Monarch Migration: A Collaboration

by Jamie Rhein on

Before I headed out with my son this past Saturday on our own excursion to experience the life of a monarch butterfly firsthand, I was writing a post with about where to go to see monarchs in action and monarch migration. This is the time of year that they are starting to gear up for their journey south. As Sarah, the director of the Blendon Woods MetroPark in Columbus, Ohio, and an expert on monarchs told me, monarchs either will travel south or they will reproduce. Those that reproduce live for about 30 days. Reproducing poops them out. Those that make the journey to Mexico, or places in between, live for about 9 months.

Here are places that celebrate monarchs. If you see a monarch in your own travels, look to see if there is a band on it. There are programs where monarchs are tagged so their journey can be traced and documented.

At the website Monarch Watch, a University of Kansas community-wide (think as big as the world) research and conservation project, you can find out all kinds of info about the monarchs and their migration. On September 8 there is an open house and a tagging event on the 15th. There is also a link to a forum where you can learn about monarch habitats and how to create your own.

Here’s another project, digital monarch watch, where people can document real-time monarch migration.

If you are in Texas, here’s information about where to track monarchs. For everyone else, there’s a good description of the migration process.

California is one place monarchs pass through. Here are two places I found where you can see monarchs in October.Pismo Beach, California. Monarchs will start showing up here again in November (although it could be earlier) Pacific Grove, California (This site says they arrive in October)

The photo is thanks to icyshard who took this shot of monarchs mating at Coronado Butterfly Preserve in Ellwood, California.

If you want to go on a monarch tour in Mexico, check out Gap Adventures.

If you have a monarch migration event where you live, let us know and provide a link if possible.

How to Access Malibu Beaches and Legally Piss Off the Homeowners who live there

by Neil Woodburn on

An ongoing cat and mouse game on the beaches of Malibu regularly pits wealthy beachfront homeowners against the general public seeking access to their sand and surf.

Malibu has 27 miles of coastline. Technically, it is all open to the public. The problem, however, is that many homeowners have illegally asserted their claim to much of this public property by blocking access to the beach itself as well as posting signs stating that the beach in front of their homes is private property.

There is only half truth to this. California State Law recognizes only part of the beach in front of these homes as private. According to the California Coastal Commission, “the state of California owns… the land seaward… of what is called the mean high tide line.”

In short, this means that the public has access to the wet sand, not the dry sand above the tide line. So one can walk along the beach, as long as the sand is wet beneath your toes.

Sneaky home owners, however, have built houses and property lines so close to each other that it is nearly impossible to reach that wet sand. And if you manage to do so, local security guards have been known to falsely tell beach goers that they are not allowed anywhere on the sand.

I’ve lived in Los Angeles most of my life and have never swam at a Malibu Beach because of these challenging logistics and bothersome locals. But now, a private group of Urban Rangers, as they call themselves, have taken it upon themselves to educate the public about the beach laws as well as ways to access the beach itself. You can visit their website and learn all about it, as well as download a map detailing all the public access routes.

Surf’s up, Malibu!

Related: Los Angeles destination guide

Pack It Out…All Out on Mt. Whitney

by Erik Olsen on

Here’s something interesting:

When hiking Mt. Whitney, you must carry out your own feces. Isn’t that just the thing you wanted to know on this quiet, lovely Sunday?

You see, I know this unpleasant-sounding fact, because I am, literally, headed there now. If luck, weather and good health are with me, I will have summited the lower 48’s tallest peak by Tuesday afternoon.

It’s an exciting prospect, a bit daunting, but I just can’t get it out of my mind that I am going to have to carry around my own, well, waste. This is a new mandatory policy at Whitney, one started earlier this year after they removed the last of the miles-high outhouses at the two big camps on the mountain.

According to various posts over at the Whitney site, these outhouses never worked well anyway and they stunk to, ahem, high-heaven. But rather than build fancy new, high-tech outhouses that say, zap your feces with Higgs Bosons and convert them into recycled cups or something, the Forest Service went decidedly low-tech. They said, from now on, people will have to pack it out. Pack it ALL out. And so now at Whitney (like at various other mountains in CA…ie.e Mt. Shasta) you will now have to get your hands on what is called a WAG bag, and inside, dear friends, is where you will collect and store and carry your previous evening’s fully digested meal. Isn’t nature lovely!?

By the way, if anyone has any advice on doing Whitney, or interesting WAG bag experiences, do share!

Carbon Credits that Reforest America’s National Forests

by Neil Woodburn on

There are a lot of different ways out there to purchase “carbon credits” to offset your carbon footprint. One of the very best, in my opinion, just launched a month ago.

Like most other organizations in this category, The Carbon Capital Fund also helps individuals calculate the amount of emissions they produce on a yearly basis and then sells them credits to offset the damage they have caused the environment. The difference with the Carbon Capital Fund, however, is that the money generated from these credits is used for only one purpose; reforesting America’s National Forests with CO2-absorbing trees.

This is because the Carbon Capital Fund is actually run by the Forest Service itself. The government agency, according to a recent LA Times article, estimates that the forest under their protection absorbs “10% to 15% of the nation’s carbon emissions and that planting through the new initiative will increase that amount.”

That’s a win-win situation in my book. Not only does your carbon credits help clean the air, but they also help reforest some of America’s greatest natural resources. And, it’s not all that expensive to be guilt free. A quick session on the site’s Carbon Calculator revealed that I produce 7.98 metric tons of emissions per year. The cost to offset this is only $47.88. I wonder how many trees that will buy?

Tijuana Cracking Down on Corrupt Cops

by Neil Woodburn on

There is nothing that says “Mexican Holiday” more than paying a bribe to the local police. In fact, paying off corrupt cops is as common as tacos and cervazas south of the border. College students heading down for Spring Break, for example, all know to keep an extra $20 bill in their pockets for the inevitable shakedown.

I’d like to say this is all urban legend, but I have too many friends who have had to fork out the dough or face a night in a Mexican pokey.

One of the most common places for the shakedown is along the five mile strip of road between Tijuana and the nearest beach towns. This well-traveled highway is frequented by numerous tourists heading south for the holidays, or perhaps just a weekend at their beach house. And all seem to be speeding no matter how slow they drive.

Concerned that such a horrific reputation was pissing off tourists and damaging further foreign investment in the region, Tijuana officials have announced that they initiated a crackdown in the region against bad cops. Not only have some of the worst offenders have been transferred elsewhere, but an all-female battalion has been stationed in the area to promote good will and reassure tourists crossing the border.In a novel move, local officials have gone so far as to make the entire five mile strip of highway leading to the beach a No Pull-Over Zone in which local police are prevented from pulling over anyone with foreign plates whatsoever.

Now that’s a novel approach! But don’t get too excited. Cameras will still monitor the highway to make sure that gringos don’t start taking advantage of the No Pull-Over Zone. And don’t worry; there will be plenty of Mexican cops elsewhere in the country to provide you with that authentic south of the border experience.