Nature Green Fridays

We had a wonderful time with our family this Thursday.  We are fortunate enough to live near my in laws and my family.  After two deliciously turkey and all the trimming meals we have made it a tradition to go on a nature hike the day after Thanksgiving.  I'll admit we postponed it to Saturday this year but for good reasons.  No black Friday shopping here, rather, a kind God mother wanting to take her godson to the movies.  Very sweet of her!

After breakfast this morning the kids were ready to go.  While some friends have been recording in their Book of Firsts lovely white snow; my kids were ready to hit the trail in shorts and sunglasses in our sunny California 70 degree weather.

Our first water break stop would be near the lonely maple on the hilltop among the lush green shrubs and trees.  Clearly a sign that this is fall, right?  Those are yellow falling leaves on it, just a little too much sun to make them out I guess ; )

The kids ran into some great stuff along the way.  Our favorite was a bloom that we haven't seen on our trails so far.  We're having a hard time identifying it.  We've been looking at CA wildflower sites all day.  I need to put something together for a study of California flowers and plants.  I know the kids would really enjoy it.  This is what it initially looks like:


But then the little silk like fibers start looking like this:

We're still trying to read more about it.  We've learned more about inflorescence flower clusters and the more common plants in this group than when we started our hike.  I'll keep you posted when we discover what it is.  If you're familiar with it, please give us a hint. 

We also saw several animal tracks, including some horses:

My son started poking some pellets and could make out a few bones (I know a little ugh, but he demanded the picture be included):

Some very festive Bearberries still around:

Bearberry or Kinnikinnick ( Arstostaphylos uva-ursi)

And the wonderful view from the top:

Yes, we much prefer Nature Green Fridays' after Thanksgiving.