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Bear Trail in Winter

 

Scenes of the Bear Trail
in Winter

The College of the Siskiyous Bear Trail is located on the C.O.S. campus in Weed, California.  It serves as a 1.7 mile nature trail for various biology courses, and is open to the public.  Its recreational value is great, as many use it for jogging, walking their dogs or just enjoying nature.  This web page is an attempt to illustrate a winter walk on the Bear Trail from start to finish. Enjoy!!


Click on a picture for a larger image AND a description! 
The COS campus has a wonderful view of Mount Shasta, one of California's tallest and most beautiful mountains. Most people who walk the Bear Trail start on the East side of Juniper Hall, one of our two student residence halls. This photo shows the trailhead. Sign at the beginning of the Bear Trail. Walkers and joggers are welcome. Horses and vehicles are not allowed because they cause too much erosion. At the trail beginning, we see the back of Juniper Hall. Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa), the most common tree on the Bear Trail. Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum). This sunlight-loving fern dies back each winter and resprouts in the spring. Ponderosa Pine. In the scientific name, Pinus ponderosa, the forst word is the genus and the second word is the species. It translates to ponderous (large) pine.
Ponderosa Pine. The town of Weed, California periodically gets snow between the months of December and March. Greenleaf Manzanita (Arctostaphylos patula) is an evergreen shrub common to the Bear Trail. Note the plate-like bark on this Ponderosa Pine. California Black Oak (Quercus kelloggii) is the most common deciduous tree located on the Bear Trail. Incense Cedar (Calocedrus decurrens) is a common coniferous tree located along the Bear Trail. Douglas-Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) is the third most common coniferous tree along the Bear Trail.
Bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata) is another common shrub found along the Bear Trail. White Fir (Abies concolor) is the fourth common coniferous tree we have seen so far. What is seen here is not leaves, but lichens.
This Douglas-Fir has lichens growing upon it. Many people mistakenly call lichens "moss", but moss is a true plant, always green in color due to chlorophyll. Lichens are rarely green. They are most often yellow, orange, red, and white. This is a close-up of the previous photo. This is a picture of the bark of an Incense Cedar. Most use a combined knowledge of the tree's bark, leaves, and cones when identifying varying trees. You can see the scars of previous years' branches on this young White Fir. If you were walking the Bear Trail, you would be at about the halfway point. The vegetation changes from deep forest to a more open forest with more shrubs and sunny exposures.
The Bear Trail provides habitat for a variety of birds. Unfortunately, they are often shy around Humans. The holes in this tree were made by a woodpecker. Another view on the 'backside' of the trail. Pictures and captions
by Neil Schanker.		 People walk the Bear Trail year round. Some even use snowshoes or cross-country skis.

WebPage design and
digital manipulation
by Deborah Harton.

 Majestic Mount Shasta in the distance... Pinedrops (Pterospora andromeda) is an unusual plant that has no green parts. It gets it's nutrition from the roots of nearby plants.

College of the Siskiyous - Biology - Bear Trail in Winter


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