CA Dogface Butterfly Expedition 2010

Ok, so I've done a thread like this for the last two years and I figured I should do one for 2010 as well.

For background info on the CA Dogface Butterfly (the CA state insect) please see my first thread located HERE:

For last year's expedition click HERE.

The year we decided to look for this elusive high-flying butterfly on the same date as last year's visit to increase our chances of seeing one. In an effort to expand local knowledge of this insect I decided to bring a few botanists and biology professors along with me. They were equally split between their excitement over seeing the rare false indigo plant and observing the butterfly in its natural habitat as opposed to a collection display case!

I should have known something would go wrong during this expedition because the morning started out too easily. Everyone was on time and we all had every piece of equipment we needed. That never happens. We left my office at 8:30am, all of us piled into two vehicles, a Toyota Rav4 4wd (my girlfriend;s) and a Tacoma 4wd. Once through the gate leading to the preserve my girlfriend gave me "a look" as if to say "I hope the road does not get much worse than this". I looked at her then back at the dirt ranch trail, and the occasional rock that marred its already uneven surface, then quietly gulped. This was by far the smoothest section of road we would encounter during this trip.

After driving on the ranch trail for a couple miles we came upon the dreaded gulch. The trail in this area is very steep and rocky. There is no way to cross without 4wd which is why I asked my girlfriend to drive her car for us. My poor Prius would have fainted at the sight of this gulch! We slowly made our way down into the bottom of the gulch and up the other side, occasionally bouncing small soccer ball-sized rocks off her undercarriage. Within 20' of the top of the gulch the car ran out of HP/TQ and just stopped. Even with the pedal pressed to the floor no further would we move. We decided to back down the hill towards a flatter area and in an effort to get a running start up the hill. That idea worked although we still barely made it to the top. I know know why a minimum of v6 is required in real off-road adventures.

The trail smoothed out a bit and we all breathed a sigh of relief till we saw the foothill pine laying on the ground and partially blocking the road. I thought about getting out and clearing away some of the brush but the Tacoma driving ahead of us made it through just fine. Our turn didn't pan out so well. The girlfriend edged a bit to close to some branches on the driver's side and when she heard the scratching noise she swerved to the right and we were rewarded with scratching noises on the passenger side. I couldn't help but be reminded of a pinball bouncing off of objects that are not conducive to a high score. We made it through the brush but my stomach was starting to hurt as I tried to imagine what the side of her car looked like.

The rest of the trail is located along the wall of a steep canyon and is only large enough for one vehicle to pass at a time and there are no places to turn around. We were just over half way through this section of trail when we were greeted by a very large stump and rootball that had dislodged itself from the canyon wall and came to rest near the middle of the road. With no options for turning around and backing all the way down the trail from which we came as the only other alternative, we decided to hack away at the stump and the dirt mound blocking our way. Our tools included a Leatherman, a somewhat sharp rock, and our hiking shoes. While we worked at clearing the obstruction my girlfriend had ample time to inspect the damage done to the side of her car by the foothill pine branches we passed through earlier. Let's just say she was NOT happy though she swallowed her anger just let it go. She is such a trooper. Once I inspected the damage my stomach turned in on itself and I felt sick. It looked as is someone had keyed the whole side of the car in multiple places. Fortunately the scratches while wide, were not very deep and a fingernail dragged across them did not readily catch. We finished clearing the debris from the road and after a few false starts and a near plunge into the canyon bottom, we made it through and to the parking area of the preserve.

The observation and butterfly hunting part of the trip was uneventful yet exciting at the same time. Everyone was so excited to see the false indigo and the dogface butterfly that we soon forgot about the trail ordeal. One of the botanists on our expedition is a rare plant specialist with the California Native Plant Society (CNPS). She found a rare and CNPS listed (endangered) species of flower called 2-lobed clarkia (Clarkia biloba ssp. brandegeeae). The false indigo (Amorpha californica) plant is also CNPS listed as rare but the clarkia was new to me.

We estimate there were 75-100 male dogface butterflies in the area during our visit and that this may be the largest population in this area of the Sierra Foothills. We are now talking about doing a population study in the area to determine how unique this site is.

On another positive note, one of the biologists found a pickaxe near an old fire pit overlooking the canyon/river. We took that back with us and made short work of the stump and dirt that was blocking our exit from the preserve. It turns out it we had clear enough of the obstruction away to pass through going one way but not the other so more material had to be removed. I now owe some unknown entity a pick axe after I found the limits of the structural integrity of the handle.....

I'll add more as people send them to me but for now, enjoy the pics.

 

I almost ended up in the dogface house for sure BUT I'm great at rubbin' and buffin'! (see attached pic of my work to remove the scratches)

It would not have been right to make everyone walk the 15miles to the Preserve and back in 95deg temps. Especially since most were in their 40s-60s.

 

You're right but in our case the best you could do was stick it in 1st gear in 4wd and pray. lol I didn't expect the tree to do as much damage as it did. If there were rocks I would have aborted the trip!

I'm going to have to look at her car again and see if there were any other gear selectors I missed. 1st gear on the standard shifter just didn't feel like a 4wd low gear to me.

She is all smiley now that the scratches are gone and she can tell people she went real offroading in her lil 4wd. lol

 

Thanks Mark!

I ground clearance in those situations!

When I went up there in 2008, I borrowed my roommate's 2006 GMC Duramax 4x4 and it climbed the gulch like a champ. I guess the poor Rav4 was not in the same league.