Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Addendum
The moth is a Pandora moth. Here's what Shapiro had to say:
Pandora Moth, Coloradia pandora (family Saturniidae). The larvae feed on needles of Ponderosa, Jeffrey and Washoe Pine and occasionally cause widespread defoliation. The life cycle takes two years and some areas have only odd- or even-year populations. The very large caterpillar has stinging spines. It pupates in the ground and in outbreak years the Paiutes would dig pupae by the thousands and eat 'em roasted--they're said to be very nutritious. I've seen hundreds of adults attracted to lights in NE CA and Nevada, usually at remote gas stations! There are a couple of much less common congeneric species, and Pandora also occurs in the Klamaths and the High North Coast Range; I've seen in at least S to Goat Mountain. Cheers...
Also, Sonora Peak is 11,459 feet. So we made about 2000 feet of gain from the parking lot. You know, I thought it was higher than 10100. hmph.
Pandora Moth, Coloradia pandora (family Saturniidae). The larvae feed on needles of Ponderosa, Jeffrey and Washoe Pine and occasionally cause widespread defoliation. The life cycle takes two years and some areas have only odd- or even-year populations. The very large caterpillar has stinging spines. It pupates in the ground and in outbreak years the Paiutes would dig pupae by the thousands and eat 'em roasted--they're said to be very nutritious. I've seen hundreds of adults attracted to lights in NE CA and Nevada, usually at remote gas stations! There are a couple of much less common congeneric species, and Pandora also occurs in the Klamaths and the High North Coast Range; I've seen in at least S to Goat Mountain. Cheers...
Also, Sonora Peak is 11,459 feet. So we made about 2000 feet of gain from the parking lot. You know, I thought it was higher than 10100. hmph.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Awesome weekend! And it's only Sunday...
This weekend was supermuchfun. Ethan and I met up Friday morning in Manteca and headed out to Column of the Giants.
Ethan sent the crag, except for some of the easier stuff. Yawn. I tried to send 1 route. I did onsight the warmup though - yay! This is a good thing because I'm not a very good onsight-er. The route I tried to send was a .12a/b route that I wanted to try because John and Shannon flashed it (this was an egregious mistake in judgement - they are way better rock climbers). I tried it a few times Friday and twice on Saturday, but no dice. Melted off the slopey top portion. I also tried the "steepest .12a in California." Also no dice. I'm not a huge fan of the horizontal route climbing. It can be fun bouldering, but in routes...hmmm.
The first day we had the crag to ourselves, which was awesome. The conditions were perfect, the rock felt great, the climbing was fun. Saturday more folks showed up, but I knew them all. Ethan was over it, since he'd one everything, so he kindly walked up the hill to belay me. I should mention that Ethan might be my favorite belayer right now.
Saturday was also pretty fun, but I was cooked. I really need to sport climb pretty regularly to climb well. This has not been happening. Oh well, it's mountain season anyway. We also found this rad moth that had just emerged from metamorphosis on the hike down from the climbing:
Since we were already near the pass, I pulled out a hiking guide and suggested doing a short hike to St. Mary's Pass and then to the top of Sonora Peak. Ethan was game. Holy cats there is a lot of rock up there. here are some roadside photos:
Does anyone know what the above feature is? It's viewed from 108 facing south. Looks pretty cool.
The hike was really nice, and I'm glad that we rallied. Great trail, short hike, nice elevation (about 9000-10,500 feet), and the wildflowers were at their peak. Here are some photos of the hike. I mostly let Ethan use the camera until he dropped it in the dirt and the lens cover stopped working without a flick of the fingernail. I couldn't be too pissed because I dropped his head camera off his crash pad on Friday. Photos follow:
Ethan sent the crag, except for some of the easier stuff. Yawn. I tried to send 1 route. I did onsight the warmup though - yay! This is a good thing because I'm not a very good onsight-er. The route I tried to send was a .12a/b route that I wanted to try because John and Shannon flashed it (this was an egregious mistake in judgement - they are way better rock climbers). I tried it a few times Friday and twice on Saturday, but no dice. Melted off the slopey top portion. I also tried the "steepest .12a in California." Also no dice. I'm not a huge fan of the horizontal route climbing. It can be fun bouldering, but in routes...hmmm.
The first day we had the crag to ourselves, which was awesome. The conditions were perfect, the rock felt great, the climbing was fun. Saturday more folks showed up, but I knew them all. Ethan was over it, since he'd one everything, so he kindly walked up the hill to belay me. I should mention that Ethan might be my favorite belayer right now.
Saturday was also pretty fun, but I was cooked. I really need to sport climb pretty regularly to climb well. This has not been happening. Oh well, it's mountain season anyway. We also found this rad moth that had just emerged from metamorphosis on the hike down from the climbing:
I'll have to ask my professor what the species is. Whatever it is, it was still filling its wings with blood/hemolymph so it couldn't fly away yet. The photo doesn't do it justice in terms of color and size. The abdomen was about the size of my thumb.
Since we were already near the pass, I pulled out a hiking guide and suggested doing a short hike to St. Mary's Pass and then to the top of Sonora Peak. Ethan was game. Holy cats there is a lot of rock up there. here are some roadside photos:
Does anyone know what the above feature is? It's viewed from 108 facing south. Looks pretty cool.
The hike was really nice, and I'm glad that we rallied. Great trail, short hike, nice elevation (about 9000-10,500 feet), and the wildflowers were at their peak. Here are some photos of the hike. I mostly let Ethan use the camera until he dropped it in the dirt and the lens cover stopped working without a flick of the fingernail. I couldn't be too pissed because I dropped his head camera off his crash pad on Friday. Photos follow:
Nice trail, great views.
After we hit St. Mary's pass, we were mostly above treeline, and the trail was cross country.
Me walking up to the pass marker. From here you turn south to walk to the top of Sonora Peak.
summit shot!
signing the summit register
View on the way down
Now I'm sore.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Column!
Yay! Headed to Manteca to meet up with Ethan for two days at Column of the Giants. I'm hitting up yet another new crag this year (I'm on a roll!). So glad he's not bailing so I don't have to throw a massive Joe-style wobbler in my living room in lieu of going rock climbing. Yesssss.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Photos from the weekend
Al posted photos from last Sunday. I couldn't take any after we left the overlook because my memory card was full and I couldn't figure out how to reformat it.
Check it out.
Check it out.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Oil spill in China
Photos from an oil spill in China (via The Big Picture).
These pictures are astounding. However I think they are even more shocking to me now because I went through the HAZWOPER training for the gulf spill 2 weeks ago. In most of these photos the workers are covered in oil, some head to toe. Over three days of my training I learned about the levels of exposure that we may be subjected to in the gulf. You would never ever see American workers at an American site without total protection. Oil would never touch an American worker's skin, and decontamination would be very strict between the spill site and non-spill areas. There is so much regulation and protocol for dealing with toxic substances in the US to protect workers. I think this is a good thing. Oil is toxic; there's no two ways about it.
I fear for the Chinese who are participating in this cleanup effort.
These pictures are astounding. However I think they are even more shocking to me now because I went through the HAZWOPER training for the gulf spill 2 weeks ago. In most of these photos the workers are covered in oil, some head to toe. Over three days of my training I learned about the levels of exposure that we may be subjected to in the gulf. You would never ever see American workers at an American site without total protection. Oil would never touch an American worker's skin, and decontamination would be very strict between the spill site and non-spill areas. There is so much regulation and protocol for dealing with toxic substances in the US to protect workers. I think this is a good thing. Oil is toxic; there's no two ways about it.
I fear for the Chinese who are participating in this cleanup effort.
Back to Silver King?
If anyone cares about the type of work I do, check this article out from High Country News by Hillary Rosner. Different fish, but the idea is the same. Especially with the Walker Lake tui chub. Walker Lake is a terminal lake in Nevada. Water mining has reduced inflow to the lake, causing increased salinity. The tui chubs live a long time, so adults that were born in times of lower salinity are still alive. However the increasing salinity is bad for spawning and young (recruitment). Same idea with other desert fishes - they live a long time so they are still around, but no babies are born, so bodies of water are sort of like retirement communities. Lots of sex, but no babies. Eww, I know.
Anyway, I don't really expect anyone to click on the link, so if you do, kudos!
Here's a particularly gnarly passage:
"In the 1950s and early 1960s, government officials also routinely poisoned waterways, killing native species in order to stock sport fish like rainbow trout. Using money given to the states from taxes on recreational fishing products, government officials poisoned 2,500 miles of streams and 225,000 acres of lakes in 34 states, according to Anders Halversson, whose new book, An Entirely Synthetic Fish, chronicles America's love affair with rainbow trout.
In 1962, the Wyoming and Utah wildlife agencies orchestrated the ne plus ultra of fish genocide, a massive effort to poison native fish using a chemical called rotenone. The idea was to create a clean slate on the Green River -- a main Colorado tributary originating in Wyoming's Wind River Range -- above the soon-to-be-completed Flaming Gorge Dam, eradicating all life in the water and then filling it with millions of rainbow trout. Using a series of "drip stations" strung along 450 miles of river, as well as airboats and helicopters, officials killed off 450 tons of fish in three days. "As the rotenone front progressed downstream," writes Halversson, "it drove large schools of desperate fish in front of it, a sight that deeply impressed itself on those who saw them ‘thrashing about and struggling for air on the surface of the river.' "
More on the fish front: I'm going to go back to Silver King Creek August 9th (the day after I get back from South Carolina...yay) to do some sampling of the "pure" populations of Paiute cutthroat trout. My collaborator is looking for funding (possible post-doc?) to get a better grip on the genetic diversity of these populations.
In other news, I have a new gay boyfriend at the Lucky Jeans store in the Arden Fair mall. I went in to buy a new battery for my macbook (btw, the Apple store is complete fucking mayhem), and decided it was time for a new pair of jeans. Eric and I got along very well, and he insisted that I did not have muffin tops ("I've SEEN muffin tops, you do NOT have muffin tops"). So mission accomplished for new jeans and a new battery. Getting a new battery has been an egregious task I've put off since realizing my battery was dead in Spain. That was in October.
For the weekend, maybe Column of the Giants with Ethan? Who knows. People like to bail at the last minute. I'll end up doing something, even if I have to go somewhere alone. I'll try to bribe him with cookie-brownies.
Anyway, I don't really expect anyone to click on the link, so if you do, kudos!
Here's a particularly gnarly passage:
"In the 1950s and early 1960s, government officials also routinely poisoned waterways, killing native species in order to stock sport fish like rainbow trout. Using money given to the states from taxes on recreational fishing products, government officials poisoned 2,500 miles of streams and 225,000 acres of lakes in 34 states, according to Anders Halversson, whose new book, An Entirely Synthetic Fish, chronicles America's love affair with rainbow trout.
In 1962, the Wyoming and Utah wildlife agencies orchestrated the ne plus ultra of fish genocide, a massive effort to poison native fish using a chemical called rotenone. The idea was to create a clean slate on the Green River -- a main Colorado tributary originating in Wyoming's Wind River Range -- above the soon-to-be-completed Flaming Gorge Dam, eradicating all life in the water and then filling it with millions of rainbow trout. Using a series of "drip stations" strung along 450 miles of river, as well as airboats and helicopters, officials killed off 450 tons of fish in three days. "As the rotenone front progressed downstream," writes Halversson, "it drove large schools of desperate fish in front of it, a sight that deeply impressed itself on those who saw them ‘thrashing about and struggling for air on the surface of the river.' "
More on the fish front: I'm going to go back to Silver King Creek August 9th (the day after I get back from South Carolina...yay) to do some sampling of the "pure" populations of Paiute cutthroat trout. My collaborator is looking for funding (possible post-doc?) to get a better grip on the genetic diversity of these populations.
In other news, I have a new gay boyfriend at the Lucky Jeans store in the Arden Fair mall. I went in to buy a new battery for my macbook (btw, the Apple store is complete fucking mayhem), and decided it was time for a new pair of jeans. Eric and I got along very well, and he insisted that I did not have muffin tops ("I've SEEN muffin tops, you do NOT have muffin tops"). So mission accomplished for new jeans and a new battery. Getting a new battery has been an egregious task I've put off since realizing my battery was dead in Spain. That was in October.
For the weekend, maybe Column of the Giants with Ethan? Who knows. People like to bail at the last minute. I'll end up doing something, even if I have to go somewhere alone. I'll try to bribe him with cookie-brownies.
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