On our drive back to the Bay Area from the JMT/PCT, we stopped several times along the road, smelling this and looking for that. (This is what you do when your friends/hiking companions run a wildcrafted soap/incense/perfume etc. company.) One of the most aromatic plants in the area - one that you could instantly smell as soon as you rolled down the windows - is Chamaebatia foliolosa, more commonly known as Mountain Misery. It gets its name for the wildly resinous and sticky leaves that adhere to just about anything. It's scent is unpleasant to some, but a few of us (including me), were absolutely transfixed by the somewhat innocuous fern-looking plant.In any case, look for Mountain Misery next time you're out in the Sierras. Kitkiddizze, Gary Snyder's famous homestead built in the early 70s, is named after the local Wintun Indian word for Bear Clover, also known as - yes, you guessed it - Mountain Misery.
Plantasia
Thanks to the ladies of San Francisco's Gravel and Gold for hipping me to this album. Recorded in the mid 70s by weirdo electronic musician Mort Garson (who also did the backing music to Richard Burton's interpretation of The Little Prince), this was given out with the purchase of a Simmon’s mattress at Sears in 1976, and as a bonus, came with extensive instructions on plant care. Track names include "Symphony For A Spider Plant," "Ode to An African Violet," and "Mellow Mood For Maidenhair." Perfect.MP3: Mort Garson - Plantasia
Jeffrey Pine
My favorite tree. The Jeffrey Pine, named in honor of its botanist documenter John Jeffrey, occurs from southwest Oregon through much of California (mainly in the Sierra Nevada) and all the way down to northern Baja California in Mexico. In the north of its range, it grows widely at 4,900 to 6,900 ft and to the south, anywhere between 5,900 to 9,500 feet.The tree gets between 82 to 130 feet tall and the leaves are needle-like and grow in bundles of three. The cones are 4.7 to 9.4 inches long and dark purple when immature.See you soon, Jeffrey Pines.MP3: Metallica - Master Of Puppets
California Etc.
Cold Splinters is headed out to California tomorrow, and for those of you living in the Bay Area, come on down and hang out with me and the wonderful folks from Juniper Ridge this Saturday. We'll all be one of my favorite stores out west, Gravel and Gold, from 1-5 pm distilling White Fir from a recent JR trip to Carson Pass (a few of Obi's photos from that trip are after the jump). So if you want to smell better than all of your friends, come on down and watch the magic unfold.Learn more about Field Lab, Juniper Ridge's "aromatic snapshots of life on the trail, here.
NATURE NOTES
As previously noted, I spent a couple of days last week in the Trans-Pecos, doing some work and visiting friends in Marfa. There are endless amounts of things that I love about that part of the country, but the one that stays with me after I get back east is the wonderful Marfa Public Radio. There's loads of great programming on the"Radio For A Wide Range," but for Cold Splinters, we thought we'd point you towards Nature Notes. Here's some more info:
Why do rattlesnakes rattle and hummingbirds hum?How do flowers market themselves to pollinators?Why do tarantulas cross the road?Nature Notes investigates questions like these about the natural world of the Chihuahuan Desert region every week on Marfa Public Radio. Through interviews with scientists and field recordings, this Marfa Public Radio original series reveals the secrets of desert life.
Listen to a few episodes here (they're very short), and learn about that handsome javelina, pictured above.