flowers

I bought a bouquet of flowers from the farmer's market for $5

Joshua Tree National Park

Today is a school holiday, César Chávez day. With the day off, I decided to go adventuring! So, last night, friends and I drove to Joshua Tree NP, a mere 2 hours from school. We spent most of today exploring the park.


We woke up to this! We were lucky to find a campsite at Indian Cove campgrounds.

Good Morning!

We climbed a little bit. Our theme was to wear ridiculous clothing.

We stopped by the cholla garden. They look furry and like they're glowing, but they are actually covered in yellow spikes of death. (They're like cactus)

The skeleten of a dead cholla plant

We took a 3 mile loop hike near Cottonwood campgrounds. This is Jasmine.

Jasmine again! These are such sweet rocks.

Annie, who is taking geology, says the red streaks are probably due to mineral deposits, and they might have had a lower heat capacity than the surrounding rock, causing the rock to split like so.

The back of Jasmine, Annie, and Claire.

At the top of Mastadon Peak (~3400 feet) From left to right: Brenna, Emily, Annie, Claire, Jasmine

There used to be mines here (stopped around 1970)

These rocks look like they're trying to spell something

The rocks are so cool! They were formed by blobs of magma that used to be in the earth's mantle, and then pushed up at what used to be the bottom of the ocean floor, where groundwater met the magma and introduced chemical reactions and weathering, rounding the surfaces and dramatizing the cracks. Also pictured here are the yucca plants that are spiky

Henry W. Coe

This spring break (march 14-19) I went on a backpacking trip with nine friends to Henry W. Coe state park (rolling hills near Morgan Hills/Gilroy, California).

Day 1 (Sunday): On 101 N with lucky Elvis at the stand

Day 1 (Sunday): We got to the park around sunset, then hiked 2 miles to Frog Lake where we camped. The weather was nice enough we slept without a tent every night

Day 2 (Monday): Packing up for a day of hiking - Grant's pack with a dangling bottle of Sriracha

Day 2 (Monday): Ghostly looking trees

Day 2 (Monday): Trees that looked like they were painted red - need some help with identification!

Day 2 (Monday): This tree has tons of little holes pecked into it by woodpeckers - they were pecking away while i took this picture, can you spot the birdie?

Day 2 (Monday): first of several river crossings

Day 2 (Monday): some of the trail

Day 2 (Monday): some of the landscape

Day 2 (Monday): After 6 miles of hiking, the last of which was an epic uphill switchback on a trail less than a foot wide, we arrive at a campsite. Sam (right) is standing where we slept. We had a sweet view to wake up to!

Day 3 (Tuesday): This fungus has encased many of the trees in the park - its crusty and white-green. The trees it has infected are all dead.

Day 3 (Tuesday): a newt!

Day 3 (Tuesday): The view from the highest point of the park (2400 feet) - this picture would have been vastly more epic with a wide angle lens

Day 3 (Tuesday): The 9 men lounging by the trail marker at 2400 feet. From left to right, Andrew aka "Champ", Grant aka "Juice" (sitting), John aka "Merring", Nolan aka "Provider", Max aka "Bear Cavalry" (sitting), Noah aka "crack baby" (laying down), Ry aka "Arnoldi 88", Sam aka "the medic", and Mike aka "Dirty Jersey" aka "Dirt" aka "Dej". We love our nicknames.

Day 3 (Tuesday): Mississippi Lake, our destination! (4.5 miles booked on Tuesday)

Day 3 (Tuesday): claiming spots on the tarp

Day 3 (Tuesday): a log

Day 3 (Tuesday): plants

Day 3 (Tuesday): tree next to our campsite

Day 4 (Wednesday): Noah covered in soot (I'll explain later) with his machete. We took a "chill day" at Mississippi Lake all Wednesday and made day hikes around the area. We explored the area quite thoroughly but I didn't bring my camera.

Day 5 (Thursday): This dead brush covered many of the hills. There had been fires in the area a few years ago, evidenced by all the burnt, dead brush (which got us very dirty and soot-covered when we brushed past it in our exploring on Wednesday), but new grasses have since then grown, creating a bright green undertone to the black, spidery twigs

Day 5 (Thursday): Noah (left) and Max (right) contemplating the water by Thursday night's campsite, we had hiked back 5 miles.

Day 4 (Thursday night): a little froggy making a BUTTLOAD of noise. It was probably 2 inches in length, but chirping louder than the average human yell. Every night except monday night was filled with the constant, incessant chirping of these little guys. Adorable!

Day 5 (Thursday night): Champ taught me a little about long exposure shots with fire, this is an attempt

Day 6 (Friday): Ry pumping water through the filter - a daily chore. This is the only picture from this day, as I woke up suddenly taken by the flu, and wasn't quite in the photography mood for the 5.5 uphill miles back to the car.

BEST SPRING BREAK EVURRRR YEEEYUHHH
*to view the complete photo album, click here

my windowsill

this is the view from my harwood tower window

Smiley 80's

There is an annual party at the Claremont Colleges known as Smiley 80's, hosted by Pomona College. Needless to say, my friends and I dressed up and attended the event.

Annie, Claire, Kendra
This was also my first time experimenting with the flash attachment

Bernard Field Station

Today my biology class went to the Bernard Field Station (80 acres of land nrth of Foothill Boulevard), an outdoor laboratory for field research. Our professor pointed out a large number of plants, some of which are featured here.

Fireweed

Poison Oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum)

Golden current (Ribes aureum)

Yerba Santa (Eriodictyon trichocalyx)

Man-root (Marah macrocarpus)

Elderberry (Sambucus mexicana)

Sycamore (Platanus racemosa)