A Song of Water and Ice
Atmospheric rivers, ice storms and trees, outdoor time trackers, JMT planning, monarchs, and more
howdy
First off, I hope that everyone who’s reading this newsletter on the west coast has sufficiently dried out and managed to make it through the latest series of atmospheric rivers with as little trouble as possible.
The news I’ve seen out of California has been stunning, to say the least. One estimate puts the state-wide damages at almost $11 billion, with flooding, mudslides, lost power, avalanches, heavy snow, and high winds wreaking havoc throughout the Golden State. That’s pretty wild, considering the state’s traditional “rainy season” still has almost two full months left to go.
Stay dry out there …
The Big Story
Something to talk about
JMT Planning Phase
Although it’s not the longest of long-distance trail routes, the John Muir Trail has always had a bit of extra allure that some of those other backpacking trips don’t. Is it because this 211-mile route hovers at high elevations and passes through some of the most remote and spectacular scenery available in the Lower 48? Yeah, most likely. The Sierra Nevada range is nothing to sneeze at, aesthetically speaking.
To be honest, I’m not sure how this route is going to hold up long-term, given the increasing frequency of formerly rare catastrophic weather and the extremely remote
nature of the route itself—last year, two important bridges washed out, and I’m betting the damage from this recent slate of atmospheric rivers isn’t helping much. But, as long as you’re game for re-routes and changes, now is the time to start planning if you’re hoping for a summer adventure.
Outdoor Life magazine has a helpful primer on prepping for the JMT, which covers everything from gear to permits to drop box logistics and what to look for in training hikes. Good luck to all hopefuls—be sure to send me your trail name once you get back!
Tech Talk
Gadgets, Technology, and Hype
Track Your Outdoor Time
These days, technology can track just about all aspects of your life. And I’m not talking about how the internet has become a hellscape of surveillance capitalism—I’m talking about wearable tech that lets you know how your stress levels are, the quantity and quality of your sleep, your heart rate, and a slew of other data points that may or may not actually be helpful to know.
A well-known sports tech site is saying that Garmin may be about to roll out a feature called Nature Minutes, which will track the amount of time a user spends in the outdoors and presumably spur them on if they’re not meeting their goal. This is still a rumor and it’s not known exactly how this will work, but as an Apple Watch user, I do find that occasional prodding to stand up and move around or meet an exercise goal to be helpful. I kind of feel like folks who wear Garmins are already pretty attuned to the time they spend outdoors, but you never know.
The tech site itself is behind a membership wall, but you can get some more details over at Advnture. Also, can we be done with this trope of removing vowels from the names of things? Thnks.
Aside here: my husband is a psychotherapist and is adamant that the vast majority of people absolutely do not need to know all of the different biometrics that wearable technologies can share. I used one of the sleep quality tracking apps for a while but all it did was make me super stressed about sleeping, and when I would wake up I would look to the nice graphs on my phone to tell me whether or not I had a good night’s sleep and not check in with my actual body or brain. So … keep that in mind. But hey, Nature Minutes could be cool!
Wildlife Crossing
Wildlife and the Outdoors
Ravens vs Crows
I’m willing to bet a fairly large percentage of the big black birds you think are crows are actually ravens … or maybe vice versa. Back in the deepest days of Pandemic, I watched an excellent online presentation from Dr. Kaeli Swift, an ornithologist whose PhD dissertation was on the funeral behaviors of crows. It was a really fun talk and I learned a lot, but I still find myself mixing the birds up—even though they both like to sit on a power line near my window and watch me type this newsletter out every week.
If you would like to know a bit more about what kind of bird is looking at you through the window while you work, this primer from the Audubon Society is a great place to start. Also, I highly recommend Dr. Swift’s Instagram account corvidresearch, which is chock full of really fun facts and videos.
Fall of the Monarchs
If you’ve noticed fewer monarch butterflies around, you’re not alone. During the winter months of 2022 in California, the number of iconic orange-and-black insects dropped about 30% from the previous year. Researchers blame the rough winter weather of 2022-2023 for the lower numbers, which definitely does not bode well for this year’s coming count. But they also note that there is still a lot we don’t know about monarch populations, and a low number one year may bounce back the following year—in 2020, only about 2,000 monarchs were counted; in 2021, that number rose to around 200,000. via New York Times (unlocked).
If you are looking to help bolster monarch populations, the absolute best thing you can do is plant some native plants in your garden, including NATIVE milkweed, not the tropical kind. Big box stores don’t always know the difference, so check with your local native nurseries to be sure. And speaking of that …
Leafing Out
Plants!
Garden Tour Tix On Sale
I try not to focus too hard on any one particular region on the west coast in this newsletter, but Southern California is always going to have a strong pull on me. Plus, I love native gardening and one of my all-time favorite native plant organizations is the Theodore Payne Foundation in Los Angeles … so I will note that the 2024 Garden Tour tickets are now on sale. Since 2003, the Native Plant Garden Tour highlights public and private native plant gardens across Southern California, from sprawling hillside estates to apartment container gardens. If you’re looking for inspiration—or just to rub elbows with some fellow plant nerds—you’ll want to check this thing out. This year’s tour runs on April 13th and 14th.
After the Ice
Here in Portland, the whole city was basically shut down for a week after a massive ice storm and frigid temperatures transported us into some weird northwestern walk-in freezer. Portland is known for its extensive tree canopy (yay), but it is also known for having huge trees come tumbling down during big storms (boo). Local media coverage, of course, focused on the menace of our mature trees, spotlighting stories like a home in Southwest Portland that was hit by not one, not two, not three, but FOUR massive trees in the storm’s aftermath. And while something like that really sucks, it’s also the exception to the rule.
Portland arborist and urban dendrologist Casey Clapp (hello, fellow Casey!) has a terrific blog post on the “riskiness” or urban trees, as well as what trees actually do to bolster their strength after a high-stress event. It’s just good science, people! Casey also co-hosts a podcast on trees and just started a Substack of his own:
One More Thing
Oh yeah, before I go …
I’ll be heading to the east coast for some family stuff in a few days, so the newsletter will be taking a short break to ensure my niece and nephews are sufficiently spoiled by their West Coast uncle. But I’ll be back after that!
I’m also really happy to announce that both paid and free subscriptions are on the rise for 2024 so far! I’m bouncing around a few ideas to expand the newsletter and maybe make a few tweaks here and there, so as always, please feel free to leave a comment or shoot me a line to let me know what you like—and definitely share this newsletter with anyone who you think might dig it!
Until next time,
Happy Trails,
