranges contributes to a diverse flora of over 800 species. The geologic features and plant communities form a mosaic of forest, lava flow, aquatic, and alpine habitats. The Park has rich assemblages of forest wildflowers, wet meadow plants, and Cascade alpine species. Twenty-two Sierra Nevada species occur as far north as the Lassen region, and twenty species of Cascade Range plants have their southern limits within the park. We will introduce participants to the natural history of the park and lead hikes both on-trail and cross country to out-of-the-way locations of special interest. We plan an all-day hike, which may lead to the summits of alpine peaks and/or alpine meadows.

FT7 - Outcrops, Meadows and Lakelets in Coniferous Forests

Sunday - 7/30
Starting Time: 8:00 am
Field Trip Limit: 20 People
Lunch Included: Yes

Trip Leaders: Rob Schlising, California State University, Chico; E-mail: rschlising@csuchico.edu
Christine Hantelman, Butte College
Al Kannely, Yuba College

This all-day field trip stays within Butte County, in coniferous forest ecosystems typical of the extreme southern Cascade Range/northern Sierra Nevada axis. The first stop will be at a Tuscan Formation volcanic mudflow outcrop at 1372 m (about 4500 feet) elevation (with 10,457-foot Mount Lassen visible in the distance). Much of the rich herbaceous flora will be past flower on this widespread substrate, but the typical trees and shrubs of the region will be on hand (including the "big five" conifers-Pinus ponderosa, P. lambertiana, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Abies concolor and Calocedrus decurrens). The next stop will be about 50 m higher, at a large, sloping, soggy-wet meadow, where a colony of the California pitcher plant (Darlingtonia californica) will be seen. Lunch will be at nearby Cherry Hill Campground (Plumas National forest). Dirt roads will be travelled to another meadow, still higher, and in red fir (Abies magnifica) forest, where ample time will be available for examining meadow plants in flower. Our final and highest destination, at 1860 m (about 6100 feet), has Pinus contorta and P. jeffreyi among the conifers. We should spot two non-green flowering plants-snowplant (Sarcodes sanguinea) and pinedrops (Pterospora andromedea)-on the quarter-mile hike to visit a snow-melt lakelet, which contains Nuphar, pondweeds, and mountain fairy-shrimp.

FT 8 - Mendocino Coast Pygmy Forest

Sunday - 7/30
Starting Time: 8:00 am
Field Trip Limit: 20 People
Lunch Included: Yes

Trip Leader: Teresa Sholars, Professor of Biological Sciences, Science Coordinator, Mendocino Coast Campus, College of the Redwoods, 1211 Del Mar Drive, Fort Bragg, CA 95437; Phone (707)962-2686, E-mail: Teresa-Sholars@redwoods.edu

This community is unique to the Mendocino Coast of California. Pygmy soil is highly leached, very acid, nutrient-poor and saturated (bog-like) year-round, with some iron concreted hard pan. Studies have shown that the soil moisture content is between filed capacity and saturation year round. This has led to the Army Corps of Engineers to designate the pygmy forest as "wetland." Pygmy vegetation occurs on old, relatively flat terraces with little nutrient run-off available from higher slopes because adjacent communities are always down slope from the pygmy. ECOLOGY: The forest is stunted from 1 to 3 (5) meters tall with occasional taller trees. Vigorous growth is usually lacking. The soil is covered with many species of lichens, especially Cladina portentosa ssp. pacifica, which in Mendocino County is usually restricted to this community. This cryptogamic crust is important in inhibiting erosion in this highly leached edaphically (soil) based community. Reproduction of this community is fire stimulated. The conifers have serotinous cones and the shrubs stump sprout. PLANT ADAPTATIONS: Plants in this community grow slowly because the soil is highly acidic and nutrient deficient. They exhibit a tolerance for the harsh conditions but show stress by being stunted, gnarled and lichen encrusted.

FT9 - Lichens from lowlands to the conifer forests

Sunday - 7/30
Starting Time: 8:00 am
Field Trip Limit: 25 People
Lunch Included: Yes

Trip Leader: Don Kowalski
For Information: Jim Shevock, E-mail: jim_shevock@nps.gov or jshevock@nature.berkeley.edu

On this full-day trip, sponsored by the American Bryological and Lichenological Society in conjunction with the California Lichen Society, we will travel by bus from Chico creating a counter-clockwise loop via highway 32 into the Lassen National Forest then from highway 36 descending back down to the Sacramento Valley near Red Bluff and continuing on to Chico. Several collecting stops will provide different habitats to examine a wide range of lichens. This trip will permit the collection of specimens.

FT10 - Bryophytes of the Feather River Canyon

Sunday - 7/30
Starting Time: 8:00 am
Field Trip Limit: 25 People
Lunch Included: Yes

Trip Leaders: Jim Shevock, 337 Mulford Hall MC# 3114 University of California Berkeley, CA 94720-3114; Phone: (510)643-0665; E-mail: jim_shevock@nps.gov
Colin Dillingham, Forest Service Enterprise Team, cdillingham@fs.fed.us

On this full-day trip, sponsored by the American Bryological and Lichenological Society, we will travel to and explore in the Feather River Canyon, Plumas National Forest. Collecting is permitted. The Feather River Canyon is a complex geologic and floristic region of California where the southern Cascades meet the northern Sierra Nevada. We will explore along riparian areas, mixed hardwood and coniferous forests and seek-out other micro-habitat sites. A handout with information such as GPS, geographic locational data, etc. to make detailed herbarium labels will be provided for the sites visited.

FT11 - Bunker Hill Ridge in the Lost Sierra

Sunday - 7/30
Starting Time: 8:00 am
Field Trip Limit: 25 People
Lunch Included: Yes

Trip Leader: Linnea Hanson, lhanson@fs.fed.us

Visit the Lost Sierra and walk on a section of the Pacific Crest Trail on Bunker Hill Ridge above the town of La Porte.

We plan to briefly stop in each of the major plant communities as we wind our way from Chico to the crest of the Sierra Nevada in the portion of the range that is known as the Lost Sierra. We will stop briefly in valley grassland and oak woodland outside of Oroville. Then we will visit chaparral on the way to the town of Challenge. In the Challenge area we will look at the dense mixed conifer forest. The mixed conifer forest in the Challenge area is similar to the north coast of California because of the 60-80 inches of annual rainfall. We will then travel to the historic mining town of La Porte and then onto Bunker Hill Ridge. This ridge is a windswept volcanic ridge in red fir forest at 7000 feet. The views of the surrounding Sierra crest is spectacular and worth the visit. We plan to walk along the Pacific Crest Trail and enjoy the over 100 species of plants that have been identified on this ridge.

Particulars about the trip: Wear hiking boots and bring sunscreen, hat, water and insect repellent. Camera would be great addition.

FT12 - Highlights of Thousand Lakes Wilderness with Overnight Backpacking

Thursday - Friday 8/3-8/4
Starting Time: 8:00 am
Field Trip Limit: 12 People
Lunch Included: Yes

Trip Leader: Samantha Hillaire, 2925 Burnap Ave #12, Chico, CA 95973; Phone: (530) 899-7261; E-mail: tablemountaingirl@yahoo.com

Following the theme of "Looking to the Future - Conserving the Past", this is an overnight field trip emphasizing the importance of WILDERNESS to botanical resources. With the signing of the Wilderness Act by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 3, 1964, the National Wilderness Preservation System was established to "...secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness." The United States Congress designated the Thousand Lakes Wilderness in 1964 and it now has a total of 16, 335 acres of red fir and lodgepole pine forest. Enjoy gazing at the highest point in Lassen National Forest, 8,677 foot Crater Peak, as you hike through high conifer forest amongst seven larger mountain lakes and a myriad of smaller ponds. See summer mountain wildflowers, sub-alpine, and alpine flora in a mixture of volcanic and glacially sculpted landscape. We will meet at 8:00 am at the Chico Park and Ride (the East side of the intersection of Highway 99 and 32 in Chico). At this time we will pack up and drive to the Thousand Lakes Wilderness Tamarack Trailhead (3 hrs - 150 miles). We will eat boxed lunches at the trailhead before hiking through the wilderness, past Barrett Lake, to McGee Lake to set camp (distance 5.5 miles, elevation gain of 1300 ft. from 5900-7220 ft.). Spend the afternoon looking at meadow and subalpine wildflowers, and an unusual occurrence of white moss-heather.

Optional side trip to McGee Peak to view alpine flora (3 mile roundtrip, 1000 ft. elevation gain to 8400 ft.). Spaghetti dinner, possible campfire if local fire levels permit. Make own breakfast, break camp, and start hiking out by 10 am. Optional side trip to unusual Baker's Cypress Stand (2.4 miles roundtrip, 800 ft. elevation change). Have lunch at picturesque Lake Eiler. Return to Tamarack Trailhead and drive back to Chico.

Must register for this trip by June 14th.

FT13 - Flora of the central Sierra Nevada: Past and Present

Thursday - Sunday 8/3-8/6
Starting Time: 8:30 am
Field Trip Limit: 16 People
Lunch Included: Yes

Trip Leaders: Diane M. Erwin and Howard E. Schorn, 1101 Valley Life Sciences Bldg., UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94705; Phone: (510) 642-3921; FAX: (510) 642-1822; E-mail: dmerwin@berkeley.edu
Jeffrey Myers, Dept. Earth Science, Western Oregon University, Monmouth, Oregon 97361, Phone: (503) 838-8365; E-mail: Myersj@wou.edu
Anna Thompson, Feather River College, Quincy, CA 95971, Phone: (530) 283-0202 (ext. 268); E-mail: athompson@frc.edu

This 3-1/2 day-trip will explore the Tertiary floristic and geologic history of the north-central region of the Sierra Nevada with visits to both classic and new Paleogene/Neogene paleobotanical sites. We will depart Chico, drive scenic Highway 70 N along the North Fork of the Feather River en route to the early Oligocene La Porte locality south of Quincy. Additional stops include the Mohawk Valley area (Miocene), Webber Lake (Miocene), the Soda Springs concretion site (Oligocene), and an Eocene Chalk Bluffs locality yielding leaves with well-preserved cuticle.

An added highlight will be a visit to the Butterfly Valley Botanical Area, near Quincy where participants will have the opportunity to examine the local flora, (http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/plumas/recreation/butterfly.shtml). The trip will end at the Sacramento International Airport.