Date: 27 April 2017
Location: Mount Tam — Serpentine Day! (37.9235, 122.5965)
Where Ya At: Mt. Tam has deep canyons and hillsides that are covered with cool redwood forests, oak woodlands, open grasslands, and sturdy chaparral. Mt. Tam has a 2,571-foot peak that includes the Farallon Islands 25 miles out to sea, the Marin County hills, San Francisco Bay, the East Bay, and Mount Diablo. Mt. Tam is home to including at least 35 mammals, 184 birds, 11 fish, and 25 amphibians and reptiles.
What Did You See:
Family: Liliaceae
Genus and Species: Calochortus luteus
Common Name: Yellow Mariposa
Description: The leaves are narrowly linear and withering. The inflorescence is umbel-like. The corolla is a deep yellow, generally lined red-brown adaxially, often with central red-brown blotch adaxially, and sparsely slender-hairy near nectary.
Family: Orcidaceae
Genus and Species: Corallorhiza maculata
Common Name: Summer Coralroot
Description: The stem is generally red to yellow-brown to yellow while the flower’s color generally same as the stem. The lateral petals are generally like sepals, yellow-brown or deep pink to red, dark-spotted.
Family: Onagraceae
Genus and Species: Clarkia gracilis
Common Name: Graceful clarkia
Description: The petals of this flower are usually pink-lavender to light purple shading to white near middle and the base is red.
What Did You Do: This was more a rock climbing trip rather than a hiking trip. I kept slipping on the tiny pebbles that I thought were stable to walk on. I think everyone was a little frazzled because of the winding road up the mountain. We even took a super cute class photo. I’m thankful that I was wearing my hoops to the hike (#extra). At the end of the rock climbing extravaganza, we took a good 30 minutes around the “Sound of Music hills,” as Prof Paul calls it. We watched turkeys sexually select and honestly everyone was so excited to see it. We are such nerds. I don’t think any other major would have gotten a hoot out of that like we did.