Rose Hill Cemetery in Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve

The Rose Hill Cemetery, here seen from Manhattan Canyon Trail, is a historic cemetery in the Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve. The preserve does not feature any ghost towns. The houses of the coal miner families are gone, and so are the stores, saloons as well as church and school buildings. But their ghosts are still around. You might at least get that feeling while visiting Rose Hill Cemetery. This 19th century cemetery at the south side of Rose Hill, midway between the Nortonville and Somersville townsites, is monument and reminder of the shortness of our lives and material creations. This area is under 24 hour video surveillance by the East Bay Regional Park District. Not to watch out for ghosts, but to protect the remains from vandalism, by which unfortunately most parts of the cemetery were destroyed before the Park District assumed responsibility for the property in 1974. We were getting informed that a project is now in progress to restore this place, search for missing gravestones and getting more information on people who were placed for peace at this Protestant burial ground. The former residents, which are buried here, did typically not die in old age. Women died in childbirth. Children died of infectious diseases. Men died in mining disasters, as miners still do today. The ghosts follow us along the trail through life.

Manhattan Canyon Trail in Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve

The Manhattan Canyon Trail is a hiker-only trail in the Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve. The trail leads through mixed forest, chaparral, and across sloped meadows. The trail offers views of the Rose Hill Cemetery and the Greathouse Visitor Center. Many park visitors take the Nortonville Trail to get right to the Rose Hill Cemetry or to the Nortonville Townsite. If you don't want to follow the crowd, take the Manhattan Canyon Trail, which begins about half a mile away from the southern parking lot at the end of Somersville Road, just before you reach the pond. The trail slowly climbs up the hillside from the Nortonville Trail. It connects with the Black Diamond Trail, on which you can either walk back (turn right) to the Nortonville Trail, getting to the Cemetery side, or hike (turn left) to Pioneer Pond, Jim's Place, and to the Nortonville Townsite. The latter loop keeps you hiking for at least five miles, depending on the detours you will make to explore old mining sites.

Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve between Mt. Diablo and the west delta

The Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve has between 45 and 65 miles of trails, depending on which source you are consulting and how you measure the length of those trails that wind up steep slopes. There are hiking-only trails and horse and bicycle trails. Many trails are also frequented or crossed by cows. The preserve features a dense trail network, well-marked with signposts, inviting hikers to loop around and access the different park features including places and artifacts from the coal mining days between about 1860 and 1900, when this was the Mt. Diablo Coal Field. The mining towns Nortonville, Somersville and Stewartsville were within the current preserve boundaries. Nortonville, founded by Noah Norton in 1861, was the largest. An information board at the Nortonville Townsite, west of the Rose Hill Cemetery, says that more than 1,000 residents were living just in that town at the peak of mining activity. Then, the town boasted a public school, a hotel, stores, churches, fraternal halls, and saloons. The town is gone, but the mining bonanza left some marks between riparian habitats and often steep hills covered by grassland, chaparral, or mixed evergreen forest.

Getting there
From Oakland, California, drive east on Highway 24. In Walnut Creek go north on Interstate 680 and take the connector 242 through Concord to Highway 4. Drive east on Highway 4. Pass Pittsburg and take the Somersville Road exit in Antioch. Go south on Somersville Road. Follow this road through the residential area and drive into the hills until you get to the park entrance. After passing the gate you will find a parking lot on the left side. There are the park office, a small visitor center, and interpretive boards. You can access the trail network here or from another parking and picnic area that is located further south, less than a mile away. This second trailhead is the gateway to the Greathouse Visitor Center (closed during 2009 and 2010) and mining features such as the Hazel Atlas Portal, various shafts, mines and tunnels. From here you can get on the Nortonville Trail, Stewartville Trail, Manhattan Canyon Trail and other trails, paths and loops.

Resources
[1] East Bay Regional Park District: Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve.
[2] David Weintraub: East Bay Trails. Wilderness Press, Berkeley, 1998.

A salt bush of the southwestern United States: Atriplex lentiformis

Atriplex lentiformis is one of the salt bush species of the goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceae) that is found in California and northern Mexico. The most common names for this plant are quailbush, big saltbrush, or big saltbush. The latter names suggest that it is a plant with a high tolerance for salinity. It also is drought and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) tolerant and loves sunshine. The typical habitats include salt-marshes and coastal areas with saline or alkaline soils. I found the one shown in the picture somewhat away from the coast between the La Brea tar pits in Hancock Park in Los Angeles, where it grows next to arroyo willows (Salix lasiolepis) near the Pleistocene Garden. The highly branched shrub bears scaly gray-green leaves that are slightly rippled along the edges—looking a little bit like green tongues. The leaves are said to be edible, but I brought my own lunch.

References
[1] USDA Plants Profile: Atriplex lentiformis, big saltbush.
[2] Plants for a future: Atriplex lentiformis, quail bush.

Hancock Park and La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles

This bust of Captain G. Allan Hancock stands in Hancock Park. The sculpture honors Capt. Hancock, who was a sea captain, oilman, explorer, developer, banker, aviator, scientist, businessman, railroad engineer, musician, and philanthropist [1]. In 1913 he granted Los Angeles County the exclusive privilege to excavate at his Rancho La Brea for a period of two years [2]. A fossil tooth of a saber-toothed cat had been found at this place along with many other interesting fossil bones and remains—well-preserved in asphaltic sediments. During the two-year-period many more bones were excavated. In May 1915, Hancock donated parts of the Rancho land to Los Angeles County for exhibition and preservation of the scientific findings and excavation sites.

Today, this land, surrounded by Wilshire Blvd., Curson Ave., 6th Street and Ogden Ave., features various little park trails, circling around a bubbling lake pit, excavation pits, an amphitheater and a Pleistocene Garden. The Hancock sculpture is not alone in this park: life-size sculptures of Pleistocene animals are “roaming” the park land and close-by sculptures of the L.A. County Art Museum such as “Phoenix” by Alexander Liberman can be seen. Art meets paleontology. More pleistocenic animations and a rich Ice Age fossil collection are housed inside the Page Museum, where visitors also can watch scientists working on whatever new bones came out of the asphalt deposits. Ice Age biodiversity in your view at their hands.

Getting there
From downtown Los Angeles go west on Wilshire Boulevard toward Beverly Hills. Hancock Park, the La Brea Tar Pits and the Page Museum are located between 5801 and 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036. Turn right on Curson Avenue and find parking to the left behind the Page Museum. A better way: take the bus or come by bike!

References and links
[1] Captain G. Allan Hancock.
[2] Chester Stock (revised by John M. Harris): Rancho La Brea • A Record of Pleistocene Life in California. Seventh Edition. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 2001 (ISSN 0079-0943); pages 3-4.
[3] Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits.

From the outskirts of Ojai to Nordhoff Peak: Climbing Pratt Trail

The Ojai Valley in California, about an hour's drive away from Ventura or Carpinteria, is surrounded by the Los Padres National Forest. There are various trails that can easily be accessed from Mira Monte, Meiners Oak or downtown Ojai. The Pratt Trail is one of them. This trail goes uphill through chaparral/forest and along meadows, where you might find a picnic table with shade. In the lower section, this trail passes residential areas with houses that are surrounded by beautiful gardens. In most parts, Pratt Trail is narrow and steep. It takes you to Nordhoff Peak with views of the Pacific Coast and the Channel Islands, weather permitting.

Getting there
From the intersection of Highway 150 (Ojai Avenue) and Signal Street next to the Arcade and Libbey Park in downtown Ojai, go east on Signal Road. Turn left at the Water Tank and carefully drive to the trailhead parking lot at dirt road's end.

Resources
[1] Hiking Ojai.
[2] Trails of Nordhoff Ridge from Rose Valley to Ojai including Gridley and Pratt Trails.
[3] Gabriele Rau's experience (March 9, 2002): Nordhoff Peak.

Tiki Head in Morro Bay State Park

Tiki Head is a rock in the Cerro Cabrillo Area of Morro Bay State Park in San Luis Obispo County, California. The rock can be accessed in about an hour by taking Quarry Trail, starting at the Quarry Traihead just off South Bay Blvd. You'll get the best impression of its head-like appearance from the upper part of Quarry Trail. To reach the head, you'll need to do the short, but steep climb on Cerro Cabrillo Trail through low chaparral. This hike also provides exciting views of the estuary, the Sand Split and the distant hills of Montaña de Oro State Park. There are different ways or detours possible for returning to from where you started by including Live Oak Trail or parts of Park Ridge Trail in your hiking route.

Getting there
From Highway 1, take the South Bay Boulevard exit. Drive south past the intersection with State Park Road. After less than a mile, the Quarry Trailhead parking lot is coming up to your left.

Resources
[1] Morro Bay State Park.
[2] Black Hill Trail Map.