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Tarantula Hike, Rancho Canada del Oro/Calero 9/17/23 by Ronald Horii
On 9/17/23, there was a tarantula hike at Rancho Canada del Oro Open Space Preserve, which also included adjacent Calero County Park. This was the description: "Join Open Space Authority docents for a slow, gently paced walk along Rancho Cañada del Oro's flat Longwall Canyon Trail in search of the elusive California ebony tarantula (Aphonopelma eutylenum). Learn about the tarantula’s amazing lifestyle and how these fascinating animals survive in the wild. Families welcome! Please bring water to drink and comfortable walking shoes." We were supposed to start in the overflow lot, but it was closed due to construction. Fortunately, there was enough parking space for everyone in the main lot. About 29 people came to the event. It was led by docent Paul Billig, with help from docents Tim and me. Tim was sweeping. I was running around taking pictures. The temperature was in the 70's, so it wasn't hot. The first part of the route was shady. We hiked along the flat Longwall Canyon Trail, starting in Calero County Park, and took it to the Catamount Trail junction in Rancho Canada del Oro. The pictures show what we saw. Here are more of my pictures of Rancho Canada del Oro, including previous tarantula hikes: http://www.rhorii.com/#RCDO. This was the last tarantula hike that I went on before the pandemic. It was on 9/15/19: https://tinyurl.com/yyozb9jj. There were none in 2020. There was a hike on 9/12/21 that was the first one since the start of the pandemic: https://tinyurl.com/brxunphw. I missed the hike in 2022. Here's the official webpage for the preserve: https://www.openspaceauthority.org/visitors/preserves/rancho.html. Here's Calero County Park info and map: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/parks/parkfinder/Pages/Calero.aspx
On 9/17/23, there was a tarantula hike at Rancho Canada del Oro Open Space Preserve, which also included adjacent Calero County Park. This was the description: "Join Open Space Authority docents for a slow, gently paced walk along Rancho Cañada del Oro's flat Longwall Canyon Trail in search of the elusive California ebony tarantula (Aphonopelma eutylenum). Learn about the tarantula’s amazing lifestyle and how these fascinating animals survive in the wild. Families welcome! Please bring water to drink and comfortable walking shoes." We were supposed to start in the overflow lot, but it was closed due to construction. Fortunately, there was enough parking space for everyone in the main lot. About 29 people came to the event. It was led by docent Paul Billig, with help from docents Tim and me. Tim was sweeping. I was running around taking pictures. The temperature was in the 70's, so it wasn't hot. The first part of the route was shady. We hiked along the flat Longwall Canyon Trail, starting in Calero County Park, and took it to the Catamount Trail junction in Rancho Canada del Oro. The pictures show what we saw. Here are more of my pictures of Rancho Canada del Oro, including previous tarantula hikes: http://www.rhorii.com/#RCDO. This was the last tarantula hike that I went on before the pandemic. It was on 9/15/19: https://tinyurl.com/yyozb9jj. There were none in 2020. There was a hike on 9/12/21 that was the first one since the start of the pandemic: https://tinyurl.com/brxunphw. I missed the hike in 2022. Here's the official webpage for the preserve: https://www.openspaceauthority.org/visitors/preserves/rancho.html. Here's Calero County Park info and map: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/parks/parkfinder/Pages/Calero.aspx
