• MMM in the Americas 24-25
    Prep for our hike: Plant species lists from Marcel's office
    Eliska and Marcel live in a cool neighbourhood in Davis; there's shared orchards & community spacesCheers! It's real Pilsener from Czech Republic. Eliska was a wonderful host 😍Our private lecture-walk with Marcel, at Cold Canyon, in the coastal rangesA beautiful day to see chaparral countryside and identify many plants. My favourites were oaksAnd once we survived Highway 99 and Motel 6, we left the madness and stopped for a moment on the PCTFirst sunset in Bishop, at 4pm! Lots of Asteraceae shrubsHiking in the eastern foothills of the Sierra Nevada - bloody awesome mountainsWe hiked up to 2450m altitude, higher than any place in Australia. These mountains are around 4000mAnd it was friggin cold ❄️; with snow and ice aroundEarly morning walk, so I could experience minus 6 degrees 😲 - thanks to the sunshine, it was beautSierra Nevada😂 we played tennis in 3 degrees 😁, with Rob and 2 old fellas. It was fun, but I hurt my knee 😞

    Inland to Davis and Bishop

    15.–19. nov. 2024, Forente stater ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Ready to leave the rainforest coast, we headed across the coastal ranges to Davis, a 'college town', to be kindly hosted by Marcel Rejmanek and Eliska Rejmankov for a night, and do morning walk in the hills. Marcel and Mark talked plants non-stop; they met in the late 90s in Galapagos.

    Due to snow on high passes, we drove via the central valley to reach Bishop, on the other side of Sierra Nevada, to stay a week with Rob (who worked with Mark in Galapagos in the late 90s) and Elaine. The central valley is a major agricultural zone (irrigated), providing food for millions of people. Highway 99 runs right through it; we drove ~500km through almost constant development - houses, factories, shops, trucks and cars. It was awful!

    But it's awesome to be in and around Bishop, in the Owens Valley, surrounded by mountains and so much open space, which feels great after being in the rainforest. And Elaine and Rob are great hosts, providing delicious treats and wholesome dinners, and great conversation.    Les mer

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