Home»Gallery»Jasper Ridge Galleries»A Day at a Time: Individual Visits»2/28/2016 Trail 2 Spring Circuit»Trail 2 Circuit in Springtime

Trillium! Newts mating in the creek! New green leaves on many oak species, and blossoms! A springtime hike around the Trail 2 circuit from Escobar Gate: down Trail 2; further down, and along the horse trail from Webb Ranch that cuts across the corner of JRBP; back up to Trail 2 (trillium in bloom & poison oak flourishing); down to San Francisquito Creek (newts mating underwater); along Trail 2 upstream along San Francisquito Creek (many buckeye seeds putting down roots and up leaves); up Trail 3 to the ridge (various oak species in full spring garb: new super-green leaves, flowers, catkins); a peak into the blue oak forest along Trail 4 (more vigorous poison oak); on Road F along the ridgetop, to the lone valley oak (it also has new spring growth); looping around Trail 15 in the serpentine (the leather oak is the only oak without new spring growth; the single black oak has new red leaves); back along Road F to Escobar Gate. I append photos from a tour a few days later, along the ridge on Road F and Trail 15: a group led by Ragni and Marc Pasturel. The highlight of this tour was a downy woodpecker in the Phainopepla Tree.

Start with this collection, which has highlights of both days. If you want, you can then browse in any of the other collections, to see more trillium, newts, or oak blossoms.

Also in this collection: fresh scat from a big cat (mountain lion?); beetles; many flowers and gardens; the usual valley oaks; and a circle around the sun -- a 22° halo, AKA circumscribed halo.

Thanks to Jerry Hearn for alerting me to the prolific trillium on this circuit. If you want to see trillium at Jasper Ridge, Trail 2 is a good place, and now is a good time. Just watch out for poison oak.