Category: Landscapes

Forenoon under the Dogwoods

Posted in California, hikes, Landscapes, Nature, Nikon, Nikon D90, PhotographyTagged , , , , 1 Comment

Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac.  All Rights Reserved.

The Dogwoods are blooming in the mountains so a friend and I went on a day trip up to see and photograph them.

Our journey took us to Calaveras Big Trees California State Park. The ranger told us the North Grove was probably at peak bloom, and the South Grove was already showing signs it was past peak, so we went straight to the North Grove.

I hadn’t been to this park in many years. It’s a beautiful park with a lovely ancient Redwood forest with Giant Sequoia, and Coast Redwoods. There is a very famous tree stump here it’s as big a room. These colossal trees can reach up to 325ft tall, and have a diameter of 33ft! Some of these trees are thought to be 2,000 years old.

Growing all around these beautiful trees are Dogwoods. The forest floor is full of new Dogwoods with their slender trunks and delicate branches.

We didn’t find many low blossoms on the day we went. The blossoms were high in the canopy where the sunshine hits the trees first.

Our explorations took us up to the North Grove Overlook trail. We hiked up about a mile, and it was here we found some new blossoms which were low enough to photograph some close-ups.

There is a Christian legend about the Dogwood tree, author unknown, is as follows:

In Jesus’ time, the dogwood grew
To a stately size and a lovely hue.
‘Twas strong and firm it’s branches interwoven
For the cross of Christ its timbers were chosen.
Seeing the distress at this use of their wood
Christ made a promise which still holds good:
“Never again shall the dogwood grow
Large enough to be used so.
Slender and twisted, it shall be
With blossoms like the cross for all to see.
As blood stains the petals marked in brown
The blossom’s center wears a thorny crown.
All who see it will remember Me
Crucified on a cross from the dogwood tree.
Cherished and protected, this tree shall be
A reminder to all of my agony.


Additional Tree Facts:

The species of dogwood tree that is native to California is the Pacific or Western dogwood (C. nuttallii). It is one of the tallest of the dogwoods and one that produces the most blooms. Its natural habitat ranges from southern British Columbia in Canada to the southernmost parts of California and as far as 200 miles inland.

Features

The branches of the Western dogwood, which can grow horizontally as well and vertically, form a thick crown that can be round or cone-shaped. The tree can grow from 15 to 40 feet tall, or be trimmed to grow as a hedge. It produces white flowers that can have a touch of pink and are larger than the flowers of other dogwood species, and orange-red berries. The green leaves turn yellow/orange in the fall and then fall off.

Uses and Benefits

The California dogwood will attract birds and wildlife. It can be used as a standalone lawn plant, grown as a hedge or as part of a wind break.

Tree facts obtained from Sunset Garden Books

 

Horse Heaven Trail to Mission Peak Pole

Posted in California, hikes, Landscapes, Nikon, PhotographyTagged 1 Comment

Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac.  All Rights Reserved.

I met two fellow hikers this morning who are also training for some upcoming summer hiking and backpacking trips. Our goal this morning was to start the hike at 5:30AM, summit and be down by 8:30AM.

I fell behind rapidly, and at one point was at least a 1/2 mile behind my 2 hiking companions. They were wonderful and marked or pointed me in the right direction when I reached a fork in the trail. We hiked up a new to me trail this morning called the Horse Heaven trail which takes you up the back side of the mountain.

The trail is pretty steep in a few places, and then meanders around the ridge, and then you drop down into a valley lush with a little creek, oak trees, and native shrubs. A large part of the trail is single track and very rutted from cows, and rain, but it winds its way gently up the slope then under the Peak 100ft or so it gets steep again.

I was surprised to find myself at the Pole once I reached the summit. I was there before I expected to be. The hike itself was work, and quite strenuous in those really steep places, but not as hard as it’s been before. I do believe I’m getting stronger. Rather than another shot of me at the Pole here is the view of the Pole, and distant Downtown San Jose gleaming in the morning sun light.

I improved my Summit time by 10 minutes and overall up and down time by an hour!

(see my hike stats at the bottom of the page)

More views from the trail-

View of Mission Peak Trail winding up the mountain w/ construction trucks. Mission Peak is getting a new bathroom up at the sub Peak. It’s much better than an Out-house!

Steven and Nick climbing a really steep bit of Horse Heaven Trail

Lichen covered boulders and rocks with a view of the bay and Fremont, CA.

A view of the single track part of the trail, and ridge line with the morning sunlight shining on the hilltop.

Very near the summit a Meadow Lark was greeting the morning with song.

On the way down taking the Mission Peak Trail we saw the new bathroom’s upper half and roof being put into place.

Hike details:

Total miles hiked- 6.2

Total elevation gain- 2,197ft

Time to summit 1:50

Total Hike time: 3:06

Nikon D300s|Nikkor 18-200mm VR

Hiking Upper Yosemite Fall Trail

Posted in California, hikes, Landscapes, Nikon, PhotographyTagged 10 Comments

Copyright © Deborah Zajac. All Rights Reserved

                                                                                                                                         Dogwood blossoms gracing the Merced River

For my birthday this year the only thing I wanted was to hike up Upper Yosemite Fall Trail to the base of the Upper Yosemite Fall to see if there was a rainbow up there, and with luck I’d see some Dogwoods that I had heard were blooming in the valley.  I asked Heman if he could go with me. Lucky me, he freed up his calendar enabling us to spend the day together hiking.

We left home just after 6AM with a coffee stop in Gilroy, and a lunch stop in Mariposa. Then we drove straight into Yosemite Valley. We started our hike just before noon, and went to Lower Yosemite Falls first. I thought the trail head to the Upper falls was near there, but turned out I was wrong it’s a lot closer to the Lodge. So we hiked over to the trail head extending our hike.

The weather was gorgeous, but for hiking it was on the warm side at 75º. We were shedding layers soon after we started the ascent up Upper Yosemite Fall Trail.

Neither one of us had ever hiked this particular trail before, nor did I have any idea what to expect. I thought we’d be up and down in about 4 hours.

After hiking this trail I read it described as the “the mother of all Stairmaster workouts.” That is a very accurate description! This trail is very, very rugged. 90% of the way up it’s very rocky. For my friends who have hiked Mission Peak this hike is like the last 300ft of the trail to the Pole. That rocky and steep all the way up. There is a nice flat part of the trail at a ridge line once you make it up to the base of Upper Yosemite Fall, but it’s too short. You’re climbing and picking your way though the rocks again all too soon.

                                                                                                                                Wanting a photo of the rugged trail I stopped to take this shot as these two passed me heading down.

There were 4 streams running down the mountain and trail that we traversed. There was no way to keep your shoes from being wet. If you didn’t have waterproof shoes you had wet feet. Fear of slippery rocks kept the pace slow too.

Below the base of Upper Yosemite Fall at a look out spot aptly called “Oh, my gosh! Point” one gets a great view of all 3 falls; Upper, Middle, and Lower cascading down the mountain, and when I got there I saw a double rainbow! I lost my sunglasses to the mountain here. My Hobie’s came unhooked from my shoulder harness and went flying over the cliff face. I’ll miss those glasses, but it was the only mishap of the whole day so I won’t complain… too much. From here we hiked up to view the base of Upper Yosemite Falls. You get a little wet here. It felt nice and cool on this warm afternoon.

                                                                                                                                         Oh my gosh! Point with the double rainbow.

                                                                                                                                        This is a little higher than Oh my gosh! Point. Right at the base of the falls.

                                                                                                                                       View of Half Dome and the Yosemite Valley from Upper Yosemite Trail 5,413ft elevation

We continued to climb higher than the base of Upper Yosemite Fall for another hour. After we reached the hour more mark we took stock of our situation. To make it all the way to the top of the mountain it would have taken another hour of climbing and from here the terrain gets rougher. I was nearly out of water, and we were beginning to get hungry. I had brought along a little treat for us both, 2 mini chocolate cupcakes that I purchased at the coffee shop in the morning, but they were really mini, and were totally empty of good calories. It was after 3PM; we’d been climbing for more than 3 hours by then, and we knew the trip down would be slow since the terrain was so rough and rugged. We decided to head down.

Half Dome, Upper Yosemite Fall, and the top of the rainbow. The highest point I went.

I didn’t think I’d need my poles. Was I ever wrong… I really could have used them to help pull myself up the huge rocks, and coming down they would have helped ease the pressure on my knees. One does a lot heavy landing coming down from this trail as so many of the rocks are big so the steps down are hard in the sense that you’re landing hard on your feet.

Biggest surprise of the hike. How crowded this trail was! For a Thurs. in early May the park was very busy. This trail is Single track all the way so passing and being passed was tight. I was stunned that this trail was so popular.

I’m counting this hike as a “strengthening hike” for my training to Cloud’s Rest. I definitely worked harder than I thought I would.

The views of the valley, and falls are spectacular! It’s worth the effort. Take plenty of water, snacks, and your trekking poles.

This was a birthday I won’t soon forget.

Hiking Stats

Hike elevation at start 3,772 ft

Hike elevation at End 5,413 ft

Total elevation climbed 2,119 ft

Average Speed 2.4 mph

Total Miles hiked 6.63m

Total time: 5h40m

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 17-35mm & Nikkor 70-300mmVR| Induro C213 tripod

Copyright © Deborah Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

A Mother’s Day Hike

Posted in California, hikes, Landscapes, Nature, Nikon, PhotographyTagged 3 Comments

Stepping up my game last week I added a longer trail to my training routine. I hiked up the PG&E trail in Rancho San Antonio Open Space Reserve in Santa Clara County.

This trail is called the PG&E trail because huge power-towers run up the canyon that the trail follows.   The last time I hiked up this trail was back in the 1990’s it was mid summer and hot. I was also very out of shape. I didn’t make it up 1 mile.  I hoped My Mother’s Day hike would be the opposite of that hike. My goal was to try to make it up to Vista Point at the top of the PG&E trail; a 4 mile hike. The day was perfect for hiking. It was overcast, and cool, with a breeze.

I made it to the first ridge after some steep climbing. The view up here is nice. The clouds were above the mountains and the breeze blew out the fog. I could see Hoover Tower at Stanford University, and in the far distance I could make out San Francisco’s skyline.

There were wildflowers lining the trail. I saw Wild Radish; Parsley, Thistle was everywhere, ivy, wild berries; Poison Oak; buttercups; bindweed; Monkey flower; and under the canopy there was wild Iris! It was the first time I’ve seen it anywhere this year.

Climbing higher Blue Dicks, and Clover were abundant.  This week was the week for a variety of wildflowers along this trail.  I’ve made it a lot farther than the last time I hiked here. Here I can see Vista Point. There’s no stopping me now the goal is in sight. There are the power-towers that the trail is named for. The last one is my goal.

I made it! 4 miles to this point in 2 hours. Here’s the view looking down the canyon, and out to the valley below. I was feeling really good.

Rather than turn around and head down the way I’d come up I followed the ridge on Upper Meadow trail where I saw more wildflowers then I turned down Upper Wildcat Canyon Trail then caught the Farm Bypass Trail then Canyon trail where I saw these sweet Globe Lilies.

…and a little further down I was following Permanente Creek, and had to stop to photograph this little spill over fall.

Finally I connected to the PG&E trail again and headed down to the parking lot. My legs were tired, but I felt great. Baby Girl treated me to lunch for Mother’s Day after this hike.  It’s not often I can say the day was perfect, but this Mother’s Day was.

Total hike 9.3 miles

Total elevation gain 1800 ft.

Total time 4 hours

Nikon D300s, Nikkor 17-35mm lens, Induro C213 tripod

All photographs are Copyright © Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved

A morning hike in Uvas Canyon

Posted in California, Flowers, hikes, Landscapes, Nature, Nikon, PhotographyTagged , , 2 Comments

Myself and the Cheeky Monkey hiked in Uvas Canyon County Park this morning. To stretch out my legs, and continue training for a hike up to Cloud’s Rest in Yosemite this summer.

We picked the Alec Canyon Trail with a side trip up to Triple Falls.  The trail is steep in places, and there were a few fallen trees blocking the trail as we climbed higher. We had to crouch so low to get under one tree our backpacks got caught. I’ll feel that tomorrow in my quads I’m sure!

We saw a Common Star Lily about a mile up the trail. I don’t think it’s very common. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen this wildflower!

Other wildflowers we spotted along the trail were; Wild lilac, Monkey Flower, Thistle, I think I spotted some Trillium, Miner’s lettuce, and Leafystem Coreopsis that a Variable Checkerspot was warming up on. I used my Canon 500 D close up filter to try and get a good shot of him. I really do need to spend some more time playing with this. It’s neat, but does require some practice. The Depth of Field is very shallow as you can see on the butterfly, but I did manage a good close up the Leafystem Coreopsis.

Up at Triple Falls I worked a couple of areas, and nearly ended up in the creek when I slid down the embankment while on my way down to the photograph closer to the creek. The soil was loser than I thought it was.Thankfully it was a soft landing.

There wasn’t much color down where I was so I pulled myself back up the embankment after taking several shots of a little fall and pool. I moved over to photograph Triple Falls. It doesn’t look that big at first, but then you get to the observation fence and Whoa! It’s pretty high. It must fall 35 feet at least, but I liked the base the best today and the way it cascaded down a huge boulder.

After we left Triple Falls we headed back up to the end of Alec Canyon Trail. There were groves of Redwood trees, and the sound of the water cascading down the mountain, and chirping bird were lovely.  I tried to mimic one bird. I can do a Finch fairly well. We hiked up past the end of the trail deep into the canopy and found ourselves right on the creek, and to our delight there were lots of beautiful moss covered rocks and little spill overs to photograph. We worked this area for quite a while. I chose to use my B+W 3 stop Neutral Density filter today because it wasn’t too bright under the canopy, and I knew with that light it would be enough to slow down the shutter speed to get the look I was going for.

It was the first time I’d been to these sections of the park. I am looking forward to returning to them again in the future.

The hike details:

Total miles 3.54

Elevation gain: 900 ft

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 17-35mm & Nikkor 80-200mm| Canon 500D close up filter| B+W 3 Stop ND filter| Handheld and Tripod

All Photos are Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac.  All Rights Reserved.

Hiking- Training for Cloud’s Rest

Posted in California, hikes, Landscapes, Nikon, WildlifeTagged , 1 Comment

It was a tough hike up the Peak Trail this morning. I fought leg fatigue the whole way, and was nauseous 3/4 of the way up. I set goals to reach along the way so I would make it a little farther after each rest. I told myself make it to the pond, then the open field, then just to the spot with the view of the red barn, and when I made it to the “Sub Peak” at the top where the bathrooms, and picnic tables are I stopped climbing. The last 300 feet of a killer steep grade to reach the Pole I left for another day.

The leg fatigue has me rethinking my training strategy. I’m going to climb shorter steep mountains/hills working up to doing reps of those. I believe by doing reps I’ll build my endurance and stamina. Hopefully I won’t suffer from the leg fatigue I’m feeling today. My legs still feel weak, and tired hours after finishing the hike.

When I stopped to rest my legs and settle my  queasy stomach I did take some photos. This view is near the top. The View is Northwest. We had overcast skies with afternoon showers in the forecast. I did get sprinkled on while waiting for my hiking companions.
I saw a variety of wildflowers today. Lupine, California Poppies, buttercups, Phlox, a few Blue Dicks, Chamomile; Fiddlenecks; Miner’s lettuce, Spring Vetch, Clover, and some Foxtail Barley grass. A great hike for wildflower viewing and photographing!

Just about 100 ft to the “Sub Peak”, and picnic tables there were a lot of cows here grazing today. That’s the Peak on the right.

While waiting for my friends to come down from the peak I did have plenty to keep me amused. The ground squirrels were very industrious digging new holes. They’re so cute!

…and a cow walked up the hillside to taste the grass near these rocks covered in beautiful orange Lichen.

I’m already planning my first training hike. If it doesn’t rain on Saturday I’ll be hiking and beginning the new plan. Cloud’s Rest or Bust!

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 18-200mmVR| Induro CF Tripod| B+W Circular Polarizer w/81A warming

All photographs are Copyright © Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.