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Red Mountain, BLM, northern Mendocino County, September 13-15, 2019

Red Mountain 2019, slide 1
A typical view of plant life on Red Mountain: native bunch grass, incense cedar, Jeffrey pine, manzanita. The mountain is surrounded by the usual Douglas fir and hardwood forest of the north coast interior.

 

Rattlesnake
Wildlife is scarce on Red Mountain, as the plant life doesn’t support many species.

 

Red Mountain 2019, slide 3
View toward Usal on the coast from the rolling summit plateau.

 

Red Mountain 2019, slide 4
Early morning fog spilling over from the East Branch of the South Fork into the mainstem Eel drainage.

 

Red Mountain 2019, slide 5
Not volcanic, instead brought up from the deep ocean: serpentinite rock, which creates the unusual vegetation of Red Mountain.

 

Red Mountain 2019, slide 6
The group hiked cross country to Cedar Creek to investigate why this watershed contributes so much water to the East Branch of the South Fork, probably related to the unusual geology. Here Bryan McFadin from the State Water Boards takes measurements of depth and velocity to determine streamflow.

 

Red Mountain 2019, slide 7
The route in was a little more rigorous than they anticipated. They hope to return for further investigation.

 

 

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Cahto, August 5, 2018

Our trip to the Bureau of Land Managment’s Cahto holding began with a climb to Cahto Peak for sweeping views along the coast and all over northern Mendocino County. From there we walked to Stoten Opening, a peculiar long narrow grassy meadow.

Acorn grinding rock
Acorn grinding rock.
Festuca californica
Huge native bunchgrass, California fescue, Festuca californica.
Stoten Opening
The group botanizing and exploring in Stoten Opening.
Lunch break on Cahto hike
Lunch break with much interesting discussion.

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Red Mountain, June 9, 2018
Red Mountain is a Bureau of Land Management property in northern Mendocino County, and a favorite with ISF for its interesting geology and botany.
This sparse forest has never been logged, though it looks like it. Difficult soils containing toxic minerals limit vegetation. Only a few species can survive.
One of the specialized rare plants that lives on Red Mountain is Red Mountain buckwheat, Eriogonum kelloggii.
Participants relaxing amid old mining gear. This remote area was the site of industrial activity which fortunately never became profitable.