Prescribed Burning at Fish Slough

Earlier this week I was escorted out to watch a prescribed burn at Fish Slough. Why do we burn? Emergent vegetation chokes up the waterway through the slough, so burning off the vegetation opens up habitat for pupfish and migrating waterfowl. Yes, we use fire to manage for a fish. I think that's kinda neat. The burn also allows nutrient recycling in the system.

	shooting a flare to ignite vegetation out in the marsh
	in my Nomex and with an escort, I was able to be closer than I thought!
	using a propane torch to continue the burn

Eureka Dunes, Death Valley National Park

Continuing on the Death Valley Road out of Big Pine, you drop down into Eureka Valley, part of Death Valley National Park. A rather gnarly washboard road takes you to the Eureka Dunes, the tallest dunes in California at 700 feet. Being late in the day we only hiked up to the first ridge, but even that was enough of a workout! The dunes are home to 5 endemic beetles and 3 Endangered plants, but all we saw that day was evidence of wildlife left in the sand.

Common Raven

these tiny, unidentified tracks were everywhere!

Joshua Flat, Piper Mountain Wilderness

I took a trip over the Inyos along Death Valley Road into the territory of BLM's Ridgecrest Field Office. The road is almost surreal as the pinyon-juniper forest transitions into some of the most dense Joshua trees I've ever seen. The above picture doesn't quite capture it, but all of those specks on the alluvial fans in the background are Joshua trees! Something about them just makes me happy...

Old 4x4 roads have been closed to vehicle access, but allow you to hike through the area with relative ease. I headed up into one of the washes and climbed my way up and up...I was hoping to pop out on the other side and see Deep Springs Valley, but didn't quite make it. Bird highlights included a single Canyon Wren's song echoing in the rocks and a flock of 15 Pinyon Jays noisily escorting me out at the end of my day (shown below). I hope to return in the spring for wildflowers, herps, and rumored Scott's Orioles!