By Dee Wong, Chapter Treasurer at the time, now (Feb 2015) our Field Trip Chair

Dee Wong, Ken Himes, and with the help of Paul Heiple and his wife, Linda (who helped shepard the group to be keep the pace going) successfully co-led the Santa Clara Valley Chapter field trip to Lassen Volcanic National Park from Monday, July 14 through Thursday, July 17.  We camped at Summit Lake South and Warner Valley to see geological and botanical wonders that are unique to this area. Including the co-leaders, there were 19 participating CNPS members mostly from our Chapter, along with Deanna Giuliano, president of the Santa Cruz Chapter who was also there, and made it all so fun.

Photo: from Left to Right: Diana Quon, Patricia Evans, Dave Hershey, Ken Himes, and Dee Wong. Photo taken by Carolyn Dorsch.

Attending Members: Dee Wong and Ken Himes, Paul and Linda Heiple, Chuck and Loretta Heimstadt, Andy Butcher, Carolyn Dorsch and Michael Yantos, Deana Giuliano, Don Thomas, Aaron Schusteff, Dave Hershey and Diana Quon, Stella Yang and Steve Buckhouse, Fred and Patricia Evans, and Lee Gallagher.

Since it is a another drought year, we targeted wet and bog areas of the National Park and its vicinity in the hope of seeing some interesting plants such as the aquatic ranunculus (Ranuncula aquaticus), which lives in cold running water from snow melt, and finding the Drosera anglica, a 2B.3 CNPS listed rare plant, in Willow Lake bog fen.

The four-day trip was packed with interesting places to explore with Paradise Meadow on day one; Bumpass Hell on day two on our way out of Lassen heading to Warner Valley campsite and Boiling Lake when we arrived; Grassy Swale on day three; and Willow Lake on day four, our last day of the trip.

Throughout the trip there were many interesting plants and scenery, lakes and streams for water play, campfire gatherings, and potluck to end the trip.

Photo Caption: Snow covered Lassen Peak viewed from Cinder Cone, with foreground of the Painted Dunes.  Photo taken by Dee Wong.