Sacramento tracker club 080308 sitrep
0900 four (4) of us met at Lyons: Don, Mekal, Robert, and Richard. Great talk and lots of enthusiasm. Consensus: plan to meet second Saturdays at some dirt location to explore tracking, primitive skills, plant foraging, etc. No politics or religion, no formal organizational structure. We are all (my words) cheap bastards who want to minimize costs while maximizing learning and fun. Occasional family outings, volunteer for community /school events related to our interest.
Form Yahoo group to coordinate and inform each other of opportunities, activities, good deals, etc. Idea of going to classes with buddies, carpooling strongly welcomed. Taking turns showing each other skills we already have, ditto. Want to see each others “best” gear ideas in action.
1020 group left Lyons. Mekal and I went east on Richards Boulevard 3 or 4 stoplights to North 10th Street, turned left (north) and parked our vehicles near the end of the street. We walked up the trail to the American River Parkway, across the bike / hike trail, and down dirt trails into the riparian area and onto the narrow river beach to see what we could see.
We spent about an hour of inspecting small mammal tracks and digs, small bird tracks, and larger webbed bird tracks, manfully ignoring human and dog tracks, bicycle tire tread marks, trash, etc. From the tracks, small excavations, and torn apart tree buds, we decided we were tracking squirrels, though we did not immediately hear or see any. A pair of Canada geese obliging called to us from just on shore, then went for swim, letting us confirm the identity of the web-footed track makers.
Richard called on cell phone, told us to look for his camo jacket, and we made our way up from the riverside through the riparian cottonwoods, willows, grasses, mustard, a few fennel plants, what looked like wild grape, and other plants who are not yet friends. Mekal spotted a squirrel up a tree harvesting new buds that solidified our tentative id of the tracks.
Were just starting to walk down river on the bike path to 10th Street when we saw a guy in a camo jacket walk up the levee to the bike path. Greetings and handshakes all around.
I guess we spent 20 or 30 minutes talking about each other and the new group. Richard identified a strikingly handsome Swainson (sp?) hawk that entertained us by gliding and flying into the north west wind, near and above us, at times coming within maybe 50 feet. Did I mention the earlier concerns about rain were misplaced and it was a beautiful Spring day?
Mekal, Richard, and I went back down the dirt trails into the riparian area to continue our conversation mixed with some plant identification. Mekal spotted a couple more squirrels, including a younger and smaller edition that did the bud harvesting thing that eventually was almost overhead and within about 20 feet (thanks for the show!).
Turns out Richard had started a Yahoo group a few months back to try to form just this type of group. He agreed to fire up his group site (or whatever you do) and let the rest of us know how to find it. I will post more on that when I have it.
So there you have it, the first “meeting” of the Sacramento Tracker Club. Please join us if you are in the area.
Thanks.
Edited by dweste (03/09/08 01:47 AM)
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