Pescadero, California

May 5, 2023

We hiked a total of 7 miles from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

The sky had partial clouds with a high of 55° F.

I loved our day at Butano State Park. Old-growth Redwood Forests have some of the tallest and most ancient trees on the planet. Butano SP’s location directly next to the coast means that the ocean is regulating temperature to be cooler and that there is regularly water vapor in the air via fog. Redwood forests are well adapted to capture the moisture from the air. Redwoods have holes on their leaves to absorb water from the atmosphere, whereas most plants do not. Redwood trees change the soil chemistry in order to minimize the growth of other species. This is why there is limited biodiversity on the floor of a redwood forest. Some of the main trees and shrubs that grow in redwood forests are Douglas Fir, tanoak, ferns, and huckleberries. However, there is incredible biodiversity in the canopy. There are various birds, plants, insects, and mammals that live up in the canopy and never visit the forest floor.

There are a variety of ferns in Butano State Park, including the ladyfern, the western swordfern, the Bracken fern, and the giant chain fern.

The most prolific organism in the understory of the Redwood Forest was the banana slug. My classmates counted over 400 banana slugs that day. We had to be careful where we stepped because although bright yellow, they managed to camouflage very well. The photo on the right gives a great eyeball shot.

We had an incredible day of seeing salamanders. I feel an affinity for the California giant salamander because I found it and I had never seen one before. It was in a moist environment, amongst various half-decomposed branches and under a bushy huckleberry. This sweet spot was at a lower elevation of this area of redwood forest. It was interesting to see the pumping motion under the skin of the lower throat, facilitating gas exchange. Because the coloring is so reminiscent of fallen branches, it made sense that it was pretty well hidden among the damp logs. Nearby where I found the California giant salamander, my professor found a juvenile Ensatina sp. In comparing the Ensatina spp. on californiaherps.com, my best guess is that it was a juvenile Painted Esantina. My favorite part of the photo is the tiny juvenile stretching its arms to give its biggest display. Don’t worry buddy, we will not mess with you! We also encountered California newts. Though seeing them walk around is fun, it is delightful to watch them swim around in the ponds. Our fourth salamander of the day was the California slender salamander. We found two together under a log with a deep rust red coloring. When I show this photo, friends often say they look like snakes. Look more closely and you can see their teeny, tiny, little legs.

 I observed a plethora of fungi that were on fallen trees. I am not super skilled in fungi identification, but I know the middle photo includes turkey tail mushrooms. They were clearly a crucial part of the decomposition process and the wide variety I observed did well in the moist conditions.

Despite the small area of this stump, there were quite a few lichens living it up. The one with the red top, in the left photo, is called “English Soldier” and several nearby were also about to bloom. The abundance of lichen cups was quite fun.

The cyanide millipede that I observed at Butano was black with yellow, dotted stripes down the body. The black and yellow millipede was represented in a repeating color palette I observed with several redwood floor organisms. There were caterpillars that were black and yellow, banana slugs that were yellow and tan, a newt that was dark brown with a yellow underbelly. 

There was a moment that day when I felt particularly moved. We had just moved through the burn scar. The burn scar areas were an intense environment to experience. Even though there was revegetation occurring, which was cool to see, there was an emptiness to those areas. They were quieter without the birds singing. In other areas, the huckleberry had a height taller than our heads while in the burn scar it was barely starting to grow. As we reached the top of the ridge, we came out of the burn scar, and we could see the ocean in the distance. We were surrounded by a rich redwood understory. There was the largest stand of Bee Plant, or Scrophularia californica, that I have ever seen. There were so many vigorous plants that had achieved vegetative growth taller than my height, with a level of maturity to have purple stems. I have interacted with Scrophularia californica frequently and appreciate its capacity to thrive in shady conditions. This was the first time I had I seen an expansive patch of them. It was awe-inspiring.