2008 Calendar
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• January 9, 2008 (Wednesday), 7 p.m. - "Killers in the Garden; Murderers in the Wild". Barry Rice, author, photographer, scientist, horticulturalist will discuss carnivorous plants with an emphasis on local species. Free. Everyone welcome. Arcata Masonic Lodge, 251 Bayside Road near 7th and Union.
• January 26, 2008 (Saturday), 10 a.m. to noon. - Lichen and bryophyte walk. Lichen and bryophyte walk on the Manila/Samoa Dunes. Explore the lush, fascinating, diminutive, and important world of mosses, liverworts, and lichens. Beginners and botanists are all welcome. Modest walking on firm sand. Meet at Vance Ave. parking lot (on the east side of Samoa Blvd. approx. .25 miles north of Samoa Bridge). Bring water, hand lens, and raingear. Heavy rain cancels. Call Sunny at 599-5712 for questions or to find out if the trip is on.
• February 13, 2008 (Wednesday), 7 p.m. - "Challenges to maintaining diversity and endangered species on the North Coast", with Dave Imper. For 25 years Dave (Kim) Imper has been watching some of our rare habitats and the rare species that live in them. He sees imminent loss if we do not reverse the decline of our coastal wetlands, coastal prairies, and inland serpentine wetland. He ties the loss of biodiversity in these habitats to loss of certain kinds of disturbance, namely fire and large herbivores. The "ratchet effect" lulls us, and we think we are protecting them. This is a call to action, amply illustrated with photos of unique places and beautiful species by our "lily man." Free. Everyone welcome. Arcata Masonic Lodge, 251 Bayside Road near 7th and Union.
• February 24, 2008 (Sunday). - Hammond Trail - morning hike. Botanizing the Hammond Trail. We'll scout for treats like trailing black currant, review our coastal and riparian trees and shrubs, including those stabilizing the old Mad River banks, see how the Widow White Creek restoration is handling winter rains, and map invasive plants along this popular McKinleyville trail. We'll leave some cars at Hiller Park and shuttle to the Clam beach end of the trail to walk a couple miles back. Meet at 9 a.m. at Pacific Union School (3001 Janes Rd., Arcata) or 9:15 a.m. at Hiller Park in McKinleyville. Bring lunch and water; dress for the weather. We might finish by noon, but might not. Possible extension through Mad River Bluff forest. Questions or arrangements: Carol Ralph 822- 2015.
• March 12, 2008 (Wednesday), 7:30 p.m. - "Designing California Native Gardens". Come hear noted artist, garden designer, and sustainable landscaper Alrie Middlebrook explain how to design a successful native plant garden. Middlebrook says, "As a designer, I am inspired by nature and re-interpreting it in the garden setting. It is the collaboration of science and art that creates a garden that is beautiful, culturally rich and ecologically sustainable." She co-authored Designing California Native Gardens: The Plant Community Approach to Artful, Ecological Gardens. Headquartered in San Jose, she has designed over 150 native gardens. She also co-founded the California Native Garden Foundation (CNGF) as an effort to teach Californians how to garden using native plants. More information about Middlebrook and CNGF may be found at: www.middlebrook-gardens.com, www.cngf.org, and www.LoseTheLawn.com. Refreshments and book signing at 7 p.m., program at 7:30 p.m. Free. Everyone welcome. Arcata Masonic Lodge, 251 Bayside Road near 7th and Union.
• March 30, 2008 (Sunday) - Stony Creek day hike. Last year the fawn lilies, Oregon anemones, violets, fritillaries, and darlingtonia dazzled us at this favorite and unique site made possible by the U.S. Forest Service and the Siskiyou Land Trust. An easy hike of about one mile takes us through open forest to serpentine soils where Stony Creek joins the North Fork Smith River right behind Gasquet. Dress for the weather; bring lunch and water. We might squeeze in a look at Myrtle Creek Trail as well. Meet at 8:30 a.m. at Pacific Union School (3001 Janes Rd., Arcata), 10:15 at the Hiouchi visitor's center of Redwood National Park, or about 11:00 at the Gasquet ranger office (headquarters of Smith River National Recreation Area). It helps if you tell Carol Ralph (822-2015) you are coming. (This is Aleutian Goose Days weekend in Crescent City.)
• April 9, 2008 (Wednesday) 7:30 p.m. - "Our Backyard Wetlands: Their Diverse Plants and Animals and Why We Should Protect Them.". Gordon Leppig - local botanist and ecologist currently working in California Dept. of Fish and Game in Eureka. Refreshments and socializing at 7:00 p.m. This month an extra treat: Two students who received our chapter's awards at the county Science Fair will display their projects during this half hour. Program at 7:30 p.m.
• CANCELLED April 9, 2008 (Wednesday) 7:30 p.m. - "The World Underfoot". Emily Roberson, ecologist and director of the Native Plant Conservation Campaign will explain how, "Soils are not only dirt or a plants growth medium - they are worlds unto themselves. Bacteria, fungi, invertebrates, mammals and other organisms thrive in healthy soils - preying upon each other, jostling for space, and competing for food and water. They also mobilize essential nutrients from thin air, solid rock, and each other and deliver them to fuel the web of life. Just as each soil type has a unique chemistry and structure inherited from the rock it developed from, each soil has a unique community adapted to its individual environment." This talk will explore these teeming, complex worlds, describe their inmates; look at some of the more quirky personalities, the infighting, and seemingly magical alliances that make life on earth possible and help make ecosystems distinctive. Soil conservation and its challenges will also be discussed. Six Rivers Masonic Lodge, 251 Bayside Road near 7th and Union. Refreshments at 7 p.m. with the program starting at 7:30 p.m.
• April 13, 2008 (Sunday) 1-3 p.m. - Patrick's Point Plant Walk. Join three enthusiastic and experienced amateur botanists on this mostly level walk across the meadow, up Ceremonial Rock (optional), and through spruce forest and riparian forest, about a mile. We will review the coastal trees, find 9 species of ferns (including grape fern), and enjoy early flowers such as redwood violet, candyflower, wild ginger, skunk cabbage, sweet cicely, and the uncommon trailing black current. Meet at Mussel Rock parking lot in Patrick's Point State Park. If you don't want to support State Parks with your $6 park entrance fee, park outside and walk in or join another car. 822-2015.
• April 26, 2008 (Saturday) 1-3 p.m. - Sequoia Park Plant Walk.. Get to know the plants in our own remnant, second growth, redwood forest right in Eureka. See trillium, candyflower, mitella, four species of fern, willows, and the invasive, non-native species that threaten them. Also see where weed warriors have rescued the natives from the invasive English ivy. Meet botanist Liz McGee at the fountain at the south end of T St., at T and Glatt Sts. 443-5139.

• April 26, 2008 (Saturday). - South Fork Trinity day hike. South Fork Trinity day hike. Avoid the summer heat by seeing this favorite trail in early spring. It features mixed evergreen forests of various ages, oak wookland, lush riparian, rock cliffs and outcrops, shrubby slopes, and gravelly seeps. Whether spring is early or late, we will see flowers in this diverse terrain. The trail is well graded, 4 miles each way to the river, but you don't have to go all the way. We may learn something about the nearby Underwood Roadless Area. Bring lunch and water; dress for the weather. The trailhead is 2 hrs from Arcata, east past Willow Creek and south along the South Fork. Return by dark. Meet at 8:00 a.m. at Pacific Union School (3001 Janes Rd., Arcata) or arrange someplace else. Please call Carol 822-2015.
• May 3, 2008 (Saturday), 11-12:30 pm. - Dune plants walk. Join Friends of the Dunes docent extraordinaire Jenny Hanson on a walk through the dunes to learn about the difficulties of life in a pile of sand and about how some plants overcome those challenges. Meet in front of the main hall at Manila Community Center, where the Spring Wildflower Show will be happening, 1611 Peninsula Dr., Manila. 822-2015
• May 3, 2008 (Saturday) - 3-4:30 pm. - Dune Wetlands and Spring Flowers - plant walk. Meet some of the charming, beautiful, and well adapted botanical inhabitants of these special habitats, led by a docent trained by Friends of the Dunes. Meet in front of the main hall at Manila Community Center, where the Spring Wildflower Show will be happening, 1611 Peninsula Dr., Manila. 822-2015
• May 4, 2008 (Sunday) - 1:30-2:30 pm. - Pollinators in the Dunes - plant walk. Exploring the reason for flowers, join entomologist, gardener, and author Pete Haggard to look for pollinators in action and look at flowers from a pollinator's point of view. Meet in front of the main hall at Manila Community Center, where the Spring Wildflower Show will be happening, 1611 Peninsula Dr., Manila. 822-2015
• May 10, 2008 (Saturday). - Russ Park day hike. This shady, hilly, spruce-fir forest offers lush understory with favorites such as trillium, fairy bells, wild ginger, and inside-out flower. We'll try to scout the whole park by walking all the trails, about 4 miles. Bring lunch and water; dress for the weather. Meet at 9:00 a.m. at Pacific Union School (3001 Janes Rd., Arcata), 9:30 at MacDonalds end of Bayshore Mall parking lot, or 10:00 at the parking area on Bluff St. in Ferndale. (Turn left off Main onto Ocean, go 1/2 mile.) Return by dark. It's good to tell Carol you are coming 822-2015.
• May 14, 2008 (Wednesday), 7:30 p.m. - "Frogs In Your Garden". Local author Ellin Beltz - biologist, educator, and photographer will show you how to provide frogs with everything they need, in your own garden. Check out her book, 'Frogs, Inside Their Remarkable World". Six Rivers Masonic Lodge, 251 Bayside Road near 7th and Union. Refreshments at 7 p.m. with the program starting at 7:30 p.m.
• May 17, 2008 (Saturday), 10 a.m. - noon - Trinidad Head Plant Walk. Become more familiar with the diverse mix of trees, shrubs, berries, and ferns that clothes our bluffs constantly shaped by ocean winds. Learn of some surprising, isolated plants that survive here too. Bring binoculars for viewing the birds nesting on the offshore rocks. Meet Virginia Waters at the beach parking lot near the base of Trinidad Head. 822- 2015
• May 24, 2008 (Saturday), 1-3 p.m. - Azalea Reserve Plant Walk.. See many of our native plants that are recommended for gardens, both shrubs and herbs, including the native azalea, which hopefully will be blooming. Take North Bank Rd. off 101 just north of the Mad River; after a little more than one mile turn left on Azalea Dr., and shortly after that, left into the parking lot. Pete Haggard 839-0307.
• June 1, 2008 (Sunday), 1-3 pm. - June Blooms on the Dunes. Stroll through the dunes with Jenny Hanson and learn about sand-loving blossoms like sand verbena, beach pea and beach buckwheat. Enjoy their delicate beauty and learn why they look the way they do. Meet at the Manila Community Center, Peninsula Drive, off Hwy 255, Manila. 444-2553.
• June 14, 2008 (Saturday) - Cold Spring Day Hike.. Only 1 1/4 hours from Arcata we will be admiring clovers, violets, lomatiums, trillium, fritillary, iris, zigadenus, pussyears, collinsia, and more on a meadowy slope at 4,600 ft. elevation above Redwood Creek. Cold Spring is 7.4 miles from Highway 299 on National Forest 1 (Titlow Hill Rd.) in Six Rivers National Forest. The meadow is a quarter mile walk downhill from the parking area. Bring lunch, water, and layers of clothing. You can leave any time; some of us will stay all day. Other spots along NF 1 will tempt us to stop. Meet at 8:30 a.m. at Pacific Union School (3001 Janes Rd., Arcata) or arrange a different place. Call Carol 822-2015.
• June 15, 2008 (Sunday), 1-3 p.m. - Mad River Beach Plant Walk.. Pete Haggard, details later.
• June 28, 2008 (Saturday) - Crescent City Marsh short hike.. This hot spot of rare species is a treasure in our midst, currently suffering from too much protection and too little grazing. Come see Western lily, bogbean, marsh violet, great burnett, bog orchid, Arctic starflower, and more, with rare plant expert Dave Imper. Walking is short distance but soggy; rubber boots recommended. Bring lunch and water; dress for the weather. Meet at 8:00 a.m. at Pacific Union School (3001 Janes Rd., Arcata) or at 10 a.m. in Crescent City at the end of Waldo Rd. (From 101 turn inland on Elk Valley Rd. After about a mile turn right on Howland Hill Rd. After about half mile turn right on Waldo.) Probably finish about 1 p.m. Please tell Dave 444-2756 or Carol 822-2015 that you are coming.
• June 28-29, 2008 (Saturday-Sunday) - Rock Creek Ranch, South Fork Smith River - day hikes, optional overnight.. Beautiful river, diverse flora, comfortable camping or lodging, great campfire, friends from NPSOregon, all thanks to and supporting the Smith River Alliance, a great conservation organization. This is their new facility on a 15-acre ranch only 30 minutes from Crescent City. We will go there after the Crescent City Marsh tour and botanize the ranch area until dark or we drop, whichever comes first. Think Darlingtonia and butterworts, inland Doug fir forest, and more. We will have use of a large, covered, outdoor kitchen and of a ranch house . You may sleep in the ranch house ($30) or in your tent outside ($20). Some info at www.smithriveralliance.org. On Sunday we will have to choose from the many fun drives or hikes close by. Bring your own food. We can plan a cooperative dinner for those who want. We will head for home some time Sunday afternoon. Please tell Carol if you are coming or might come, all or part: 822-2015.
• July 3-4, 2008 (Friday-Sunday) - Mt. Eddy and Scott Mt. - day Hikes and optional overnights.. Come on any or all.
  - Join the campout at Scott Mt. Summit (one hour north of Weaverville on rte 3), find lodging in Weaverville or Trinity Center, or leave home early for the day. The campground, at 5,400 ft., is primitive---vault toilet, no piped water. Please tell Carol 822-2015 you are coming and when.
  - Celebrate Fourth of July atop Mt. Eddy! Anywhere along the trail to Deadfall Lake and Mt. Eddy (9,025 ft.) is a good place to celebrate, with mountain flowers of serpentine woodland, mountain streams, and meadows. The Deadfall Lake circle route is about six miles. The side trip to Mt. Eddy summit adds a steep 2 miles more. Meet at the Parks Creek Trailhead on FS Rd 17 (Parks Creek Rd.) at 9 a.m., three hours from Arcata. Bring lots of water or a filter, lunch and snack, and layers of clothing including warm hat and gloves.
  - July 5 and 6 we will explore the wonderful meadow at Scott Mt. Summit, the Pacific Crest Trail, and/or other nearby trails. Participants can help decide which.
• July 13, 2008 (Sunday) - Waterdog Lake - plant, butterfly, and bird day hike.. A CNPS-Audubon joint event. Famous for its butterfly diversity, tiny Waterdog Lake is our destination on a two-mile trail through diverse mountain habitats: white fir and Sadler oak; regeneration from the 1999 Megram Fire; creekside mountain alder thicket; gravelly bald; wet, rocky hillside; red fir; and a small, sedgy meadow (with gentians) around the land-locked pond. The trail gains about 1,000 ft elevation, starting at 5,300 ft., but is not steep. Bring lunch, snack, at least 2 quarts water, and many layers of clothing. Meet at 7:30 a.m. sharp at Pacific Union School (3001 Janes Rd., Arcata) or arrange another place. Two hour drive to the trailhead northeast of Hoopa. Return 6 p.m. or earlier. Call Carol 822-2015.
• August 1-4, 2008 (Friday-Monday) - Tentative Mt. Lassen "expedition".. Will you go? If enough people tell Carol by May 15 that they will come, she will plan a 3- or 4-night trip to this spectacular mountain. The back-up plan is a 1- or 2-night campout closer to home. Suggestions welcome. 822-2015.