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The Daily Bucket. Limestone Point a.k.a. Little Volcano. Veni vidi quasi-vici. [1]

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Date: 2025-07-22

Sunday, July 20, 2025. Quincy, CA

I made it. Almost. Not quite to the summit I had hoped for. But I was plenty tired and hot by the time I got this far so I’m all right with that. Besides, that very last pitch, even though short, is up a trail-less 30o slope and I’m all by myself so I’m not taking the risk. And, as the old saying goes, I just ain’t no spring chicken no more.

And I’m never going back.

*****

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*****

You could say I’ve scratched that itch once and for all.

Fact is, I have been to the tippy-top of Limestone Point, a.k.a. Little Volcano (it’s not actually volcanic in origin), but that was decades ago, 1978 or 1979, I can’t be sure which year but it was definitely one of those. Small matter. I had been itching to get up there for the best-evah!! scenic shots, but it was not to be. I did take a lot of photos on Sunday’s ride, though, so go pour yourself a fresh refill of your ready-to-hand libation and come on back and peruse my journey.

Other fact is I already tried getting up to this chunk of granite back on June 12 of this year, and I was stopped even farther away from the rock because I had taken a different approach road and it was blocked by tree fall way beyond reasonable walking distance.

Incidentally, all the burned trees are the result of the deadly (sixteen people killed) North Complex Fire of September 2020. Of which the lightning that caused this wildfire struck right around Limestone Point. Sorry for the gruesome details, but facts is facts.

On with the ride.

First photo of the day: cresting “Cemetery Hill”, Highway 70/89 heading east, about ½ mile from my house.

At the three-mile point on my ride, where I leave the highway and turn on the paved back-country road that, if followed out all the way, will take you down to Marysville.

Thompson Valley, west end

The east end, Highway 70/89 showing

Looking on to that back-country road, immediately off the highway.

This is also designated as “La Porte Road” on maps.

Photo from Oct. 2019

First wildlife encounter, about a mile up La Porte road.

Wild Turkey hens and chicks

Two hens

and seven chicks

At the eight-mile mark I leave the paved La Porte Road and head up Forest Service road 24N13, about five more miles to go, except that I missed a turn and ended up putting on a few oopsie miles. This road is fairly well graveled and traveled until you get near the end. Then it gets rough and there is a lot of tree fall debris in the road from all the dead burned trees that the winds and snows of winter topple.

A little ways up 24N13, looking west, up towards where my final destination is.

A view to the south from the same vantage point as in the preceding photo. That’s Blue Nose Mountain in the center of the frame.

First bird of the trip (excepting the Wild Turkey) and I can’t quite make out what it is. Call it Little Brown Job; might be Fox Sparrow

Ah, this one I know. Western Wood Pewee.

I stopped at this tributary (there’s a lot of running water; I just didn’t photograph it specifically) that flows into Willow Creek. I was hoping for some butterfly photos but the ones that were flitting around were, as I said, flitting and not coming to rest. But the bumble bees were more obliging.

Yellow-faced Bumble Bee.

I have no idea what kind of plant it’s on.

By the way, these photos are very exemplar of seral stage regrowth following a wildfire (secondary succession). Click the link to learn a whole lot more.

A seral stage is a specific vegetation community occurring on a site at some point in time. When the trees in a forest are cleared during a disturbance (e.g., logging or wildfire), the land does not return to its former forested state in a single step. Rather, one vegetation community is gradually replaced by another. Early seral is the first stage in forest development following any disturbance. An early seral, or early successional community is made up of the first colonizers of a forest opening, or by species that survive the disturbance. The mid-seral stage follows the early seral stage, and is the stage when forests naturally thin. oldgrowthforestecology.org/...

Or, just watch this short video, or of course, do both. See what a nice guy I am?

Moving on along toward the top of my mountain, I spied another couple of birds along the way. And I can’t offer any positive identification, so I’ll leave it to you for suggestions.

I guess the point to make is that there was certainly a lot of bird activity among and amid the detritus and residue of the wildfire, and that has to be a very good thing.

And some of it I can definitely identify.

Hairy Woodpecker, juvenile. If it was mature the red would be on the back of the head.

Fuzzy photo due to the lighting and distance, but I cleaned it up as best I could.

..annnnd that’s the End of the Line, folks. Well, crappo, I’ve got to walk the rest of the way if I want to go all the way, and by gum I’m gonna this time, and thank goodness for a full water bottle.

There was this one shot right there at the rock, and iNaturalist gives me as “first suggestion” the Dusky Flycatcher. Well, if it is then that’s a new species for me but I’m not calling it because it’s just not definitive. What do y’all think?

The very last blowdowns I had to navigate (walked around the uphill side) before getting to the base of Little Volcano and utter end of the road.

For this? For this? I humped my legs and lungs just to see this?

Looking up the hill at the eastern base of Limestone Point/Little Volcano; the flat two-dimensional aspect of the photo just doesn’t do the scene justice. It is frikkin’ steep from here. If you’d been standing there with me you’d likely have said huh yourself; “Nah, we don’t really need to go any farther.” But I would like to believe in myself that had I had a companion with me that day to make the last push up I would have tried it. But it was just too risky to attempt all by myself, even though my son back at home knew where I was for the day. Not at worth the risk of a fall and injury. Only about an eighty yard, maybe hundred yard climb, about a hundred feet elevation gain. Victory, conquest, so close, so close and yet so far away.

But, heh heh, my camera got there, meh, more or less.

Final shot, looking east over the North Complex Fire aftermath. Given time, it will all be evergreen trees again.

Odometer readings, at turnaround, left, and at home, right. 29.8 miles for the day. And damned leg cramps, again, that evening. But at least the battery got me all the way back home.

Now it’s your turn. What’s been happening in your nature neighborhood? Let us know in the comments and please include your location and any photos you’d like to share.

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