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Arizona Trail 2015
Colorado Trail 2016
Continental Divide Trail 2017
Pacific Crest Trail 2014
San Diego Trans-County Trail 2016

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Continental Divide Trail 2017

Continental Divide Trail Gear List and Food

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Pedicularis (lousewort) is a really cool and diverse genus in the family Orobanchaceae. Most of these are root parasites of other plants, stealing water and nutrients, but not sugars from them. The flowers of a few species resemble the heads of an elephant! Here are 9 really cool Pedicularis species I found along the Pacific Crest Trail this year! 1. Pedicularis attollens (little elephant head) 2. Pedicularis contorta (coiled lousewort) 3. Pedicularis groenlandica (elephant’s head) 4. Pedicularis orinthorhynca (ducksbill lousewort) 5. Pedicularis bracteosa (towering lousewort) 6. Pedicularis densiflora (indian warrior) 7. Pedicularis racemosa (sickletop lousewort) 8. Pedicularis semibarbata (pinewoods lousewort) 9. Pedicularis howellii (Howell’s lousewort) this one has gone to seed, wish I saw it in flower! It’s rare in California too (CRPR 4.3)! #pedicularisattollens #pediculariscontorta #pedicularisgroenlandica #pedicularisorinthorhynca #pedicularisbracteosa #pedicularisdensiflora #pedicularisracemosa #pedicularissemibarbata #pedicularishowellii #pedicularis #lousewort #elephantheadlousewort #botany #plantdiversity #speciesrichness #botanist #botanizing #hiking #pct2019 #pacificcresttrail2019 #orobanchaceae #nature #wildflowers #cnps #californianativeplants #calflora #oregonnativeplants #washingtonnativeplants

Carex echinata ssp. echinata, the star sedge! The spiky parts are the female bits, a cluster of perigynia, each with an enclosed achene (seed). Just above that cluster you can see a male flower in bloom! Each Carex flower has three anthers which disperse pollen into the breeze with hopes of some of that pollen landing on a stigma sticking out of the end of another Carex’s perigynia. This species is very widespread and is found in Eurasia as well as North America in wet meadows, bogs and other wet places. This individual was growing in a little peaty patch of meadow in the High Sierra! #carexechinatasubspechinata #carexechinata #carex #sedges #starsedge #perigynia #anthers #stamens #bogs #bog #botany #monocots #californianativeplantsociety #californianature

Ericameria albida, the white flowered rabbitbrush, is a really cool and rare (CRPR 4.2) shrub which grows in very salty, alkaline meadows, mostly in Inyo County in California, but is also present in Nevada and Utah. As it’s specific and common names imply, it has bright white flowers, contrary to almost all other Ericamerias which typically have yellow disk flowers. Our last minute detour to this plant which we found almost immediately in the right habitat also introduced us to a ton of other really cool alkaline meadow endemic plants which I’ll post soon! #ericameriaalbida #ericameria #whitefloweredrabbitbrush #asteraceae #asters #compositae #californianativeplants #cnps #calflora #rareplant #nativeflora #alkalinemeadow #alkalisink #edaphic #alkaliendemic

Chaenactis alpigena, the southern sierra pincushion... a plant I’ve been wanting to see since I fell in love with the genus. Not only was I extremely excited to see this plant for the sake of its quaint beauty in its alpine habitat, but also I’ve now seen every Chaenactis species native to California! However there are still a couple varieties and subspecies to see! You can bet I’ll be after them! #chaenactisalpigena #chaenactis #sharsmithpincushion #pincushion #discoidaster #discoid #asters #asteraceae #compositae #botany #alpineflora #botanizing #californianativeplants #californianativeplantsociety #cnps #pct2019 #pacificcresttrail #southernsierrapincushion

@california_naturalist and @crime_pays_but_botany_doesnt recent Perityle hunting adventures inspired me to hunt for some of the species native to California! Perityle, commonly called rock daisies are cliff dwelling species, often growing in places hard for humans to reach. They are unusual in the Aster family because their disc flowers have only 4 lobes (see photo 3), almost all others have 5 lobes! After hunting around in the Panamint Mountains of Death Valley with no luck we went on the White Mountains to see the Ancient Bristlecone Pines and look for cool Eriogonum species. On the way out we stopped in a canyon we had hunted a few months ago and up on a cliff I spotted what I thought could be a Perityle or maybe an Erigeron. So we managed to scramble up the side of the canyon and there it was... Perityle megalocephala var. oligophylla, the small-leaved rock daisy!!! It’s a real world treasure hunt out here for me. I just love looking for plants! #peritylemegalocephala #peritylemegalocephalaoligophylla #perityle #rockdaisies #rockdaisy #asters #aster #asteraceae #nativeflora #californianativeplants #californianativeplantsociety #cnps #botanizing #whitemountains #botany #botanynerd #smallleavedrockdaisy

Check out this Buprestidae I saw the other day in the Panamint Mountains of Death Valley! Members of this beetle family are appropriately named jewel beetles. Most species are wood boring insects, laying their eggs in stressed trees. The eggs hatch into larvae that feed on the vascular tissues of the tree until they pupate and emerge from the tree as adults. They’re pretty quick fliers and can get around fast. The invasive and devastating emerald ash borer is a buprestid as well, their ability to survive in firewood and other woody debris that humans drive from place to place, their good dispersal ability and the ubiquitousness of ash trees has allowed that species to annihilate ash trees in eastern North America. Not to worry with this feller though, it’s probs native to the pinyon/ juniper woodland I found it in. #buprestidae #buprestid #jewelbeetles #jewelbeetle #beetles #beetlesofinstagram #insect #insectsofinstagram #tgif_insects #arthropodsanomymous

One of the most fun things about hiking in the remotest parts of the desert mountains is finding things that nobody has ever seen before. In this case, the old skeleton of a massive desert bighorn sheep!!! It is insane how heavy this animal’s head must be. Just the skull alone must have weighed 10 lbs and then just the one horn that had fallen off the skull weighed almost as much! A headbutt from one of these animals seems like it would pulverize a human being. I love love love finding stuff. #desertbighorn #desertbighornsheep #bighornsheep #oviscanadensis #oviscanadensisnelsoni #wilderness #wildlife #animalsofinsta #bighornskull #skulls #botanizing #skull #bones #nature #deathvalleynationalpark #deathvalley

Eriogonum mensicola (CRPR 1B.3). I’m in love with this buckwheat. Its just so tidy! Compact, perfect little buds burst into perfect little clusters of flowers, all coming from a matted bunch of leaves. It also grows in pinyon-juniper woodlands in high elevation desert mountains, one of my favorite places to be. Although rare, it can be very abundant in good habitat, we must have seen hundreds to thousands today! Pollinators were happy to visit the abundant flowers they produce as well! #eriogonummensicola #eriogonum #polygonaceae #rareplants #cnps #calfornianativeplants #crpr #calflora #botany #botanynerd #botanizing #deathvalley #deathvallynationalpark #botanyisbitchin #wildbuckwheats #crescentbuckwheat #californianativeplantsociety

A thru hiking addicted scientist is in love with the natural world.

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About Me

sheriffwoody

I'm 27 years old and have loved being outside since I can remember. As a kid I liked catching bugs and putting them in jars, examining them, and then trying to figure out what they were by looking them up in a field guide. I was enthralled to discover something, then be able to identify it and then learn all about it. My interest in all life forms hasn't ceased. Next I became obsessed with reptiles and amphibians, then plants then birds and now fungi. The interest in one subject never waned but was added to all the other subjects since in the real world they all interact. I know a vast number of plant, animal and fungi species and love looking for them and photographing them. I also love to share my knowledge, which is the purpose of this blog! I graduated from West Virginia University in 2012 with a degree in horticulture and then promptly began thru hiking the Appalachian Trail with my friend Buzz Lightyear in June of 2012 and finished in early December. Then April of 2014 I left for the Californian/ Mexican border by myself unsure of what to expect. What I found was the most spectacular landscape imaginable and among this wilderness I met some of the most interesting, friendly and fun people there are. I am very thankful to all of you who made this journey what it was, I came into a world of wonder by myself and left with a whole crew of friends and adventurers.

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A thru hiking addicted scientist is in love with the natural world.