Hiking

INSECTS Ants, Pavement Ants, Velvety TreeButterflies (June Listing) Cricket, Jerusalem Gnats Mantis, Praying Stream Mayfly Nymphs Yellowjackets

BIRDS "Birds at Dusk" (late September) Bushtit "Canyon Birds" Dipper Hummingbird, Anna's Jay, Stellers Junco, Oregon Oriole, Bullock's Owl, Screech Quail, California Quail, Mountain Sapsucker, Red-breasted Turkey, Wild Vulture, Turkey Warbler, Audubon Warbler, Nashville Woodpecker, Acorn Woodpecker, White-headed Wren, Rock Wren, Winter

SPIDERS Marbled Cellar Spider

MOLLUSKS Slug (Ariolimax) Snail, Small Water

AMPHIBIANS Bullfrogs California Newt Treefrog, Pacific

MAMMALS Bear, Black (encounter) Bear, Black (poop) Bear, Black (tracks) Chickaree Chipmunk, Long-eared Deer, Mule & Whitetail Fox, Gray Jackrabbit, Blacktail Mountain Lion Mouse, California Skunk, Striped Squirrel, Ground, California Squirrel, Western Gray

REPTILES Alligator Lizard Skink, Gilbert's Snake, Coral-bellied Ringneck Snake, Gopher Snake, Racer Snake, Sharp-tailed Snake, Valley Garter Snake, Western Rattlesnake Turtle, Red-eared

Southern Alligator Lizard, Gerrhonotus multicarinatus

Read excerpts from Jim Conrad's Naturalist Newsletter concerning

these Foothill trees & bushes:
Azalea, Western Blackberries (2 invasive species)) Broom, Scotch Buckeye, California Chinquapin, Bush Dogwood, California Laurel, California Madrone -- flowering Mistletoe, Oak Oak, California Black -- acorns Oak, Canyon Live -- acorns Pine, Digger Pine, Ponderosa -- bark Pine, Sugar Poison Oak Tanoak Trees around Slate Mountain Twinberry, Black

PROFILES OF SELECTED WOODY PLANTS:

PINES (species profiles here)

Ponderosa Pine -- extensively occurring throughout foothills Sugar Pine -- higher, moister elevations Digger Pine -- lower, drier elevations

Fremontia, also called California Flannel Bush (Fremontodendron californicum) is spectacular when flowering, a small tree up to 15 feet high and with yellow flowers as large as 2 inches across. Note the small, figlike leaf just below the blossom in the picture below. Its evergreen leaves are covered with reddish-brown hairs. In the foothills it is abundant south of Mariposa County and sometimes planted beyond its native distribution.

Read excerpts from Jim Conrad's Naturalist Newsletter concerning

these topics of Foothill geology:
Earthquake -- a 4.8 one Gold Granite Sierra Nevadas, Version Two Slate Visit with a Gold Prospector

The graph at the right shows average monthly temperatures and precipitation for Placerville, located
in the central Foothill zone. The precipitation is nearly all rain, and any snow that falls quickly melts. The very dry summer months certainly amount to a marked dry season Summer maximum temperatures at Placerville usually range between 80-93 F while winters minimums usually range between 22-34. A very important feature related to the summer dry seasons is that at that time the danger of fire is very great and forest and brush fires are common. You can see what the current weather is like right now in Placerville, in the Foothills east of Sacramento, below:

PLANT & ANIMAL ADAPTATIONS TO THE CLIMATE

The very dry, hot summers exercise a profound effect on Foothill plants and animals. One reason is because of a fundamental principal of ecology -- that the lives of plants and animals are disproportionally affected by extreme conditions. Thus if a plant or animal dies when the temperature reaches the freezing point or below, it doesn't matter that all through the year the temperature is just right for the organism. When the temperature reaches freezing, the organism will die, and maybe its entire population will be wiped out over the entire area. Since the hot, droughty summers are the most immoderate feature of the climate, Foothill plants and animals typically show obvious adaptations to summer drought. Many annual plants live their entire lifecyles during the rainy months, then pass through the summers in the seed stage. Most woody plants show adaptations to fire. Some burn completely, then resprout from underground parts. Others are protected by thick bark. During the dry season the foothill landscape is straw colored, except for perennial plants with very deep roots.
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mining, timber and fishing TOURISM

Description Mt. San Gorgonio, the highest mountain in Southern California. On a clear day it overlooks the whole Inland Empire and Los Angeles Basin.
Mount Shasta, California taken from Pluto's Cave, California. Taken personally