Join co-leaders Judy Fenerty, Vivian Neou and Ray Curiel as we celebrate a Chapter tradition of welcoming the New Year with a walk to and BYO picnic at Franklin Point, which is part of the Año Nuevo State Park on the San Mateo County coast.

We will be exploring our surroundings as we casually walk towards Franklin Point, which is the most botanically interesting area of the park. We will be starting from the North Whitehouse Creek Trailhead, which is located south of Pescadero on Highway 1, just north of the Santa Cruz County line. We’ll enjoy ocean views, California native plants and raptors, songbirds and maybe marine mammals.

Coastal prairie flora we expect to see includes silver bur ragweed (Ambrosia chamissonis), California goldenbush (Ericameria ericoides), coastal sagewort (Artemisia pycnocephala) and Argentina anserina (Potentilla anserina).

Expected dune flora includes yellow sand verbena (Abronia latifolia), pink sand verbena (Abronia umbellata), sea side heliotrope (Heliotropium curassavicum) and American dunegrass (Eleymus mollis). We also expect to see sea cliff bluff lettuce (Dudleya farinosa) and fleshy jaumea (Jaumea carnosa).

As this is a day to have fun sharing nature at the beach with fellow Chapter members, the end time and depth of botanical or fauna discussion may depend on participants’ preferences.