Bothe-Napa Valley State Park Exploration

1a. Bothe-Napa Valley State Park

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- Going into the park, you're greeted by a riparian woodland that gives way to mixed evergreen forest. Some visitors are surprised at the prevalence of redwoods. Like nearly all of the state's redwood groves, it's second growth, having been logged in the mid-to-late 1800s.

1b. Looking up - mixed evergreen forest

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- Tilt your head back here, look skyward and you'll see a majestic forest canopy of coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), black oak (Quercus kelloggii), and foothill pine (Pinus sabiniana).

1c. Needles of Coast Redwood

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- The soft, flat needles found on California's state tree, the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens).

1d. Bark - Coast Redwood

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- The distinctive thick, ropy bark of the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) can grow up to 12 inches thick on mature trees. It's bright red when freshly exposed, then weathers to a pale reddish gray. Its thickness and relative lack of resin make the bark nearly impervious to flame, an important self-preservation feature in an ecosystem that frequently experiences fires.

2a. Colorful evidence of bird life

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- Bothe-Napa State Park is known for its abundant bird life. Somewhere nearby, a Steller's jay (Cyanocitta stelleri) is missing a feather. These birds, commonly found invading picnic tables, are as loud and raucous as their bright blue plumage suggests.

2b. Wild Turkey feather

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- The park is also home to wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo). Although they primarily feed on grasses, these large birds can often be seen dining on the park's abundant nuts such as acorns, pine nuts, and hazelnuts.

2c. Not so lucky

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- This scattering of feathers liberally dotted with white droppings is evidence of a bird that parted with more than just a bit of its plumage. It likely became a source of food for one of this forest's birds of prey, perhaps a sharp-shinned hawk (Accipiter striatus) or a Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii).

3a. California Bay tree

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- This common western, mixed-woodland tree (Umbellularia californica) is also known as the California bay laurel. Its highly aromatic leaves have a pleasant scent similar to the familiar kitchen spice, Bay laurel. The local Wappo people roasted and ground the tree's nuts to make flour, and used other parts of the plant for medicinal purposes.

3b. Foothill pine

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- A sometime neighbor of the California bay tree is the foothill pine (Pinus sabiniana), also known as ghost pine for its delicate and airy appearance. The Wappo people have used its surface roots for basketry. Observation of the Wappo harvesting these roots with sharp sticks led to the colloquial name "digger pine" which is now out of favor.

3c. Bark of foothill pine

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- The bark of this foothill pine (Pinus sabiniana) is oozing a sticky, golden pitch. Such pitch was chewed like gum by the Wappo natives in the region in and around what is now Bothe-Napa Valley State Park. The tree's cones were used as fire starters, and the nuts were harvested for food.

4a. Sword fern

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- In wetter areas of the park, especially along heavily shaded stream banks and side trails, sword fern (Polystichum munitum) rise up to 8 feet high with dozens of thick evergreen fronds.

4b. Sword fern spore cases

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- The sword fern (Polystichum munitum) found frequently in the wetter, shadier areas of the park's lower elevations, sports dramatic reddish-brown spore clusters called sori.

5a. Dancer amongst the giants

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- Butterflies are familiar denizens of Bothe-Napa Valley State Park. This delicate orange-and-black creature is likely a California crescent (Phyciodes orseis) or Mylitta crescent (Phyciodes mylitta) sipping nectar from angelica (Angelica tomentosa).

5b. Watch your step

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- Along with looking up at the forest canopy and around at the butterflies, make sure to look down at your feet. Otherwise, you might miss wildlife like this giant millipede, most likely of the genus Tylobolus. Although some exotic millipedes have almost 700 legs, most have between 80 and 200. None truly have the "1000 feet" as their name suggests.

5c. A fly on the ground, not the wall

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- If you're already on your belly to check out the millipede in the previous picture, you might be close enough to see even smaller forest dwellers. This 1/4-inch hoverfly (Syrphidae family?) displays a rather subtle but fetching iridescence on its wings.

6a. California black oak bark

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- One of the great pleasures of hiking in a mixed woodland is the variety of textures and colors; The California black oak (Quercus kelloggii) has a sooty black exterior grooved with numerous reddish lines.

6b. California black oak leaves

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- California black oak (Quercus kelloggii) have the classic lobed leaves associated with oaks. Growing up to 90 feet high, these quintessentially Californian trees can live up to 500 years, and were a preferred source of acorns for pre-European inhabitants.

6c. Acorns

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- All oaks develop some type of acorn, as seen in this unidentified species. Acorns from the California Black Oak (Quercus kelloggii) (not pictured) were one of the most important food sources for the Wappo people, who gathered them in huge quantities for mush, soup, and bread.

6d. Pacific poison-oak

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- No discussion of a hike in California would be complete without a caution about our Pacific poison-oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum). It is not a true oak, but a plant related to mangoes and pistachios. You know the drill: leaves of three, let them be.

7a. Blue elderberry

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- Bothe-Napa Valley State Park abounds with plants that provided useful raw materials to the native Wappo people, and the area was an important place for plant gathering. Sometimes one plant offered a variety of resources. Blue elderberry (Sambucus caerulea), for example, provided nutritious berries, and the blossoms were used for a fever-reducing tea.

7b. Blue elderberry branches

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- The area's native Wappo people favored the long, straight branches of the blue elderberry (Sambucus caerula) for making ceremonial whistles and split-stick rattles.

7c. Indian Hemp

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- Indian hemp (Apocynum cannabinum), a close cousin to marijuana, is a poisonous shrub with a long list of aliases and nicknames - dogbane, amy root, indian hemp, rheumatism root, wild cotton. Although too toxic for food or ceremonial uses, it was used for making string and rope.

7d. Toyon leaves

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- The distinctive sawtooth leaves of the native toyon shrub (Heteromeles arbutifolia) are a common sight in Bothe-Napa Valley State Park. The local Wappo people would bake the late-season berries in hot coals and enjoy them as a snack.

7e. Leaves of California hazelnut

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- The unassuming California hazelnut (Corylus cornuta var. californica) had a lot to offer the intrepid native forager. In addition to the well-known nuts, the durable wood fashioned well into digging tools, and the shoots provided useful weaving material for items like animal traps and baskets.

8a. Bark of the Pacific madrone

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- Madrone (Arbutus menziesii) is easy to spot by its shimmering, peeling orange bark and smooth, bare wood. The tree, a not-so-distant relative of the blueberry (Vaccinium sp.), provided the last harvest of the year for the native people here.

8b. Pacific madrone bark before peeling

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- Not all the bark of a Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii) will peel; Some remains mottled in a fashion more typical of tree bark. Looking only at close-up views of the two barks, you might think they were found on entirely different trees.

8c. Pacific madrone leaves

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- The distinctive, light-green leaves of the Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii) are a striking contrast to the bright orange of the tree's peeling bark.

9a. 'Forward gravelly loam' soil

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- The earth of Napa Valley is a confluence of volcanic, alluvial, and oceanic geologies, lending the hillsides an extraordinary variety of soil types - over 60 are recorded in this valley of 300,000 acres. The type of soil pictured here, called forward gravelly loam, is highly respected by wine growers. Volcanic in origin, this soil is a fine host for cabernet, syrah, possibly zinfandel wine grapes.

10a. Common manzanita

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- The lovely common manzanita (Arctostaphylos manzanita) is covered in distinctive peeling bark, more purple than that of its more coppery cousin, the Pacific madrone. Native groups in the area used manzanita leaves in a tea to cure stomach ailments, and carved the extremely tough wood into fishhooks and harpoon heads.

10b. Manzanita berries

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- Napa Valley's first fermented beverages were made by the native Wappo people from these small, apple-shaped berries. "Manzanita" or "little apple" in Spanish, refers to these bland but edible fruits that were the basis of a cider-like drink.

10c. Common manzanita, deadwood

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- Deadwood from the common manzanita (Arctostaphylos manzanita). As it ages, the wood dries silver with an appealing tight grain.

11a. Caught in the act - making soil for future wine

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- Much of the soil in Bothe-Napa Valley State Park is the leftovers of ancient volcanic activity, making it a potentially rich mixture for grape vines. On this slope supporting the trail up to Coyote Peak, you can see welded tuff, the raw parent material to some of the Valley's prized soils.

11b. Volcanic welded tuff, parent material of some growing soils

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- As it weathers, this gray, volcanic dirt develops into some of the Napa's fine grape-growing soils, such as forward gravelly loam.

12a. exposed layers of 'Kidd Loam' soil

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- This stratified soil is called Kidd loam. Volcanic in origin, it's a contributor to grapevine-friendly soils. On its own, though, Kidd loam is more often the base of range land than vineyards.

path

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