San Bruno Mountain: Ericaceae on Kamchatka Point and Other Things
Date: Saturday, October 15 10am to 1pm
Leader: Doug Allshouse
Please sign up for this field trip by emailing Susan Schlosser. Susan will send you a link to the waiver.
The Heather family is well represented on San Bruno Mountain with twelve taxa, and five are endemics. Kamchatka Point—rumored to be the Mountain’s coldest, windiest place— is a greywacke outcrop near the summit with a northern exposure and a great view of Mt. Tam. It is home to four members in two genera, Arctostaphylos and Vaccinium, and three are endemic. The first two endemics are San Bruno Mountain manzanita (Arctostaphylos imbricata) and miniature manzanita (A. uva-ursi forma suborbiculata). We will see California huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum), and a new endemic hybrid of huckleberry (V. x brunoense).
We will walk the Summit Trail up the ridge of Cable Ravine to the Point and hang out for a while. Depending on the weather, let’s take a vote on a route back to the parking lot and maybe take a lunch break in the wild. Let’s play it loosely and have fun. The field trip route is about 2 miles in length with a 600-foot elevation change.
Bring: Water, lunch and clothing in layers. Due to the marine influence, the mountain offers box-of-chocolates weather, bring layers just in case.
Driving directions: From the Golden Gate Bridge bear right and drive through the Presidio and take 19th Avenue to 280. On 280, take Sullivan Avenue exit and bear right and take a right onto Sullivan Avenue. Make a right at the first traffic light (Arco and In-N-Out) and proceed until Washington Street dead ends and make a left. Proceed on that street and it will become a 4-lane country highway, Guadalupe Canyon Parkway. Turn left into SBM State & County Park.
The $6 entry fee is payable by cash or credit/debit card at the pay station.
