Mill Creek Falls

Mill Creek Falls in Lassen Park.

This weekend was the “Fee Free” weekend at the local national parks. We are always looking for ways to save a little so we decided it was a good time to go up to Lassen Park for a hike. Also the weather was beautiful so what more could we ask for?
Mill Creek Falls trail is considered a “moderate” trail. We rate it a little more difficult than that. The total elevation change is about 300 feet, but the trail goes up and down over the whole length of it so the actual climbing is probably much more.
The falls are very nice this time of year. There is enough snow melt to keep the water levels up to a point to produce considerable water flow. Two streams come together to form the falls: East Sulphur Creek and Bumpass Creek. We were surprised to find out that Mill Creek Falls is not really on Mill Creek. Mill Creek actually begins downstream where East Sulphur Creek meets West Sulphur Creek.
The trail starts at the north end of the campground just inside the park on the Highway 89 side. There was a little confusion for us on finding the trail. There is a nice description of the trail on a post right next to a very substantial looking asphalt path. We found out that is the path to the campsite, not the falls. The falls trail is a rather narrow dirt track that takes off downhill to the left of the signpost.
The walk to the falls goes through nice forest terrain. Depending on the description, the trail is either 4.7 or 3.6 miles long round trip or somewhere in between. There are some open areas covered with wildflowers, as well as a lot of mature forest.
From the trail we saw a young deer fawn. It walked off as we approached but we got a good picture. There were also numbers of pine tree seedlings just coming up from the ground. Many seeds were still stuck to the top needles of the seedlings.
We continued on the trail up and down until it comes out to an overlook of the falls. The falls are 69 feet high, the tallest in Lassen Park. The water falls into a deep ravine. From the overlook it certainly seems to be a lot more that 69 feet deep!
For those that are interested, there is an additional spur of the trail that runs out to the top of the falls. It is said to be a great place to rest on the boulders and have lunch, but just a little farther than we wanted to go at the time.
When we got back from out hike, we checked out the new visitor center and amphitheater. The visitor center is a large building which houses a café, gift shop and display areas.
Our day was enjoyable and we would recommend the falls as a “must see.” Just be in good shape before you go!

Walnut husk fly

Husk fly trap hanging on rope lowered from walnut tree to check for flys.

In our last column we talked about coddling moth and what a pest it can be to walnut growers. Another insect walnut farmers have to watch out for is husk fly.
The husk fly is an actual fly that lays it’s eggs in the walnut husk. The eggs hatch and small maggots emerge to eat the husk. They do not actually eat into the nut itself, just the husk. But when they eat through the husk it turns all black and mushy which stains the nut a dark brown or black.
Also nuts with husk fly damage are more likely to have moldy nut meat. Either of these conditions makes the nut unmarketable. Therefore controlling them is important.
As with many insects if left alone, husk fly will build up numbers year after year until they will attack nearly every nut in the orchard. They were first noticed about 40 years ago, when substantial portions of the crop were being destroyed by the pest. Some growers lost over a third of their crop before adequate control measures were put in place.
Husk fly have only one generation per year. The adult fly deposits eggs into a nut husk. The eggs hatch and the maggots feed on the nut, eventually dropping to the ground and forming a pupa where they stay until the next year.
Unfortunately they do not all come out at the same time. The generation emerges anywhere from the first of July to the end of September.
Treatment of the flies must be done consistently to be effective. Most sprays only last a couple of weeks so repeat applications are necessary.
Usually an insecticide is mixed with fly bait, such as molasses, and then sprayed on the trees. Because bait is used only every other row needs to be treated. The flies are monitored using a yellow sticky card hung in a tree. They are attracted to the card with a lure and caught in the glue. They can then be counted to see if it is necessary to treat the orchard.
Recently a method has been developed to more accurately time the spray. The flies caught in a trap can be divided up by sex. Then the females are checked to see if they have any eggs. If they do, then the farmer knows it is time to spray.
Controlling insects is not the only thing walnut farmers do in the summer. Irrigation is another big task.
Walnut trees use a tremendous amount of water this time of year. That water has to be constantly replenished to keep the trees from stressing.
Some crops can tolerate a lack of water for a period of time. That is not true for walnuts, however. There is no time that walnut trees can go without water and not be damaged.
We use sprinklers on three-inch aluminum pipe that have to be moved every day. It runs into a fair amount of work for the farmer, but the trees like it.

Coddling Moth

Coddling Moth trap is lowered from tree on cord to check for moths. Then it is raised to about 20 feet to catch moths.

Insects are a big concern for walnut farmers at this time of year. The Coddling Moth is one of them.
They usually have three generations each growing season. The first overwinters from the previous year, surviving between cracks in tree bark or debris on the ground. They come out as moths in early to mid April, mate and lay their eggs on or near the developing walnuts. The larva hatch out and eat their way into a nearby walnut.
The second comes out in early to mid June, mate and lays their eggs on what are now mostly full-sized nuts. The larvas again move to a nut and eat their way in. The third comes out in late July or August, and because of the shorter days and cooler weather in September and October, usually remains as a larva until spring. Some warmer growing areas can have a fourth generation, but that is rare in Red Bluff.
If left uncontrolled, Coddling Moth can cause extensive economic damage to the crop, even to the point of making it unmarketable. Fortunately a lot of scientific research has been done resulting in various control strategies to help keep damage to a minimum.
Most moth control is done by spraying an insecticide on the trees. The idea is not to kill off the flying moths, although any that are around will be goners. The real strategy is to coat the outside of the walnut husks with the insecticide. This will kill the moth larva when they eat into the nuts.
One problem with this method is the insecticides only last 10 to 15 days before they become ineffective. That means timing is critical. If sprayed too early or too late some larva will be missed.
Through research it has been determined that it takes a specific number of day degrees for a Coddling Moth generation to be completed. If the spray is applied at a certain point in that day degree cycle, the generation can be suppressed.
It takes a fair amount of monitoring and attention to get an accurate total of day degrees. Here in Red Bluff the Davis University of California extension office monitors this for farmers.
One of the newest control measures is called mating disruption. The idea is that if we can prevent the moths from mating, then there will be no eggs, thus no damage.
When mating, the moths find each other through a pheromone scent given off by the female. The disruption occurs from a number of “puffers” or aerosol cans located throughout the orchard that emits Coddling Moth pheromone. These automatically dispense a puff of pheromone at predetermined intervals through the night during moth mating time. With the orchard saturated in pheromone, the moths cannot find each other to mate. This method is new but it shows great promise.
The cost is currently why most farmers are not using them. They are waiting for mass production to kick in and the price to come down to an affordable level.

Whiskeytown hikes

Crystal Creek falls seen from the foot of the falls.

Hiking was the activity we choose for our date last week. After searching the internet for ideas we found several interesting trails around the Whiskytown lake area. Information is available on the park’s website: http://www.nps.gov/whis/planyourvisit/upload/All%20Trails%20Guide8x14FINAL5.31.07.pdf.
We were not quite ready for a strenuous hike yet, so we picked one of the easier trails. The one we thought looked interesting was the Crystal Creek Water Ditch trail. It is mostly level and only about three-fourths of a mile long, one way.
Looking at a ditch does not sound all that intriguing at first until one considers where it is located. These ditches were not dug in open fields or by the roadside. Instead they were built on the sheer edge of a rocky canyon. The engineering planning and human labor that went into the construction of the ditch is easy to see.
It seems that in the 1850’s most economic activity in the north state revolved around mining and agriculture. And for both of them, water was a necessity. Charles Camden claimed water rights to Crystal Creek and Mill Creek in the mid 1800’s. He hired a crew of workers and built the Crystal Creek water ditch to supply water to his orchards and mines during the years 1855 to 1858.
Near the beginning of the trail is the cleanout house. Its purpose is to remove pine cones, leaves, sticks and other debris from the water before it goes into the pipe. It is done in a very clever way. The water turns a small turbine which is connected to an old automotive rear end. That rotates, via a chain drive, a rake wheel that removes the floating material from the water.
The trail continues along the canyon wall next to the ditch. In many places rock retaining walls had to be built to hold the ditch in place. In one area the canyon walls are nearly vertical, so a flume had to be built that is about 250 feet long.
After we got back to the car, we decided to go to Crystal Creek Falls, just up the road a ways. This also was an easy walk, but more out in the sun than the trail along the ditch. We suggest bringing a hat for this one. The falls are very nice this time of year.
Once at the falls we climbed down the rocks to the water at the base of the falls. Compared to the trail, which is in the full sun and rather warm, being right by the falls feels like sitting under an air conditioner.
We did both of these walks in less that three hours and the trails are fairly easy. This also included a stop for eating snacks and picture taking along the way.
Both of these hikes would also be ideal activities for families looking for something to do with children. These hikes are not too difficult that even smaller children should be able to finish them.