Dick's
San Joaquin Gorge Pictures |
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Here
are photos from all parts of the San
Joaquin River Gorge Special Recreation Management Area, formerly
known as Squaw Leap. This fascinating area, a Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) administered property, has campgrounds,
trails open to hiking, bikes and horseback riding, and of course,
the San Joaquin River down in the bottom of the gorge. Elevation
ranges from about 700 feet at the river to 2,300 feet on the table
top mountains on the north side of the river.
The
second section of this photo album consists of photos of the signs and
plants that appear along the Nature Trail. This trail starts at the back of the equestrian
camp, and is probably not more than a half mile long. It goes up,
across and down a narrow ravine, and is well worth a visit. Note
that not all plant photos were taken at the Gorge, since some of
them were not "photogenic" when I was there. These photos
are indicated by (N) for "Not taken at the Gorge." A few
others were taken at the Gorge, but not along the Nature Trail.
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Nature
Trail Slide
Show Related
Links Other
Photo Links |
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New
photos here February 21 and here
April 15,
2023 (captions in red) |
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Click photo for a larger
view (pictures open in a new window) |
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The road into the gorge is visible
in
the background of this photo |
View of the bridge and river from
Kennedy Table |
Kennedy Table |
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A shady glen in the upper
part of the
north side
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Burl
on blue oak |
Blue oak on the hillside |
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Grab the knob to move
this
boulder out of your way
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Sierra
snow from San Joaquin Gorge |
Split
rock on the Madera side |
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X
marks the spot on this rock near the bridge |
Kennedy
Table, on the north
side of the San Joaquin Gorge |
Another
view of Kennedy Table |
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The
San Joaquin River Trail,
heading southwest from the trailhead |
Big Table Mountain
seen from San Joaquin Gorge |
Bull pines (AKA
gray or digger pines) |
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San Joaquin Trail, near
the trailhead parking lot
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San Joaquin River from the road into
the gorge
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Dick
and Janell resting by the Bridge Trail
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On the bridge,
about 1982 |
Shooting
stars |
Baby blue eyes |
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Lupines |
Thistles in bloom |
Goldenstar (AKA Harvest) brodiaea |
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Owl Clover |
Bush lupine |
Sunlight through blue oak trees |
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Janell takes a break beside
the San
Joaquin River Trail
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Big burl on blue oak
(But see below) |
Woodpecker larder tree |
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This oak continues to grow, despite a
long-ago break |
New shoots on buckeye tree |
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A study in
shades of green |
A collection
of oak apples
in the hollow of a blue oak
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Remains of a
manzanita killed in the 1982 fire
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Foot
bridge across the San Joaquin River |
Taken while
standing on the bridge |
The bridge from the trail above on the
south side
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Dick on top of Kennedy Table in 2000 |
Squaw Leap |
Plaque in honor
of Ted Anderson, early
promoter of Squaw Leap preservation |
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Bedrock
mortars near visitor center |
A typical scene
in the gorge |
A lone popcorn
flower |
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Remnants
of an old dam |
The spillway |
Squaw leap under
cloudy skies |
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Pines
and rocks |
Contemplating a
huge burl on a blue oak |
Monster tree (or
just a dead blue oak) |
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Typical
foothill game trail |
Scattered bones
of a dead tree |
Handy sticks used
to tighten wire |
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Nature
provides some fence posts... |
...and pretty
much ignores barbed wire |
The San Joaquin
River gorge |
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Panoramic
view of the area, taken from the top of Squaw Leap table.
Click here
for a version with locations identified;
click here
for a very large version |
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Mustang clover |
Bedrock mortars
on
the San Joaquin trail
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Bug Table,
north of the river |
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The
Bridge Trail, just past
where it starts |
Common madia |
Mostly
common madia |
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Bridge from the southeast
corner |
The San Joaquin River, much
too low for late spring
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A horizontal bull pine |
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It
means "place where there are blue oaks" |
Recent
rains have washed soil
from the trail into the grass |
A very
small bridge |
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A
promising sign - green grass in November 2015 |
Lichen
adds a nice contrasting color amid the green
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The
greenest green belongs to the moss |
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A
close low angle view of Squaw
Leap |
There's
a bumper crop of
pine cones in the fall of 2015
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Sun
sparkles on the wires |
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Moss
and time are reclaiming
this tree branch below the trail
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Dried seed pod of
wild cucumber |
Leftover timbers
from trial
maintenance project in 2014
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Germinating buckeye
seed |
The hillside and
trail on the north side from the road |
Blue oaks, green
grass, and mist
against the hills on a rainy day
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A
tranquil scene along the San Joaquin River Trail |
Natural planter box |
2016
- the greenest spring in years |
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Two
beautiful but unknown flowers seen on a hike in April 2016 |
Elegant
Clarkia |
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Farewell to
Spring |
Can
you see who's hiding in the grass? |
Goldfields
were seen in a thick
patch, in just one spot |
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These look almost
the same as
fringed redmaids, but not quite |
This is a white variety of brodiaea |
Farewell
to spring, thick along
the San Joaquin River Trail |
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Three
more views of the table top mountain known as Squaw Leap |
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Red-brown
seeds of the dock plant |
2016
was a good year for acorns |
Moms
and kids keep a watchful eye on hikers |
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Bright
red "oak
apples" in a blue oak |
Succulent
in the moss near the bridge |
Bedrock
mortars by Buzzard
Road |
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Sculpted decomposing
granite
along the San Joaquin River Trail |
Dried wild cucumber
seed pods |
Mountain and clouds
to the west
from the San Joaquin River Trail
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Fog
accents the leafless blue
oaks in the upper part of the gorge |
This
little creek tumbles down
the steep slopes along the road |
This
creek cascades down
the north side of the river canyon |
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Flow
of recent runoff is clearly
seen in this grassy drainage |
A
delightful waterfall near the
bottom of the River Access Trail |
Cattle
guard at the approach to the parking lot |
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The San Joaquin is a
rushing
white water river this year |
The
Group Camp area |
The
"new" power plant, built around 1980 |
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Water
tank above the new power house |
One
of many creeks that flowed
in the spring of 2017 |
Slide
along road into area |
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Magic
Sand Box at the Visitor Center |
Frog
pond near Equestrian Camp |
Stump
jumping near the visitor center |
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A
big run at the Gorge required
overflow parking on the grass |
Two
creeks come together
near the overflow parking lot |
A
big pine across the Ridge Trail
had not yet been cleared in March
2017 |
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Poppies
with Kennedy Table in the background |
Redbud
across the San Joaquin River canyon
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This
dead snag should be called "The Sentinel"
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The biggest little creek
along the bridge trail |
This spot
has a dozen or more bush lupines
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The
view near the trailhead |
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This natural bouquet includes
madia,
mustang clover and harvest brodiaea
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Yellow flowers mixed in with mustang
clover |
The
sign where you turn off from
Power House Road to Smalley Road |
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The rare
yellow variety of Mariposa lily |
King of
the late season flowers, farewell-to-spring |
Dry
grass gone to seed in May 2017 |
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Squaw
Leap table top from the
San Joaquin River Trail |
The
other side of Squaw Leap from Prather |
Colton
and I discovered another fairly
big burl near the Nature Trail |
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A little
boy and a big bridge |
Nature
designed this tree just for us to sit on |
Massive acorn crop at Group Camp
area
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Young
bull pines glisten in the afternoon sun |
These
rocks near the bridge provided
table and chair for a snack break |
A low-level view of the bridge from
west
of the trail on the Madera County side
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Bright
green buckeyes and the distant Sierra |
The
sun trying unsuccessfully to break through the clouds in late
February 2018 |
Buck brush in bloom in late winter
2018
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Above
three photos by Wes Thiessen |
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Rock
formation above the road |
Phecelia
up close |
Spring
greenery and flowers |
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Redbud
near the bridge |
Bush
lupine up close |
Baby
blue eyes and fiddlenecks |
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A
typical view along the San Joaquin River Trail |
Squaw Leap mountain
and the River Trail |
Mariposa
Lily (Wes Thiessen) |
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The "back
side" of Squaw Leap from Auberry Road |
Rare
white variation of farewell
to spring, possibly a mutation |
Bright
green moss along the Bridge Trail |
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Blue
oaks in their fall colors, lit by the low winter sun - on the Ridge
Trail |
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A
newly-discovered burl along
the San Joaquin River Trail |
Thin
clouds provide a perfect
backdrop for this leafless blue oak |
We call
this spot Lupine Point; it's
lined with bush lupines on both sides |
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A close
up view of a silver (bush) lupine |
Squaw
Leap with late afternoon sun |
Looking down into
the gorge from Smalley Road |
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Rocky canyon wall on
the north side of the river |
Circa
1920s power house near the bridge |
Full
view of the Big Burl Tree (But see
below) |
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Jack
gives the bridge at the San
Joaquin Gorge the "thumbs up" |
"Hiding"
in the 5-Trunk Blue Oak |
This live oak was made to be
climbed
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Some
time between April 2019 and March 2020 the old blue oak with the
huge burl along the San Joaquin River Trail met its final fate
(Click
here and here
for a view of the tree standing |
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A
view of Kennedy Table and spring
greenery
along the San Joaquin River Trail |
Popcorn
flowers create a patch of white
below the ridge south of the trail |
Storm
clouds and spring flowers on the
slope
below Squaw Leap mountain |
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The
redbud stands out, but can you spot
the buckeye and bush lupine? |
Popcorn
flowers and daisies
create
a nice spring color spot |
Camping
at the Gorge in the 1980s |
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This
pine fell across the trail and
came to rest in a waiting blue oak |
A
closer look |
The
trail maintenance crew cut about
six feet off the base to clear the trail |
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Visiting
the gorge during a rainstorm, we enjoyed this one-day seasonal falls |
Chaparral
thicket protects new ferns |
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Sun catches the moss
on this gnarly blue oak |
Pine tree on cliff
above the trail |
Mountain and clouds
to the
west, from the River Trail |
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Panoramic
view of Kennedy Table, on the north side of the San Joaquin River |
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Mushrooms on a
rotting log |
Newly
"discovered" bedrock mortars near
the start of the San Joaquin River Trail |
A different view of
the bridge
from the connecting trail |
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Frequent visitor at
the entrance |
We call this area
Lupine Point |
The
Equestrian Trail connects the main trail
with the Group and Equestrian Camps |
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2021
was a good year for popcorn flowers |
We
share this country with cattle |
Yellow
brodiaea, April 2021 |
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Fog
clearing above the San Joaquin River |
Grape
vine in a dead pine |
A
burned-out stump along the River Trail |
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A
pair of horses get to enjoy the walk without a load on their backs |
Clouds
over the north side of the
river, seen from the group camp |
Photos from the burned stump to the fiddlenecks by Teri Liddle, Wes
Thiessen, Dave Smith, and Sarah |
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Popcorn
flowers are out in good numbers
along this section of the river trail |
It's
a brilliant green spring at the Gorge in 2022 |
A
fallen pine provides a good resting spot |
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Lots
of fiddlenecks in this scene |
Woodpeckers
have used these posts
to store acorns for many years |
March
2022 was Popcorn
Flower Month at the Gorge |
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A
variety of chaparral |
This
log has been down a while |
Little
waterfall on the biggest creek
that crosses the Bridge Trail |
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Spring
at the Gorge - April 2023 |
Clover
close-up |
Tiny
filaree blossoms, up close |
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On the Nature Trail |
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Walk this way |
A unique trail entrance |
Start of the trail |
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Manzanita |
My favorite foothill shrub |
The leaves are bluer than blue oak |
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Poison Oak |
Shiny young
poison oak leaves |
New spring leaves |
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Live Oak |
Probably the most common
tree in the
Sierra foothills |
Live Oak trunks |
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Deer Grass |
Deer grass with carpenteria in the
background |
A closer look |
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Redbud |
Redbud in bloom |
Redbud seed pods |
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Close-up of pods |
Buck Brush |
Close up of new leaves |
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Buck brush in
bloom |
Typical buck brush
thicket
(we always called it
chaparral) |
Dead buck brush is also scenic |
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Carpenteria |
A rare plant, according to the sign |
Close-up of
leaves |
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Carpenteria seed
pods |
Spectacular
Carpenteria blossoms
are about two inches across |
Wild Grape |
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The sign says they grow to 30 feet in
length, but
I can show you one that's close to 100 feet |
A thick grape stem along the trail |
Grape vine
tendril and stems |
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Blue Oak |
A nicely sculpted blue oak |
Blue oaks on the Pa'San Ridge trail |
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Five-trunk
blue oak on the Ridge Trail |
Buckeye |
Buckeye is easily recognized in
the
winter by the white trunks |
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Spiky white flowers eventually turn
into these big seeds (N) |
Buckeye
seeds sprout on the ground |
New buckeye
seedling |
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Buckeye tree with blossoms
just getting started
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Close-up of buckeye
blossoms |
Buckeye in full
bloom |
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A closer look
(N) |
Gray Pine |
In the foothill area where I grew up,
no
one called them anything but bull pines |
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This
one really looks gray |
A very nice close up of the needles (N) |
Miner's Lettuce |
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This annual plant
puts up a flower stalk
through the middle of its round leaves |
Miner's
lettuce after seed formation |
White Sage; Wildlife Guzzler |
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Dried sage stems reach high above new
growth |
Mmmm, spicy! |
The guzzler still has water, six
weeks
or more after the last rain |
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Related
Links |
|
A
Squaw Leap Legend |
San
Joaquin River Gorge Special
Recreation Management Area |
San
Joaquin River Trail |
San
Joaquin Gorge Slide
Show |
More
flowers |
Sierra
Foothills - Winter 2013 |
Sierra
Foothills - Spring 2013 |
Background
& History of San Joaquin Gorge Area |
Backpacking
Trips
(Squaw Leap and Elsewhere) |
All
my reports on hiking and camping at San Joaquin Gorge (Squaw Leap) |
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