Sometimes you just gotta get going -- Out and About somewhere, away from the house and the usual patterns. Away from chores and errands. Jimmy and I have been particularly busy this past month with yard work. He and I cut down three not-too-big (up to 30 ft) trees, and we had help on the fourth one. We cut up each one, the trunks went to our friend and the rest to a green waste dump. Every living thing in our yard has snowballed into major greening and has needed lots o' pruning. Haha, after I'd manicure my fingernails, outside projects involving hands-in-dirt would invariably turn up ... bye-bye pretty nails!
The snow pea seeds that Evie and I planted in March grew into five-foot high plants loaded with pea pods (yum), and strawberries are yielding a small crop every day, which is sweet for morning cereal. I planted five different kinds of tomatoes, and some critter cut/ate parts of three of them. We shall see if any produce tomatoes. With all the tall trees shading our fenced backyard, getting enough sun for these veggies is iffy. I also planted just one lonesome pepper, because I've never had luck with them here. We'll see about this one.
In between, we'd walk the neighborhood canal trails so we didn't go stir crazy. Nevada County had 41 COVID-19 cases (most in the eastern part of the county), and no new cases in a month. We are currently in Stage 2, continuing social distancing and wearing masks. Our little three-yr-old Evie spent last weekend with us, much to our delight, and we've gone to Sacramento to see her (and her parents LOL) a couple of times. Otherwise, grocery stores, farmers market, and not much else. Our motor home is sulking. One of these days, we'll break out, like monkeys from the zoo, hop in Tergel, and take off!
We endured four really hot days this week, as in 90-95 degrees, so yesterday we decided to head for higher country to hike. Where to? We've always wanted to explore what we thought was the ridge above Sagehen Creek (near Truckee), so that was our destination. Beyond that, we had no idea what to expect. That makes it all the more fun. Cheery Woolly Mule's Ears were beginning to flower, as you see above.
While it was cooler up here at 6500', the temp was still close to 80 degrees, pretty warm to be roaming around. Seems as though it was yesterday that I wore my down vest! A bit of overcast kept the temp down, I think. Nice to see the higher peaks retaining snow.
At first we trekked uphill on a rough rocky road, the kind no car has any business being on, with nary another rock in sight -- until we saw this pile, simply sitting there by itself. Interesting.
As for social distancing, we saw one other person early on, a woman with her dog, Isabel (above). The woman said that in the absence of snow, Isabel loves to roll in the Mahala Mat with its pretty purple-colored blooms, and, sure enough, she flopped on her back, legs flailing, and commenced some truly blissful rolling!
When we drove past Sagehen Creek trailhead, cars packed the parking area and even lined narrow Hwy 89. No thanks. Too crowded. We were content with seeing Stampede Reservoir from a high point (above), avoiding the many people on the trail to the reservoir.
I could see boats zipping thru the water.
I don't think we could've climbed down to the water ... certainly NOT in shorts! 😉 By this time, we'd been following a red blaze placed on trees, and were basically walking through the forest. What a happy surprise to see a few Snow Plants -- their stark red color stands out like a hammered thumb amid all the pale pine straw (below).
How Jimmy spied this curlique among the bazillions of straight needles is beyond me! He picked it up because he thought it was a rubber band, which it looks like, so he could dispose of it.
Ah. This is called hot dog bun fungus.
Wandering in The Forest.
Aren't they neat? (Snow plants have no chlorophyll; it derives nutrition from fungi underneath the soil, and for this reason the plant is called "mycotrophic.")
Eventually we made our way back to the rocky road and returned to the car. Though not a long hike (only three miles) or difficult, we had fun exploring by ourselves up here. And, we didn't end up in Reno!
Instead of turning left to head home, we turned right on Hwy 89 toward one of the Little Truckee River (Forest Service) campgrounds, to see if it was open. The sign at the road read CLOSED, but no barricade blocked the entrance. We assumed you could picnic here if you wanted. Delightfully cool by the water! So be it. We pointed the Prius toward home. What a lovely day we had!
This backyard cherry tree was stuck between two leggy Doug Firs, which we cut down this past week. We have an abundance of trees, so those two won't be missed. Last night at the dining table, I spied this little guy on the cherry -- a Red-breasted Sapsucker ringing the tree. I wouldn't have been able to see the bird if we hadn't cut away the firs. Hooray!
Can't resist showing off one of the Irises that bloomed in the front yard. The heat put the kibosh on these guys, but we enjoyed them while we had them. So ... here's hoping the coronavirus disappears soon and our lives can resume some kind of normalcy, doubtless not what we knew before, but perhaps travel will become safe and be allowed. Meanwhile, virtual hugs from us to you, be well, and enjoy today!
