Jackson Meadows Reservoir - Tahoe National Forest

The Tahoe National Forest is northwest of Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California and spans across Sierra, Placer, Nevada, Yuba, Plumas, and El Dorado counties. People come in crowds and hoards to Lake Tahoe itself, a quite famous destination for locals and visitors alike. Some go for the excitement of the towns and casinos while enjoying views or visits to the lake; others may go for the more natural scenery experience away from the tourists and tumult to see the lake from the serenity of its surrounding forests. Either way, lodging is hard to come by and very expensive, and campers have few options unless they start heading north. What campers may not know about are a dozen or more campgrounds north of Interstate 80 in the Tahoe National Forest, within an hour and a half of Lake Tahoe. Also less known is that this national forest is a destination in itself, with dozens of lakes and reservoirs, outdoor recreation opportunities, and pristine mountain environments.

One of the larger lakes in the area is the Jackson Meadows Reservoir. There are eight campgrounds to choose from, picnic areas, boat launches, fun water activities, and nature viewing. The reservoir is surrounded by forests, rocky slopes, and beautiful montane meadows. So naturally, when the Sacramento-Shasta Chapter of The Wildlife Society planned a camping trip for its members on October 9, 2015, the organizer chose Jackson Meadows. Coming from Interstate 80, Jackson Meadows can be accessed from State Highway 89 north from the Town of Truckee (also a cool destination for those who have time to stop and check out the historic part of town). The turn-off is marked, and National Forest Road 07 is the route to the reservoir; but it is a little tricky to get on and stay on the right road. Our group camp was at Woodcamp Campground on the western side of the reservoir. I arrived just as it was starting to get dark and very easily passed the turn. I eventually found my way and settled into the campsite with my friends and fellow wildlife professionals for dinner, a fire, a party, a very cold night, and a bear noisily trying to break into our bear vault.

The next morning, three of us hiked down to the reservoir--two birders and a botanist. We started at a sandy beach with scattered rocks, wood debris, and tree trunks. Then it dawned on me that the beach we were walking on was the lakebed itself. Still in the drought of 2015, the water level of the reservoir was extremely low.
Parts of the lakebed had hues of green algae on dark soil, and part of the reservoir looked more like a river than a lake.

Montane meadow (in the distance) by the reservoir

We passed a boat ramp that would launch the boat into dry sand. But rather than trip about the drought, we had a meadow to hike and birds and plants to see. As we walked beyond the reservoir into a rather wet and swampy meadow, I suddenly remembered I had been there before. When surveying for great gray owls back in 2005, this was one of the survey sites. Great gray owls nest and roost in the trees and forage in mountain meadows. Most of that work was done at night, and I recall--being the klutz that I am--tripping and falling into one of these swampy meadows.

White pelican

One-seeded pussy paws (Calyptridium monospermum)
is found throughout the Tahoe National Forest

We took our time and hiked about three miles, halfway around the reservoir. There were geese, a white pelican, woodpeckers, nuthatches, and many interesting plants and flowers. It was a long and rewarding walk; but at the end, I was pretty winded and happy to return to camp and chill. In the evening, we had a big group potluck and sat around the fire playing Cards Against Humanity--nothing more fun than wrong humor after a very right kind of day. We spent another night in our cold tents, had a grand potluck breakfast in the morning, and eventually needed to strike camp and leave the beautiful forest to return to the city. It was not only a needed getaway for me. After traveling much of the United States and several other countries, I still say California's Sierra Nevada ranks as one of the most beautiful places on earth. I am fortunate that for most of my life, I either lived near or in these mountains and spent countless precious days there.  

Natomas Basin - Wildlife Friendly Lands

Northern Natomas Basin

It was one thing for me to sit in an office behind a computer and work on conservation of a threatened species and its habitat. To actually go out into the field and see the habitat is another thing and was a privilege of my job. However, when anyone drives through an area with some open space and farmlands in northern California, they may be driving through very important habitat for the rarest of species without realizing it. This is because as natural wetlands in California declined to nearly ten per cent of the area they once covered, working landowners--mostly farmers and conservancies--started managing their lands and operations to create the habitat function the lost wetlands once provided.

One such area is the Natomas Basin, in the City of Sacramento and to the north. South Natomas is about 10 minutes from downtown, where affordable housing communities provide attractive options for commuters and newcomers to buy homes. Although North Natomas is also somewhat developed, a more rural landscape farther north stretches into southern Sutter County. Here, farmers do business in the best way possible to be profitable and successful while providing a benefit to the wildlife that use their fields as habitat during certain times of the year, a term coined as "wildlife friendly agriculture". North Natomas also has reserve lands managed by The Natomas Basin Conservancy. This land is set aside for the recovery and conservation of wildlife, including species that are threatened and endangered in the U.S. and California, such as the giant garter snake and Swainson's hawk.

I was working to help conserve the giant garter snake, a species endemic only to certain parts of the state, with disjunct populations that are threatened by genetic isolation and local extirpations. The Natomas Basin population is important for the survival of the species. So when a representative of the Natomas Basin Conservancy invited my supervisor and me to tour giant garter snake habitat on their reserve, we felt very fortunate.

A canal used by the giant garter snake with upland habitat on the rocks and levee.

It was a beautiful sunny day with a very clear blue sky on October 9, 2015. We toured tracts of the reserve at the northern edge of Sacramento County off of Elverta Road, which is accessed from Highway 70/99, that included rice fields, freshwater marshes, tree-lined canals, large ponds, and open grassland. Though we did not see the snakes, we saw the edges of ponds, canals, and flooded rice fields that we know they are using to meet most of their needs, such as breeding, dispersing, and foraging. The giant garter snakes also use grassy, rocky, or vegetated banks of these watery habitats, sometimes up to several hundred feet away, as "upland" habitat. This is where they use burrows or crevices to hibernate underground in the winter; or when above ground, to hide from predators or extreme weather.

The snakes colonized the emergent vegetation at the edge of this pond and its bank.

Sometimes the ponds get overrun with water primrose, which needs to be removed. 

Swainson's hawks also nest in the trees in the reserve, and tricolored blackbirds may use the tules in the ponds or marshes.

We then traveled up Natomas Road in southern Sutter County through the rice fields, where the farmers manage their crops for the benefit of the giant garter snake and birds. Turning left on Sankey Road, we drove by some some trees and grasslands that are used by Swainson's hawks for nesting and foraging.

Although the public does not have access to the reserve itself, there are good viewing spots from the roads that surround them and a preserve map that shows where to go. The Natomas Basin is scenic and peaceful and worth a drive-through for local people who want to take a daytime excursion. Fishing is allowed in some of the canals, and the more developed areas have good eateries. So while my trip was focused on viewing habitat for wildlife, there is always a little something for everyone to do or see.

Bay Area Ridge Trail - Vallejo to Benicia

Looking south towards Carquinez Strait

For hikers, walkers, cyclists, or horseback riders visiting or living in California's San Francisco Bay Area, the Bay Area Ridge Trail offers spectacular treks along city streets, over bridges, in flats and wetlands, in hills and mountains, in many local and regional parks, and through miles of open space. Much of this network of trails offers views from higher ridges of the bays, rivers, and waterways, while some are closer to the lowlands. It covers the many different types of scenery and ecosystems the Bay Area has to offer. Some of the trails are mellow, some are moderate or moderately difficult, and some are strenuous and adventurous. The idea of the Bay Area Ridge Trail is to connect over 350 miles of trails around the perimeter of the greater Bay Area. All of the segments are not connected. They either have not yet been developed or past segments were taken over by land use changes and private property. However, with the help of some maps and a bit of creative navigation skills, disjunct sections can be pieced together.

Start of the trail overlooking Vallejo

Going back to our idea of traversing a monumentally large hiking journey in small segments over time, my brother started hiking the established Bay Area Ridge Trail as well as improvising his way through the missing segments in between. It soon became his passion and obsession. I was invited to join him on this mission, and started my first segment with him on September 26, 2015. This segment began in the City of Vallejo, which is in the East Bay region of the trail network. The entrance is off of Ascot Parkway near Georgia Street, and the trail goes into open space grasslands known as the Vallejo-Benicia Buffer between Lake Herman Road and Columbus Parkway. The trail is moderately hilly and was an effort for my level of fitness. The effort, however, was worth the views of Suisun Bay to the east, San Pablo Bay to the west, and the Carquinez Strait that connects to the two bays. The birding opportunity was also a huge win as I watched raptors soar over the grasslands in search of prey. I also caught sight of a few of the many beautiful moth and butterfly species that live in or are endemic to the Bay Area.

This trail segment connects Vallejo to the City of Benicia. Staying on the trail is pretty straight forward, with a couple of other trails branching off. At the first juncture, the Bay Area Ridge Trail turns to the right to continue southwest towards the west side of Benicia. This trail ends on Rose Drive, which when taken to the right, goes to the Benicia State Recreation Area.

Tidal wetland in the Benicia State Recreation Area

The next segment of the Bay Area Ridge Trail picks up again at Dillon Point, immediately south of the Benicia State Recreation Area. To connect the two trails, we started walking Dillon Point Road, which borders the tidal wetland this State park preserves. This wetland provides habitat for rare and endangered plants and wildlife, such as the endangered salt-marsh harvest mouse.

We stopped partway after the road turned to the south, since my brother had earlier sustained an injury. Sitting on a bench and taking in the view of the beautiful marsh, we made note of the spot to pick up from for the next segment of our journey. The parents picked us up at that spot and took us to Mountain Mike's Pizza for a bite to eat before driving us back to where we started in Vallejo.