BRT Insights - WW Kayaking & Hiking: March 2010

Saturday, March 27, 2010

South Fork Putah Creek Preserve trip report - Yolo County, California, USA.

Along its northern edge the South Fork Putah Creek Preserve is quite nice with lots of shade from the trees. There is access to Putah Creek, which was flowing at 100 cfs. It was also quite noisy with many different types of birds. I saw turkeys, swallows and numerous small birds. I heard ducks and geese. A birdwatcher pointed out three sandhill cranes, but they were flying off in the distance and could be recognized only with his binoculars.

Map of South Fork Putah Creek Preserve & nearby& landmarks.

• Instructions for online interactive topographic maps & road maps.
• Click on Map button for road map, Topo button for topographic map.
• Full-Screen Map - South Fork Putah Creek Preserve & surroundings.

Wild radishes as well as a few types of microflora were blooming.

DoubleClick on photos to see larger images. Use back button to return.

• 07 Map of trails at South Fork Putah Creek Preserve.

• 20 Putah Creek.

Wild radish blossoms Raphanus raphanistrum

• 03 Wild radish - Raphanus raphanistrum.

• More photos: BRT photos from South Fork Putah Creek Preserve.

Most of the South Fork Putah Creek Preserve is an open grassland that won't be very interesting until a lot more habitat restoration is completed. The Outer Loop and Inner Loop Trails have no shade and are mostly straight, flat, boring hiking between two barbed wire fences.

Nearby hiking, biking & jogging opportunities.

Labels: hiking

# posted by brthomas @ 6:02 PM 0 comments

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Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Marshall Gold State Historic Park closed to all raft & kayak put-ins until Memorial Day 2010.

I called Marshall Gold SHP and they said that North Beach Picnic Area is closed until Memorial Day weekend 2010. That means no parking and no whitewater boat launching at this popular put-in for the Coloma to Greenwood Run on SF American River (El Dorado County, California, USA.)

Alternate put-in locations for the remainder of the spring boating season are the Hwy 49 bridge or Henningson Lotus Park.

For more information:
Fight the Closure of Marshall Gold Discovery SHP - access point for SF American River 28aug2009.

IceRocket Tags: river, California, American River, El Dorado County.
Tags: whitewater, kayaking, rafting, canoeing, paddle boating, paddlesport.

Labels: guide

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Monday, March 22, 2010

Capay Valley & Bear Valley wildflowers - Yolo County & Colusa County, California USA 20mar2010.

JimH & I did a wildflower drive-around on 20mar2010. Fruit tree blossoms in Capay Valley were a little past their prime, but were still quite nice. There were also blooms on redbuds, mustards and many others. We continued north on Hwy 16 along Cache Creek and Bear Creek.

Map of Bear Valley & nearby landmarks.

• Instructions for online interactive topographic maps & road maps.
• Click on Map button for road map, Topo button for topographic map.
• Full-Screen Map - landmarks along Capay Valley & Bear Valley.
• Names of landmarks (A, B, etc.) - DoubleClick or point on the red
markers.

N 38.70748 W 122.09793 - Capay Valley (A)
N 39.01201 W 122.36079 - Hwy 20 x Bear Valley Rd
N 39.04029 W 122.40825 - Bridge over Bear Ck
N 39.07231 W 122.40963 - south end of Bear Valley wildflower area (B)
N 39.17801 W 122.44310 - Bear Valley Buttes at north end of valley (C)
N 39.18956 W 122.42126 - Leesville Gap to High Valley (D)
N 39.14184 W 122.34298 - Leesville Rd at Mountain House
N 38.85468 W 122.04300 - Bird Valley & Dunnigan Hills
N 38.71230 W 122.04575 - Capay Open Space Park
N 38.52497 W 121.97041 - El Verduzco Taco Truck, Winters, CA

Peak wildflower display at Bear Valley predicted for first week of April 2010.

Wildflowers were quite sparse at the south end of Bear Valley, but fortunately we kept going north. Some people we met up there estimated that it would be about 2 weeks before the peak wildflower bloom would occur in Bear Valley this year. Nevertheless, there were some very nice wildflower displays at the north ends of Bear Valley and High Valley. All of this land is private and fenced, so we stopped at various places along the road and got out to view & photograph the wildflowers. Then we saw some roadside wildflowers in Oat Valley and Antelope Valley as we headed east towards the Sacramento Valley.

• 06 Black Mustard (Brassica nigra), Capay Valley wildflowers.

• 61 Bear Valley wildflowers, Colusa County.

• 91 High Valley wildflowers, Colusa County.

California Poppy, Eschscholzia californica, Bird Valley wildflowers, Yolo County

• 124 California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica), Bird Valley, Dunnigan Hills wildflowers, Yolo County.

• More photos: BRT photos from Bear Valley, JimH photos from Bear Valley.

We got on Interstate Hwy 5 heading south and took one more sidetrip through Bird Valley & the Dunnigan Hills. This area is all planted in grain, so there were almost no wildflowers. There were some horticultural varieties of California poppy planted by the roadside that provided a few nice, colorful flower displays. Capay Open Space Park provides a public access to Cache Creek. Finally we got some excellent tacos from the El Verduzco Taco Truck located on E. Grant Ave. just east of the Railroad Ave. intersection in Winters, CA.

For more information:
• Bear Valley wildflowers - Colusa County - Davis Wiki
• Colusa County Trailheads Map - BRT Insights.
• Bear Creek Recreation & Conservation Directory. (Sort alphabetically. Section 5 = camping & hiking)
• Hiking & Camping Trip Reports - BRT Insights.
• Olympus Stylus 720SW camera. Photos edited with IrfanView
software.

IceRocket Tags: hiking, Capay Valley, Cache Creek, Yolo County, Bear Creek, Colusa County, California.
Tags: wildflowers, photography, landscape photography.

Labels: hiking

# posted by brthomas @ 11:35 AM 0 comments

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Saturday, March 06, 2010

California Hiking Trails Directory Pg. 4

• Pg. 1 - Personal Websites on Hiking in California.
• Pg. 2 - National, State & Regional Parks in California.
• Pg. 3 - County Parks in California.
• Pg. 4 - Hiking Trails Listed by Counties & Regions in California.
• Pg. 5 - Hiking Clubs in California.
• Pg. 6 - Photos from Hiking in California.

Hiking Trails Listed by County on Wiki Websites in California.

Extensive lists of hiking trails and hiking areas are being organized on wiki websites. Everybody can register on the wikis and add their knowledge of hiking trails in California.