Monthly Archives: August 2014

The Latest Tick Horror Story

Photo: Thomas Bresson

Photo: Thomas Bresson

File this under “reasons to be glad that I am not an Eastern Woodlands Hiker”:

People have been turning up at Long Island allergists with an unusual complaint: they are suddenly sensitive to eating red meat. A trip to Burger King might cause them serious stomach distress. These people are not vegetarians or vegans on a holiday: they are people for whom steaks, burgers, and roast beef have been a mainstay of their diet. One doctor has seen nearly 200 cases so far this year.

The originator of the autoimmune system going haywire is the Lone Star Tick. Readers of this blog know that I hate ticks. This one scares me because I do consume a weekly steak. My first experiences with ticks happened in the Southeast where this particular species is spreading rapidly.

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Prickly Pear at Sunset

Prickly Pear at Sunset

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Seeking The Green Sea Turtles of the San Gabriel River

Sea Turtle Mark

Sea Turtle Trail Mark

We were off to see the turtles, the green sea turtles of the San Gabriel River. A pair of power plants spewing warm water created an ideal temperature that brought the chelonians north, far from the tropical waters where they spawned. Their existence had been dismissed as cryptobiology until a team from the Aquarium of the Pacific arrived at the spot and confirmed that they were the real thing come for a spa. Lynn and I had seen sea turtles or honu in Hawaii. This was our first attempt to view them closer to home.

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Chaparro with Boulders

Chaparro with Boulders

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Bland Country

Peaceful Valley

Peaceful Valley with Camp Pendleton in the background

“You’re the first person we’ve seen on this trail this afternoon,” I said to the mountain biker riding toward me.

“There’s a woman hiking alone back there,” he said.

“That’s my wife,” I said. “We’re turning back.” I put my walkie talkie to my mouth and gave Lynn the news. We’d done enough of this trail. The sun was beginning to come down and there was just more of the empty sage scrub and dead meadows that had accompanied our footsteps from the start of our walk in the back country portion of San Onofre State Beach.

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Fremont Canyon

Fremont Canyon, July 15, 2014

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