Big Sur & Big Creek Reserve

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3 May 2017, by Sophia Wilmore

We woke up early, hot in our tents, and ended the day by the fire, covered in mosquito bites, and with a fresh set of naturalist eyes. After our second day's breakfast of oatmeal and cereal, we circled together and were instructed by Chris to walk up the Del Venturi road. The top of the small hill very near our campsite at first seemed like an unimportant place to stop but soon we were shown the beauty and diversity of the oak trees. We stared at them, touched them, listened to them, connected with them, and tried to learn what made each tree unique before circling together again and sharing our observations. When we learned their names, we journeyed on slowly, like we do, until arriving at the cave. This cave was like others we had seen yet unlike anything in the world. It was a piece of remembrance and a symbol of deep roots unparalleled. We had some time in the cave to do presentations, cool off, and wait for a man who we were told knew a whole lot about grasses to join us and lead us forward. Larry sat us down in a meadow of tall grass and told us about what he knows best. When the time came, we followed the obscure meadow path down to the river to take a cooling dip.

Today we went a lot further than we had gone in a while and drove down the end of Del Ventury road at a place called Memorial Campsite. This area was across a stream and maybe 4 miles away from camp. On the drive over one van got especially worked up arguing about whether they saw a California or Mountain quail. Everyone saw the plume on the bird's head a little differently. Once we arrived we had some time to explore the area on our own trying to learn new plant families. Because we were on our own many people saw different things. I ended up sitting in one place for a long time and I made a lot of new discoveries. One in particular was that not everything that smells good is in the Lamiaceae family. I learned that Yerba Santa, a tall strong smelling shrub, is actually in the Boraginaceae family! It was obvious once I actually took the time to see the plants characteristics, but I had always just assumed. Ryan, Ellie, and I stayed back keying a purple little flower that was in the nightshade family. It’s flower was unlike any other I had ever seen. They were five fused petals that made a perfectly flat disk shape. I could see how its leaves and fruits were reminiscent of a tomato. We also heard a lot of birds. Right above us was a couple of Ash-Throated Flycatchers that were watching us, and refused to leave. We suspected that we were near their nest. In the distance we could see Yellow-Billed Magpies and Stellar Jays.  As we were keying we were abruptly interrupted by Camille who simply shouted “rattlesnake!” We rushed over and saw it slither in tall grasses off of the trail. The snake had simply been on the trail when Camille saw it. As we talked about the snake we heard a beautiful call that we had been hearing sometime before-- this time it was especially close to us. We heard the song in an oak tree above us and saw that it was coming from a small brown bird with its tail raised up high. As we watched it sing its beautiful song we could see its entire body shake. We identified it as being a Bewicks Wren. Shortly after our time to explore was over. Together we walked down the road to picnic tables where we had lunch and heard some great presentations. Tara talked about the condor and made a costume to show the size of a condor's wingspan. After that Suraya told us about fire’s history with the plants in the area. Then Ken talked about his favorite thing in the world-- Bryophytes. These are non-vascular land plants that we hadn’t really explored before this. We spent some time transprint into the 1mm forests all around us on rocks, dirt, and bark. Afterwards we visited a swimming hole where we saw a very rare Santa Lucia Fir Tree. Chris explained to us that they are not fire tolerant plants and so they have been pushed to habitats like this one near the water. After a great time swimming we headed back home with so many new lessons learned.  

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5 May 2017, by Savita Joshi

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  Today we said goodbye to our lupine-filled, mosquito-infested camp at the Indians (as you can see we had mixed feelings about leaving). We were sad to say goodbye, but we were all excited to see the ocean and explore Big Sur. Because of the conditions of Highway 1, we had to wait for a caravan letting local traffic through in order to get to Big Creek. In order to make sure we didn’t miss this window we left early, and by the time we were in the caravan we had some time to kill before we could drive to Big Creek. But we did not simply sit in the vans and wait, what fun would that be anyway? Camille and Jack broke out their fiddles and started playing music, and the rest of us joined in dancing, twirling each other around, and laughing a lot. To the other people waiting to get through the pass we must have looked like a bunch of freaks (especially since we were decked out in our funky friday best). But that's just what happens when you put a bunch of naturalists in traffic. Once we got through and made our way to Big Creek we spent some time on Whale Point. Reserve Steward Sean McStay talked to us about the reserve and then our own Sean did a presentation on marine sanctuaries. We then hiked down to redwood camp, unloaded all of our gear and food, and set up camp. The rest of the night was filled with cooking, keying plants, and sitting around the campfire. We went to sleep that night with the rushing sound of Devil’s Creek in our ears. 

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6 May 2017, by Taylor Ramos

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  Twas our first morning at Big Creek Reserve. We woke up to a cool morning in a shaded gorge that cradles Devils Creek. Our camp site was appropriately named Redwood Camp. A light breeze whispered through the trees, harmonizing with the sound of the rushing creek. Clouds wisped rapidly across the vivid blue sky, meeting mountain peaks more than a thousand feet above. We ate a breakfast of grains, bananas, and coffee. Mark Readdie, the reserve director, met us after our morning meal and spoke about the winter rains and how they have changed the meanderings of Big Creek by way of moving rock and stone. Even the fallen trees have been lifted to new homes by shear hydrologic force. He continued to tell us that the dampness of winter has brought life and a cover of green across the land but it has also revitalized sudden oak death, which is why we have seen stands of brown tan oak trees, especially on north facing slopes.

         For our morning session we broke up into groups to focus on learning plant families. We were introduced to the umbel inflorescence of the carrot family, the serrated leaf margins of the rose family, the colorful sepals of the iris family, the showy flowers of the lily family, and the nectar spurs of the buttercup family. The Crimson Columbine was a particularly memorable flower in the buttercup family. It has petals that are modified into nectar spurs and prominent red sepals giving it an attractive and otherworldly geometric appearance. We made our way down the road which parallels Devil’s Creek. Eventually we ate lunch near the gatehouse area. After a quick lunch we made our way into the gatehouse and listened to two presentations by Diana and Julianna on southern sea otters and sea star wasting disease. After the presentations we hiked halfway up eagle trail where we observed the diverse coastal sage scrub community. The smell of sage wafted into our noses as we passed by California sagebrush. We also saw the wooly and deeply lobed leaves of seaside woolly sunflower and the succulent leaves of coast Dudleya.

  We made our way back to the entrance and walked across Highway 1 where we watched Pelagic cormorants dive into the ocean looking for lunch. We made our way across a bridge that was part of Highway 1 and that passed over the mouth of Big Creek. The highway was empty and quiet due to recent road closures and mudslides. Once we crossed the bridge we looked down to the ocean. All of the sudden everyone’s binoculars were fixed to their eyes. We were giddy with excitement because someone had spotted a mother sea otter with her pup. The pup was resting on its mother’s chest as she floated on her back. The mother eventually entangled herself and her young one in some nearby kelp. After the otter excitement, we all gathered up and did a troll dance, in which we all summoned our inner troll. We made our way back to Redwood Camp on the same main road that parallels Devils Creek. Some of us continued looking at plants while others listened and watched for birds. The beautiful cascading song of the elusive Pacific Wren could be heard along the creek as we slowly walked. Before dinner many of us keyed plants we had found on our walk back. Others worked on journaling about the day’s happenings, or played music.

  After dinner a fire was made

  Our tummies full

  Eyes lost in flame display

  As dusk fell upon redwood camp,

  The chatter slowly came to a calm

  The dark looming shape of redwood trees enveloped the sky

  Day turning to night

  Our eyes heavy in the midst of firelight 

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7 May 2017, by Daniel Simoni

  Today was a great day, full of spectacular birds, fascinating plants, incredible vistas, and contemplative reflection.  After a luxurious breakfast of eggs, tofu, hash browns, and cantaloupe, we began our trek, ready for the rugged terrain and steep slopes we would climb on our way to Gamboa Point.  We headed out just before 9:00, heading up the Whale Point trail.  We climbed up and out of the canyon, emerging in a scrubland as we reached Whale Point.  From Whale Point, we headed down the road towards Fountain Creek, and Vicente Creek trail.  While walking down the road, we were interrupted by exclamations of excitement as we spotted gray whales swimming off the coast.  We passed through many habitat types, including scrubland, riparian corridors, and grassland on our way to Vicente Creek trail.  We saw many birds, including the spotted towhee, Wilson’s warbler, California thrasher, white-throated swift, and wrentit.  

  We turned up Vicente Creek trail, and our ascent became steeper, and the switchbacks tighter.  After a strenuous climb, we reached the intersection with Gamboa Point trail, where we stopped and had lunch, overlooking the ocean and hills before us.  A condor greeted us, flying directly in front of, and then above us, eliciting shouts of glee.  It slowly meandered into the distance, giving us a great look, before disappearing over a ridge in the distance.  Some also saw a savannah sparrow, singing as it clung to a branch of coyote brush as the gusting wind rocked it back and forth.  After a beautiful lunch, we continued our climb, heading up Gamboa Point trail.  After a period of walking, we rested under a large sycamore tree.  We pondered what it was doing high up in the grassland, rather than in a riparian habitat.  After about 20 minutes, we continued up the trail, climbing into the fog, until we reached Gamboa Point.

  Although the view was limited, Gamboa Point was spectacular.  The wind blew wisps of fog past us.  The fog rolled over the land, enshrouding the forest and peaks above us.  We could just make out the coast, waves crashing ashore, and Highway 1 winding before us, quiet and empty.  We were joined by Chris and several students that drove up to meet us.  As we settled in, conversation died down, as we became absorbed in reflection, contemplation, and journaling.  Several of us saw a raptor, and a heated and lively discussion followed about whether it was a golden eagle or red-tailed hawk.  Jack pointed out the dream-like quality of Gamboa Point, which only seemed to be enhanced by the fog and empty highway.  

  After a while of journaling, reflecting, and enjoying the amazing place we were in, we headed to Highlands Camp, where we watched Maddie’s presentation about endemic trees.  From there, we took Highlands Ridge trail back to Whale Point.  On the way back, many of us watched two condors circling each other, almost directly overhead.  Mark, the reserve director, told us this was a breeding pair that lives on the reserve.  Once we reached Whale Point, we headed back to camp via Eagle trail to the gatehouse, and then the road.  After a delicious curry dinner, we gathered around the campfire, where we shared poems, stories, thoughts, and favorite moments from the day.  After sharing many wonderful poems and stories, we headed to bed, weary from the day’s hike, and eager for the day to come.

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8 May 2017, by Jess Fan Brown

 We started the day with a geology lecture; Jack taught us about the late Mesozoic subduction and other factors that created the Santa Lucias and Sierra Nevadas, while those very mountain ranges moved beneath us. Then we split into four groups and went on plant-family hikes where we refined our abilities to recognize a plant by its family characteristics - Eric led ours, and taught us how to recognize the whorls of a Rubiaceae, showed us the spores under a coffee fern's leaves, and pointed out the stark plant differences on the slopes of the reserve. All the while we hiked up the Boronda Trail out of camp, gradually rising  past the redwood treetops and into drier, golden chaparral before sloping back down into the cool, shaded redwood community.It was a long day, and everyone shared their Nature Notes around the fire and journaled like mad. Then we tucked ourselves into our sleeping bags, totally spent, and fell asleep to the rushing of Devil's Canyon.

 Then we broke for lunch before crossing the rushing river and climbing up a steep, short waterfall into the warm springs. The warm Springs were a bubbling, otherworldly bowl of blue-purple algae, surrounded by redwoods and ferns. We looked at the pink scum on the leaves, the tiny brassy beetles that lived at the bottom, and the white algae growing in the hot waterfall. Then we hiked homeward, stopping to watch brown creeper birds climb redwood sides and to wonder about the complex, fascinating aspect mosaic of the landscape here.

 It was a long day, and everyone shared their Nature Notes around the fire and journaled like mad. Then we tucked ourselves into our sleeping bags, totally spent, and fell asleep to the rushing of Devil's Canyon.

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9 May 2017, by Zoë Latzer

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  Waking up under the canopy of redwoods to the white noise of the rushing water of Devil’s Creek, kept most of us in a sleepy magical realm. Many of us take quick (very quick) cold plunges or hair dips to feel awake and clean. In the morning it’s quite cold and overcast under the redwoods so we bundle up as we wake to eat breakfast and pack for the day ahead. Eric, an editor and past instructor of field quarter, gave us a lecture on the complex and interdependent relationships of environmental factors. Eric is an amazing resource we have of field quarter. He’s incredibly smart and knowledgeable about plants. We even weigh the level of rarity in our plant findings if Eric has heard of it or not. After the presentation we head off for a long day of naturalizing and hiking. We leave redwood camp and head to the confluence of Big Creek and Devil’s Creek. Devil’s Creek is actually longer and larger than Big Creek, which we were all surprised by due to the naming. We arrive before 12am to take a quick elevensies and journal about our observations or thoughts. We soon leave to go up the interpretive trail. We hear wrentits on the way up the interpretive trail. We stop at the outlook for another snack break and journaling. Having separate hiking and journaling breaks works the best for us naturalists so we can hike more than ten feet before stopping! The lookout point shows us the pathway of Big Creek to the ocean. It’s beautiful to see my peers staring off into the distance in awe over and over again. Maddie told me that in mountain time ken wrote this canyon embodies his idea of “Mountain Space-Time.” I see that in the eyes of of the people around me. It feels like we could look out on Big Sur forever and still be ineffably enthralled. It’s almost like if we just sat still enough or maybe just looked hard enough, we could watch the creek dig deeper into the valley carving new paths as the redwoods reach towards the sky circling with their sisters. Alas, we must move higher! Many choose to stay or go back for a different adventure as they are sick or hurt. We hike higher passing through the redwoods, the oak woodlands, the chaparral, and then the grasslands as we transition from the interpretive trail, the Lower Dolan trail, and then to the Dairy Canyon trail. As we get to the largest lookout over Big Blue the sun comes out to play for a bit. The fog moves in quickly though like a mother covering her child with a blanket as they fall asleep on their lap. After spending time at the lookout journaling and keying, we head down back to camp. We say riddles all the way and laugh in joy as we transition back through the shift in habitats. We make it back to camp at around 1700. On our way down we saw an American Robin and two Pacific Wrens. We ate dinner and started studying for our quiz tomorrow on the plant families. 

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10 May 2017, by Zoë Latzer

We took our plant family quiz in the morning after breakfast. Today is a special day for us as we head off for our “niche hunts”. This is normally saved for the Mendocino trip, but they decided we should start early. The niche hunt a set of hours of a full day where we look at one organism and spin the wheel about it. Many might think this could be boring just staring at a plant, a bird, or a habitat for hours. Yet, one main thing I’ve learned on NHFQ is that there’s always something to be intrigued about. If you’re bored you’re not looking hard enough. We all choose our own adventures with groups or semi-near at least one more person. Some choose to go to the beach to look at the seals, some study bird habitats, or specific plants. Many of us chose to focus on one of the organisms we are focusing on for the quarter. I go off with taylor back up the interpretive trail. Taylor stops when he hears a Wren. I move up back to the first outlook point to study the Coast Live Oak and sudden oak death. We have till 1530 to explore until we have to be back at redwood camp. When we get back to camp everyone is exuberantly discussing their findings with eyes lite up. I think we all wanted to stay for a few more hours! A few people chose to stay at the beach for longer with permission from Ryan, our instructor, to watch the seals. Rozy and Jack, our Ta’s, offer to go on a hike to the beach. I chose to go with them to see the ocean and the seals. Many stay for much needed naps, yoga, and keying time! When we make it to the beach we have to quietly huddle against the cliff wall as we watch a baby harbour seal flopping around on the beach. Maddie, Lexi, and Serena have been watching the tribulations of this baby seal all day through fighting off biting Turkey Vultures and being all alone on the beach. They dubbed the baby harbour seal “flopsy” as it  mostly just flops around. We watch through a scoping lense and our “binos” for a a couple of hours. We soon see the mother staring at us from the waves waiting for us to leave so we decide to leave back for dinner. We make it back to camp amid others journaling and keying plants. We eat a super yummy dinner and then end the night around the campfire with everyone sharing a “nature note” on what they say today or a poem they wrote. 

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11 May 2017, by Savita Joshi

Today was sponge day, which is what Jack calls the last day of a trip, the day that you soak up every last bit of a place before you leave. Needless to say, we all spent the day being sponges and soaking up the last moments of Big Sur magic. Some people liked to Canogas waterfall, a few went to Vicente Creek drainage, and a large group including myself spend the day at Potter’s Beach. What started out as a cool overcast morning soon turned into a hot afternoon and us beachgoers were so stoked to play in the sun. We spent the day swimming in the ocean and a small waterfall on the beach, journaling, painting, naturalizing, and enjoying the reserve beach. We were even blessed to see a group of grey whales super close to the beach! And on our way back we say three condors flying in the sky. That evening back at camp we spent time reflecting on the day and sharing our last dinner in Big Creek together. After, we had a long nature notes session where people shared their day’s adventures, poetry, art, and thoughts.