habitat ~ 02/28/14 ~ SFB Morse Botanical Reserve

SFB Morse Botanical Reserve

February 28, 2014

posted 03/03/14 - Rain.  Lots of rain.  Rivers of rain.  Yay!  I got totally soaked, and I loved it.  And, great rumbling thunder, too!... erm, okay, it was a little scary under the towering, swaying Monterey pines.  I've been coordinating another excursion with a fellow blogger, but then it occurred to me that I don't have to drive 2 hours north in order to hike in the rain.  It only takes 10 minutes up the hill by car to get to the end of a PG road where I park.  Then I walk into Pebble Beach to avoid paying the toll road fee ($10!) to get to Del Monte Forest Conservancy property.  Andy regularly runs through here from home.  I should visit more often.  This SFGate article mentions obtaining a "Pebble Beach Nature Trails" map from the local hotels; I always wondered about the colored trail markers but had no idea how to obtain information.  This location includes the surrounding Huckleberry Hill Natural Habitat Area with a cute pygmy Gowen cypress forest.  I  have plenty of IDs to post from this amazingly diverse location, which is being actively managed.  Hopefully, at some point I'll add the details later.  But, for now, I'm off on another adventure...

habitat ~ 03/04/12 ~ SFB Morse Botanical Reserve

SFB Morse Botanical Reserve
March 4, 2012

Pardon if some of this information sounds familiar, but I'm stealing partial descriptions from an earlier post on the federally threatened Gowen cypress...

I've hiked this part of exclusive Pebble Beach more often than I've featured on Nature ID. It's too bad, because this is apparently quite a place of botanical interest due to the numerous rare plants found along this ravine. It doesn't look like the usual muddy water path since it's so dry right now.

After almost 3 years of creating this blog, I'm still amazed how new information is continually presented on the internet and how those tidbits filter through to my brain differently each time I look up IDs. Considering I'm mostly self-taught based on my handful of field guides and park pamphlets (er, now huge piles of books and papers on top of a cabinet next to my home computer), and what I can quickly find on the internet, I casually meander through reported information, not too dissimilar to how I prefer to hike without a map.

So, I was very surprised to find an online PDF about how SFB Morse Botanical Reserve was created to protect the "endangered" Gowen cypress. First of all, I've called this spot Del Monte Forest for the sake of Nature ID, and I wasn't even aware this is a special botanical reserve. Andy and I have called it "poetry rock" for the longest time. From the PDF, I discovered there's another native species of cypress around here, just as I had no idea that there's another pine in addition to the Monterey pine (Pinus radiata) - the Bishop pine (Pinus muricata). Who knew? Both Monterey cypress and Monterey pine are, obviously given their common names, very unique to the local area, each with only 2-4 very specific locations of reported native populations in the world.

I may have to rethink my location labels. For a comparison of a similar photograph nearby under more typical weather conditions, check out my photo from Huckleberry Hill.

habitat ~ 05/27/10 ~ SFB Morse Botanical Reserve

SFB Morse Botanical Reserve in Pebble Beach
May 27, 2010

We affectionately call this place "poetry rock" for the unexpected bronze inscription find, nestled among a couple tree roots. I was caught in the rain here. After attempting to not get too wet, I gave in to the inevitable... and had a fabulous time being wet, listening to the birds, and watching the frisky squirrels. Native roses were blooming everywhere. I resisted the temptation to pull apart old tree trunks to look for lively goodies, because I was thinking I wouldn't want someone ripping open my roof in the rain while I was hunkered down for some cozy. I'm sure I would have found several amazing beetles. Only saw 2 trail runners while trekking through the muddy paths, one being my better half in training for his upcoming trail marathon. It's too bad they want to build, yet another, highfalutin, sterile golf course nearby... to add to the dozens of private backyard courses already built in Pebble Beach as shown above in the last picture.