Tag archives: national park
The Channel Islands National Park has more sea caves documented than anywhere else in the world, with close to 300 grottos. However, there isn’t a toothy grotto quite like the geological feature that’s wave-battered into the sheer, 200-foot-tall cliffs of West Anacapa Island. As I kayaked inside the dark, dank sea cave at dawn, I […]
The mud was something to behold. However, the narrow, serpentine-like side canyons of Scorpion Canyon were green, lush, and oozing with moisture. The many rushing waterfalls were perpetually soothing as water flowed uninhibited to the main canyon carrying that aquatic melody to the cobbled shoreline at Scorpion Anchorage. It felt like I was experiencing my […]
Westmont biologist Amanda Sparkman (’03) and her research collaborators have won a two-million-dollar, four-year grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to continue investigating the evolution of dwarfism in Channel Islands National Park reptiles. The study focuses on five species, including the gopher snake, western yellow-bellied racer, southern alligator lizard, western fence lizard, and side-blotched […]
The translucent, salty ocean droplets rolled off its velvety sheen feathers, glistening like crystal clear marbles as it streamed off the back of a wayward Pacific Loon. It was early summer 2022. Typically, not a time to catch a glimpse of a seabird that should’ve been well north, maybe even as far north as Alaska […]
It sounded like loud cannon blasts hidden away, echoing ahead in massive clusters of boulders somewhere in Joshua Tree National Park. I scrambled up into the direction of those deafening booms, a natural cathedral of granite spires, cliffs, and rock concealing two desert bighorn sheep rams in predawn light. They were in the rut battling […]
The northwest swell was heaving into the northern fringe of Prince Island, a half mile off San Miguel Island in the Northern Channel Islands chain. Eleven species of seabirds use Prince Island for breeding and nesting habitat. One of those species, the common murre, had returned to Prince Island after a 100-year absence, egg collecting […]
The manic cacophony of western gulls was too frantic to pass up, diverting my attention span toward drama-filled blue skies as a keystone species buzzed a prominent, weather-beaten seabird rookery. As I kayaked toward the commotion, I soon realized I was in the presence of an apex predator wreaking havoc over Scorpion Rock near the […]
Early on in the drive, I was thinking I should have brought my thermal underwear. And my gloves. Now I was thinking I should have upped my life insurance. “There’s no one behind us. You don’t have to go too fast.” “I’m doing 20 miles per hour,” Pat said, without turning her head. Her knuckles […]
Birnam Wood Country Club was the location of a dinner for a special group of folks who contribute to the Yosemite Conservancy. This was hosted by Don Fuhrer who has been a “keeper” of Yosemite for many years. He even owns a cabin in the park. The president of the Yosemite Conservancy, Frank Dean, was […]
I think after midnight I gave up on those stiff, piercing, westerly winds lying down. It was blowing 50 mph and the temps were in the mid-20s on Wildrose Peak, but the views were easily worth every frigid gust the Mojave Desert had to offer. I decided not to bring a tent to Death Valley […]
Advice from a tree: Stand tall and proud, remember you roots, reflect the light of your true nature, drink plenty of water, enjoy the view! My son Dane and daughter-in-law Alli live in Three Rivers, California. Where is that, you ask? Head for Bakersfield and Visalia, turning toward the right following the signs to get […]
“There’s no… air… gasp…” “I think… I’m too dizzy… to drive…” “Lucky… we are… parked then…” We were 11,796 feet up at Alpine Visitors Center on Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, watching a line of people waiting zombie-like to use the outhouses – the water in the real bathrooms already shut off […]
