Latest Wildflower Podcast Episodes
Falls Trail 12: Chert
Audible Mount Diablo - June 16, 2023 01:00 - 3 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsThere's still water on the Falls Trail. As you get near the end of the loop, you can check out a Mount Diablo rock formed from what Rachel Carson called "the long snowfall of the sea." "Falls Trail" is 13-part series featuring Ken Lavin, Burt Bogardus, Paul Cardinet, and Jenn Roe. Presented by...
Falls Trail 11: Remarkable Rocks
Audible Mount Diablo - June 09, 2023 04:00 - 5 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsAbout halfway into this classic Mount Diablo hike, we get our first good look at the waterfalls of Wild Oat Canyon and the well-traveled rock that hosts the show: pillow basalt. "Falls Trail" is 13-part series featuring Ken Lavin, Burt Bogardus, Paul Cardinet, and Jenn Roe. Presented by Mount ...
Falls Trail 10: Leather Oak
Audible Mount Diablo - June 02, 2023 01:00 - 2 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsIn this cool spring, plenty of flowers still flank the Falls Trail, and interesting shrubs, too. Thanks to the area's serpentine soils, unusual species abound—like scrawny Quercus durata: leather oak.
Falls Trail 9: Oracle Oak
Audible Mount Diablo - May 26, 2023 01:00 - 5 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsMeet Mount Diablo's rarest oak, and the feminist who first named it for science: Albert Kellogg. "Falls Trail" is 13-part series featuring Ken Lavin, Burt Bogardus, Paul Cardinet, and Jenn Roe. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo.
Falls Trail 5: Tales of Donner Cabin
Audible Mount Diablo - May 19, 2023 02:00 - 4 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsHistory sleuths: Wander around an old cabin site in Mount Diablo State Park to find clues about how people used and misused this land in the 20th century. And how today's volunteer "Trash Removal Project" is making things right. "Falls Trail" is 13-part series featuring Ken Lavin, Burt Bogard...
Falls Trail 4: The Great Fire of 1977
Audible Mount Diablo - May 12, 2023 01:30 - 4 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsA first-person account of a 1977 fire in Mount Diablo State Park from former ranger Burt Bogardus. An ill-fated tree planting effort followed that blaze, as well as construction of the Mary Bowerman Trail at the summit. "Falls Trail" is 13-part series featuring Ken Lavin, Burt Bogardus, Paul ...
Falls Trail 3: George Cardinet
Audible Mount Diablo - May 04, 2023 20:24 - 6 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsMeet "the grandfather of national trails," an enterprising equestrian who built more than 200 miles of trails in the East Bay area. His spirit lives on in the volunteers who work on trails in the park today. "Falls Trail" is 13-part series featuring Ken Lavin, Burt Bogardus, Paul Cardinet, an...
Wild Mount Diablo: Peregrines 2022
Audible Mount Diablo - April 28, 2023 01:01 - 6 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsPine Canyon's peregrine falcons had a difficult season in 2021, when all four chicks were killed by a great-horned owl in a territorial dispute. Follow a team of California naturalists, stewards, and detectives as they tell the story of how the fastest animal on the planet fared last season. ...
Hiking the Falls Trail, part two
Audible Mount Diablo - April 22, 2023 01:00 - 4 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsWe listen to lively sounds of the creek as we head up Donner Canyon, named for an unfortunate family that lived here in the late 1800s. On the way: tales of history, valley oaks, and the widely feared "guardian of the woodland," poison oak. "Falls Trail" is 13-part series featuring Ken Lavin,...
Finally, Water!
Audible Mount Diablo - April 14, 2023 01:00 - 3 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsThe rains have come. Which makes it a beautiful time to ponder the history, geology, plants, and animals to be found along one of Mount Diablo's classic hikes, the FALLS TRAIL. Join us for episode one of this 13-part series featuring Ken Lavin, Burt Bogardus, Paul Cardinet, and Jenn Roe. Prese...
Where the Grass is Greener
Audible Mount Diablo - April 07, 2023 01:00 - 4 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsFrom the top of Lime Ridge, you can see Mount Diablo—and a surprisingly vast expanse of GRASSLAND in between. Learn about who owns these lands and some of the wild treasures they contain, including relicts of a drier climate such as desert olives and sagebrush lizards. From a tour of Lime Rid...
Our Friend the Fence Lizard
Audible Mount Diablo - March 24, 2023 01:00 - 1 minute - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsHow a colorful reptile may help lower the incidence of Lyme disease in California. Episode 6.1 in Save Mount Diablo's guide to Lime Ridge, featuring Scott Hein and Seth Adams.
Life on LIME RIDGE
Audible Mount Diablo - March 16, 2023 22:00 - 6 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsIn episode 6 of our Lime Ridge Tour, we take an inside look at Bay Area shrublands, also known as CHAPARRAL. They may look lifeless at times, but they nurture a rich assemblage of plants and animals, including Alameda whipsnakes, hummingbirds, and blue-gray gnatcatchers. Sponsored by Save Mou...
The Ongoing Age of Discovery
Audible Mount Diablo - March 03, 2023 02:00 - 2 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsAfter a winter of abundant rain and even snow, WILDFLOWERS are waking up in the East Bay. As you get out to enjoy them, keep in mind that there are still discoveries to be made. In 2008, for example, Carpenter David Gowen found two phlox species new to science in LIME RIDGE OPEN SPACE, nearly su...
Mount Diablo Delights
Audible Mount Diablo - February 24, 2023 02:00 - 4 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsIt may be cold and stormy now, but sunshine and spring wildflowers are on the way. In this final episode of our history series, dream about how you'd like to enjoy Mount Diablo State Park in the days ahead. This series features Ken Lavin, Seth Adams, Robert Doyle, Michael Marchiano, Vincen...
Mount Diablo's Depression-Era Infrastructure
Audible Mount Diablo - February 10, 2023 02:00 - 1 minute - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsAfter recent atmospheric rivers, Mount Diablo State Park has a lot of re-building to do. But some of its oldest infrastructure has withstood a hundred years of storms. Its summit building, stone walls, and some picnic tables and stoves were the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps, a governme...
Wild Mount Diablo: Wonders of 2022
Audible Mount Diablo - February 03, 2023 02:00 - 3 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsHere are a few of the sights we savored on Mount Diablo in 2022. May your 2023 be filled with new delights! Happy New Year from the Wild Mount Diablo team.
A Brief History of Mount Diablo State Park
Audible Mount Diablo - January 27, 2023 02:00 - 4 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsMore than 100 years ago, even before California had a park system, a small portion of Mount Diablo was set aside for protection. This episode of our 8-part series describes two dedication ceremonies: the first with well-behaved officials in 1921, and the second with an inebriated governor in 193...
Mount Diablo's First Tourists
Audible Mount Diablo - January 20, 2023 02:00 - 4 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsStarting in the 1870s, people with dollar signs in their eyes started selling Mount Diablo to investors and tourists. First was Joseph Seavey Hall, who built a hotel and two toll roads. Then came Robert Noble Burgess, who planned to build a castle on top with William Randolph Hearst. Then along ...
When Cattle First Came to California
Audible Mount Diablo - January 13, 2023 02:00 - 3 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsIn the late 1700s, when the Spanish came north along the coast of California, they brought food with them in the shape of CATTLE. That was the beginning of a slow, but revolutionary change in the state's ecology. This is EPISODE 2 in an 8-part "Brief History of Mount Diablo State Park," featurin...
LIME RIDGE: why it's still wild
Audible Mount Diablo - December 09, 2022 02:00 - 3 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsLIME RIDGE is a biologically rich shoulder of Mount Diablo that reaches down into Concord and Walnut Creek. It brings nature close to home for thousands of people. Learn about the hard work that has kept it wild. Featuring Seth Adams. Presented by Save Mount Diablo, in partnership with Mount ...
Wild Mount Diablo: DEER
Audible Mount Diablo - December 01, 2022 22:55 - 4 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsDeer lend such sweetness, grace and majesty to any landscape. Come take a peek into the lives of Mount Diablo's local Columbian black-tailed deer. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo. Production, writing, and narration by Kendall Oei. Videos...
LIME RIDGE: Paradise of Plants
Audible Mount Diablo - November 17, 2022 23:00 - 4 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsHead out of the grassland and into a shady forest on the Paradise Valley Trail, where there's lots to learn about oaks, buckeye, hop tree, purple needle grass, and datura. Presented by Save Mount Diablo, 2012. Featuring Seth Adams, Heath Bartosh. Photos by Scott Hein and Joan Hamilton. Music ...
LIME MINING on Mount Diablo
Audible Mount Diablo - November 04, 2022 01:00 - 3 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsMore than a century ago, miners gnawed away at a northern shoulder of the East Bay's iconic mountain. Today, thanks to conservation efforts, it's an inviting open space with rare plants and big vistas. Featuring Seth Adams. Presented by SAVE MOUNT DIABLO in partnership with the Mount Diablo ...
Diablo History: Dan Cook Canyon
Audible Mount Diablo - October 28, 2022 01:00 - 3 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsFrom Sentinel Rock, you can look deep down into DAN COOK CANYON. But who was Dan Cook? And how did he wrest this side of Mount Diablo from California's railroad barons? Stories galore from master naturalist Ken Lavin. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save...
Lime Ridge
Audible Mount Diablo - October 07, 2022 02:00 - 4 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsOn the edge of neighborhoods in Walnut Creek and Concord, California, LIME RIDGE OPEN SPACE trails quickly lead to big oaks, sweeping vistas, interesting wildlife, and rare plants. A place for short hikes and big discoveries. Featuring Seth Adams and Heath Bartosh. Part of a podcast series pr...
Cozy Caves
Audible Mount Diablo - September 30, 2022 01:30 - 3 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsTime for a hike that kids will love? Try Mount Diablo's WIND CAVES. Exploring them is fun; understanding them is a fascinating lesson in how the world works. This segment is part of a tour of Mount Diablo's ROCK CITY is presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. Featuring Ken Lavin. ...
Native to Right Here
Audible Mount Diablo - September 22, 2022 22:06 - 20 minutes ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsAfter a long absence due to COVID, Cafe Ohlone has re-opened, this time on the Cal campus in Berkeley. Learn about its founders and the plants, animals, and people of Tuushtak (aka Mount Diablo). Featuring Vincent Medina and Louis Trevino. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. M...
MADRONE
Audible Mount Diablo - September 16, 2022 01:30 - 3 minutes - Video ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsIf hot days are getting you down, take a break to learn about the Bay Area's "refrigerator tree," Arbutus menziesii. From a tour of Mount Diablo's Rock City. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. Featuring Ken Lavin; Production, Narration: Joan Hamilton.
Introducing Mount Diablo: TARANTULAS!
Audible Mount Diablo - September 09, 2022 01:00 - 3 minutes ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsIt's tarantula season around Mount Diablo, and naturalist Ken Lavin has tales to tell and myths to bust. If you should be lucky enough to encounter one of these hairy beasts on the mountain, enjoy the thrill. But please don't touch! This podcast is part of the Audible Mount Diablo series, spon...
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