Red-tailed Hawk Suju

This is Suju, a colleague and friend of mine here at Foothill Horizons Outdoor School where I work. Suju is the Me-wuk word for Red-tailed hawk.



I am learning how to work with her and introduce her to students.

(If you want to make prints of these, please let me send you higher resolution files.)

Snow at Foothill Horizons!

Snow! What a rare treat at Foothill Horizons! These students were very lucky to experience it. Some of the staff couldn't make it to work on time because roads were closed, so we combined classes. This group built a snowman and took some time to eat plenty of snow. It was light and fluffy like cotton candy.

These two boys were the coolest!




Notice that the snowman is a Giants fan.

Wow, do you think the kid in the red coat is going to eat all that snow? Since it's so light and fluffy, it's easier than it looks, but still... it looks like a lot.

Snow at Calaveras Big Trees

Winter can bring deep snow to the Sierra Nevada, as seen here in these pictures from our trip to Calaveras Big Trees State Park.


We waded through snow that was three or four feet deep. What a chilly adventure, especially if you're wearing...


... shorts! This student took the Polar Bear Club to a whole new level.


We had a great time, though. These children are standing in front of the roots of a giant sequoia that has fallen down. Notice how the kids naturally lean the same direction as the roots.

September 2006 at Foothill Horizons

A student found this mushroom near the blind-walk. It now lives on the touch table in the Discovery Hut.


This is the beehive, where we can see how the bees live, reproduce, and make honey. These folks are probably trying to find the queen bee.


The touch table in the discovery hut, where we have many different animal remains that were found somewhere out in the woods.


Can you spot this bird? Pretty good camouflage. It's a spotted towhee. During this class, in fact, it was spotted by at least 12 students. *hahaha*


Here are the students who did the spotting.


Students exploring the pond found some algae.


These students are enjoying some fresh wild grapes that grow in the woods near the garden, after a run through the sprinkler on a hot day.


Descending into Moaning Caverns


The students get to watch their teacher rappel down a 165 foot rope into the depths of Moaning Caverns.


40 people can easily sit atop the Discovery Stump at Calaveras Big Trees State Park. The tree was the largest in the grove until it was felled in the 1850's. The stump was turned into a dance floor, and the fallen log became a single lane bowling alley. The novelty was the size of the tree, of course. Today, the tree stands as a monument to what might have been. What choices do we make now that influence the future?


A giant sequoia cone (Sequoiadendron giganteum) from our trip to Calaveras Big Trees State Park. It's about the size of a chicken's egg, and seeds about the size of a quick oat come out from between the cracks when the cone dries out. The cones can open and release seeds as a result of fire, or after being severed from the tree (thus losing moisture) by storms or animals.