The Santa Cruz Mountains are just exploding with California tortoiseshell butterflies right now. The reason is that their favorite plant, ceanothus (aka California lilac) is also exploding since the huge fire of five years ago. Today at Big Basin park there were thousands of them everywhere. This one landed on a book at the visitor center where I was working. #butterfly #BigBasin #SantaCruzMountains

It's that time of year for banana slugs. Here's a pair that is preparing to mate. They have a ritual that can take hours. They are hermaphrodites, with both male and female organs, and both of these slugs might wind up pregnant and lay eggs. This was in Big Basin Redwoods Park, where now that it's the wetter time of year people report seeing hundreds on a hike, particularly just after a rain. #BananaSlugs #BigBasin #redwoods #photography

Redwood Trees, 5 years after the CZU fire. 8/10/2025 #BigBasin #Redwoods #photography

Fire scars, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, California #photography #BigBasin #Redwoods

Redwood sprout, Big Basin Redwoods State Park #BigBasin #photography #Redwoods

I am a volunteer docent at Big Basin Redwoods state park. A fellow docent mentioned that there were leopard lilies in bloom at a spot in Opal Creek about a mile up, and I found them. First time I had seen them at this park, though I had seen them before at another park, Portola Redwoods; both parks are in the Santa Cruz mountains. #photography #wildflowers #BigBasin #BigBasinSP

This photo is from today's hike at Big Basin state park, on Middle Ridge fire road. The park was burned very badly in 2020 and is recovering; the young redwoods look like bottle brushes because the trunks are much more fire resistant than the branches and the outer branches didn't survive the fire. #hiking #photography #redwoods #BigBasin