Saturday, September 7 · 10am - 1pm PDT
Location: Bear Valley Trailhead
Bear Valley Visitor Center Access Road Point Reyes Station, CA 94956
Tickets: $50-60
Forests are stories unfolding in slow motion. Wouldn’t you love to understand how to “read” them? Polish your plant identification skills on the trees of Bear Valley while learning their stories and relationships, strengths and vulnerabilities. Understand what most people don’t about how trees actually work. No experience necessary. Wheelchair accessible two-mile hike with a great variety of trees. View the Access Northern California trail description for Bear Valley.
Trees/ shrubs could include:
--Douglas-fir
--California bay laurel
--Coast live oak
--Coyote brush
--Red elderberry
--Willow
--Coffeeberry
--Red alder
Topics could include:
--How do trees grow and repair themselves?
—What do most people not understand about leaves?
--What’s the deal with mycorrhizae?
--What are the different strategies for surviving fire?
--How have human activities impacted the vegetation of Bear Valley?
—Is fire good or bad, and is that even the right question?
--All-time greatest hits “What’s that thing in the tree?” and “What’s this thing I found on the ground?”
We’ll meet at the Bear Valley Trailhead before embarking on a two-mile hike, which we’ll take at a “botanizer’s pace” (slowly). Elevation gain is negligible. Surfaces are one paved trail and one gravel road with two wooden bridges. For specific accessibility questions, please contact instructor at naomi.sorbet@gmail.com
Naomi Sorbet - Sparked by a childhood visit to Point Reyes, Naomi studied Forestry and Environmental Sciences at UC Berkeley, and is a Certified Arborist and California Naturalist. She believes connection with nature is enhanced by understanding, and loves helping people have a richer experience of the ecosystems they're in.
For any questions, please email us at fieldinstitute@ptreyes.org.