"What have YOU done to reduce your Carbon Footprint today?"
This question was posed at the beginning of a presentation at a reception I attended with my parents at the University of California, Berkeley, Sagehen Creek Field Station. The presentation by Matt Kiese of River Run Consulting, focused on the fluvial geomorphology of Coldstream Canyon and the adverse impacts that human activity in the area has had on the watershed. I found the talk so interesting, that when Steve arrived this morning we decided to go hike up the Canyon and observe firsthand and with new eyes what was happening to the riparian habitat and the streamcourse, itself.
It IS a bit confusing:Donner Memorial State Park calls it Coldstream Valley.
This looks like a lovely alpine lake, but in actuality,it is a water filled gravel quarry.
A buck in velvet.Won't be long before those antlers are ready for the fall rut.
The culvert at horseshoe bend. This constriction has dramatically altered the characteristic of the stream channel. There is a backwater upstream that collects sediment, while immediately below the culvert the channel is eroding and becoming entrenched.
Railroad spikes from the line of tracks along the horseshoe bend.
Yours truly on the signal trestle (shhh!) over the tracks on the horseshoe bend.
Steve, the Little Mother, and Dad.
Amy and her birthday Cheesecake.We celebrated a couple of days early.
