Clear Lake Environmental Research Center(CLERC)
  • Who We Are
    • About CLERC
    • BOARD OF DIRECTORS
    • STAFF
    • Collaborators
  • What We Do
    • The CLERC Lab
    • Fire & Forestry >
      • Community Projects >
        • Hazardous Fuel Reduction Project - Phase 1
        • Wildfire Risk Reduction Project - Phase 1
        • Wildfire Resilience Project - Phase 1
        • Northshore Fuels Team
        • South Lake Chipping Program
        • Middletown and Cobb Evacuation Route Clearing
      • Cost-Share Programs >
        • North Bay Forest Improvement Program (NBFIP)
        • Building Fire Resiliency in California's Coast Range Forests and Grasslands
    • Hitch Observation Program
  • Resources
    • Current Conditions
    • Lab Forms
    • Lake County TREX
    • Wildfire Resiliency Resources
    • The CLERC Library
  • Connect
    • CLERC News
    • Work With Us
    • Contact Us >
      • Landowner Contact Form
    • Donate
DONATE
CLERC News
The latest news from the Clear Lake Environmental Research Center

Late afternoon in the Black Forest: Thoughts on nature and us

1/25/2021

0 Comments

 
By: Laurel Bard, CivicSpark Fellow
​The sun was already setting behind Mt Konocti and the Black Forest was deep in shadow by the time I started the climb. There was no official trail, but someone had left hints: cairns stacked atop decomposing douglas fir logs, or balanced precariously on huge boulders; and, best of all, a sturdy branch carved on one end into the perfect walking stick. I have a habit of following social trails, but this one was particularly steep, and the rocky dirt under my feet meant that for every two steps I took, I slid back one. Whenever I was about to give up, turn back – surely only deer had gone farther than this, any person would have stopped by now – I would see another cairn, another sign that my determination wasn’t unique. I kept on.
​I was trying to reach something that I’d seen from the ground: a tall bluff of exposed rock on the side of Mt. Konocti, which juts out into the Black Forest like the figurehead of a ship. I have a condition called being a climber, and it means that when I see rock, I must touch it. And that was some big rock. The only trouble: as soon as I entered the Black Forest, that bluff disappeared. The trees stood so thick that when I looked behind me as I climbed, I couldn’t see Clear Lake, despite the severity of the slope and how close the Black Forest is to the lakeshore. Forget seeing above me to the bluff – I had no hope of that at all. I just had to imagine that whoever set the cairns was also interested in getting to where I was going.
Picture
(Photo of the bluffs above the Black Forest courtesy of the Lake County Land Trust)

Read More
0 Comments

    CLERC News

    The latest news, views, and perspectives from the Clear Lake Environmental Research Center (CLERC)

    Archives

    November 2022
    October 2022
    August 2022
    March 2022
    November 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018

    RSS Feed

Explore

Clear Lake
About CLERC
Fire & Forestry Project Map​
​The CLERC Library
Blue Ribbon Committee

Connect

Contact Us
Lab Forms
Report Hitch Sighting
Upload Files

Give

Donate

Follow Us

Submit

Picture
Clear Lake Environmental Research Center is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization (tax identification number 47-1489147) under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
​

© 2022 Clear Lake Environmental Research Center, PO Box 636 Lakeport, CA  95453
  • Who We Are
    • About CLERC
    • BOARD OF DIRECTORS
    • STAFF
    • Collaborators
  • What We Do
    • The CLERC Lab
    • Fire & Forestry >
      • Community Projects >
        • Hazardous Fuel Reduction Project - Phase 1
        • Wildfire Risk Reduction Project - Phase 1
        • Wildfire Resilience Project - Phase 1
        • Northshore Fuels Team
        • South Lake Chipping Program
        • Middletown and Cobb Evacuation Route Clearing
      • Cost-Share Programs >
        • North Bay Forest Improvement Program (NBFIP)
        • Building Fire Resiliency in California's Coast Range Forests and Grasslands
    • Hitch Observation Program
  • Resources
    • Current Conditions
    • Lab Forms
    • Lake County TREX
    • Wildfire Resiliency Resources
    • The CLERC Library
  • Connect
    • CLERC News
    • Work With Us
    • Contact Us >
      • Landowner Contact Form
    • Donate