Back on August 19th, we took a fog-shrouded hike up the Dipsea Trail and down the Ben Johnson trail on the west side of Muir Woods National Monument. But today the sun was shining and the temperatures in Mill Valley probably reached 80. For us, however, the hike was almost continuously in the shade as we marched downhill from the Mountain Home parking lot until we reached Redwood Creek in Muir Woods. Unlike our usual Tuesday treks, we encountered a number of other hikers --- both "locals" and tourists --- coming up the trail from Muir Woods.
When we reached Redwood Creek at the bottom of the hill, we took a break, sat down, and had a history lesson from Wendy.
Then we headed up the asphalt paved path (laid down to prevent the roots of the Redwood trees from being compacted) with the rest of the tourists, stopped to look at the "flocks" of Ladybugs which gather in the park each fall, continued up the boardwalk next to the creek (which has replaced part of the paved trail), then bid adieu to the tourists as we took the uphill route to Camp Alice Eastwood (originally built by the CCC).
After lunch at the camp, Wendy reviewed Ms. Eastwood's career as a botanist. We took advantage of any unusual mid-hike "convenience" --- real flush toilets and sinks with running water in the mini-bathrooms at the camp --- before winding our way up the paved road from the camp to Panoramic Highway and back to the Mountain Home parking lot following the route of the old gravity car railroad that used to carry hikers and tourists down the mountain.
Here's Wendy's list of what we saw on the hike:
TREES
California torreya (sharp spine tipped needles, Miwoks used to prick in tatoos)
Bay (AKA bay laurel, called myrtle or pepperwood in Oregon, nuts getting purple now)
Hazel (soft leaves, has male catkins this time of year)
Toyon (AKA Christmas berry, berries get red by November)
Big Leaf Maples (“helicopter” seeds called samaras, leaves turn yellow in fall, sap used by Native Americans)
Alder (grows by creeks)
PLANTS WITHOUT FLOWERS (OR NONE AT PRESENT)
Elk clover (AKA auralia, not really a clover, black berries this time of year, grows by creeks)
Redwood sorrel (three heart-shaped leaves, pinkish flowers)
honeysuckle (vines with opposite leaves, red berries this time of year)
INSECTS
California ringlets, Mylitta crescent seen by a few.
CONVERGENT LADYBUGS
LADYBUG LORE
Ladybug names in different countries:
China - Flower Lady
Iraq - Water Delivery Man's Daughter
India - Indra's Cowherd
Africa - Crop Picker
Iran - Good News
Switzerland - Lord God's Little Fatty
LADYBUG FACTS
There are more than 4000 species worldwide, and 475 in the US, 125 in California. Only 4 of the 50 non-native speices introduced in the 1890s have naturalized.
The larvae eat 300 aphids a day! Adults eat about 100 aphids a day.
Females lay up to 1000 eggs over the summer.
They flap their wings 100 times/second.
They can fly up to 50 miles a day during migration.
Some scientists think the black spots help them to keep warm.
ARACHNIDS
LABYRINTH SPIDERS (sometimes called condominium spider, orb web and tangle, genus Metapeira, retreat in web made up of prey parts is where the spiders hide and also lay eggs.)
TRAPDOOR SPIDER
FERNS
wood ferns, bracken (turning brown now), chain fern (AKA woodwardia) in Muir Woods, lady fern by creek.
(
Click here if you want to view and print a copy of this list. If you have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer you can print the document. Once you see the document on the "Scribd" Web site, click on the "Download" icon and then on the "PDF" icon to open the document on your computer).
Photos from the hike taken by Dick and Theresa Fisher can be viewed on the blog or
by clicking here to access to on-line album of photos from this hike.
