At the end of October, as the leaves were dropping and the field season was ending in New York I received an awesome offer from TEAMS: Would you like to do what you are doing now (forest stand exams), but in the mountains of Southern California? I did not even hesitate for a New York second to proclaim YES! The next thing I knew I was flying to the west coast, boy was it a shocker to step out of Fresno airport in the middle of the central valley to palm trees and 60 degree temps!
After meeting with some other coworkers, we cruised to the main TEAMS office in Porterville, which they share with Sequoia National Forest. On the walls of the hallways in the office are photos of gargantuan giant sequoia trees, all living happily some 50 miles or so away. I would've loved to go see them and see if they can compare to the mighty redwoods, but our work would take us to a different forest in a much drier area...
Our modest accommodations were in Gorman, along the I-5 in an area that seems to be perpetually windy, interesting there were no wind turbines to be seen. The Econolodge had a tasty mexican restaurant and a nice American style restaurant called the Ranch House attached to it. We wasted no time in trying both, but as anyone who travels will tell you, eating out all the time is expensive and potentially bad for your health. The lodging and restaurant complex:
Coming from the humid east to the dry west was an adjustment, especially for my nose which was almost continuously clogged from the dust that got kicked up so easily everywhere. It took time for us to get our data collection protocol figured out, but eventually we made it out to experience the beauty of the area. The mountain seen straight ahead is Mt Pinos, at 8800 feet the highest peak in Ventura county, the brownness of the landscape shows just how dry it commonly stays.
As one goes higher in elevation though, the precipitation increases and climatic conditions change to support a more substantial forest. Jefferey Pines seen from the road and looking towards Mt. Pinos:
As we left Frazier mountains for work one day, I caught a typical, beautiful California sunset. You can see the fog that shrouded Bakersfield that day rushing up into the highlands.
After just less than 2 weeks of working in the mountains of Los Padres National Forest, a new assignment appeared almost out of nowhere. They were sending us to the San Bernardino National Forest and we were to stay in the resort town of Big Bear Lake!
For those who don't know, Big Bear is the premiere ski destination for the LA area, perhaps because it is the closest. They put us up at the fabulous Northwoods Resort, which had a nice restaurant/bar, in-room fire places, and a outdoor pool with hot tub. I totally felt pampered, but at the end of each day working hard in the woods, I'd say we earned it.
We scouted a bit the first day, soon realizing our plots were very far apart. It was inevitable that our previous production estimates for the week were going to fall short. Our bleak outlook didn't change the fact that we were in a beautiful location:
This part of CA is very prone for fires, so our inventory had that as one objective and consequently many of the plots were laid along roads. As we were doing our work, one could not help but to step back and take notice to the vista that stretched away:
You can't quite tell for them photo, but this country was super steep, and of course super loose. See if you can pick out a 2 lane highway cut into this unstable mountain in the next photo:
I would say the slope directly below me was in excess of 80% or about 45 degrees from vertical. That would be another item that slowed us down, the relentless steep and rugged terrain. I cannot imagine trying to fight a wildfire in these conditions, absolutely miserable. For those who complain of the high costs to fight wildfires in CA, take note to the terrain that firefighters must work in and tell people to STOP building houses in precarious, fire-prone places! Nearly everywhere you go in CA are people, that state is super saturated and super beautiful:
I have such a love, hate relationship with CA. I hate the crowding, traffic and relative expensiveness; but the range of ecosystems and raw, natural beauty that it offers will always amaze me and keep me coming back for more.
