Death Valley Bio-Blitz planning

Dear iNat Bay Area friends - I am not sure how to set up this conversation in an easier manner. I don't think all of you are on Facebook, nor do I have everyone's email, so this will have to do. If you don't want to be a part of this discussion, let me know and I can edit out your name. Also, feel free to add names of others who might be interested.

The Death Valley Bio-Blitz is scheduled for Saturday March 12, 2016. I have all day free on Friday March 11 to do the drive, and room for three people in my Toyota Camry, in addition to myself. If we have more than three Bay Area people who want to carpool, we will either need a larger vehicle, or have two car caravans!

I have made two hotel reservations - one for one room at the Motel 6 in Beatty Nevada; a second for two rooms at the Comfort Inn in Lone Pine California. For those of you unfamiliar with the geography of Death Valley, the Lone Pine CA location will require a 1.5 hour drive to the Salt Creek location on Saturday morning; the Beatty location will require a 45 minute drive. However, Lone Pine is two hours closer to our Bay Area starting point. I made both reservations because rooms are already at a premium at both locations. Assuming we can get three people to a room in either location, the cost for those who want to stay at a hotel would be about $30/night. Simply put, I don't do camping. There's a reason I was born in the 20th century - indoor plumbing and easy access to diet cola. If there is a subset of people who are eager to camp, you can discuss that here, I suppose.

I'd want to leave early on Friday, ca. 7:30 or so, both to avoid traffic and to build in an opportunity to make a few strategic stops for, well, iNat-ting! My starting point would be Palo Alto or San Jose. I would need to be back by Sunday night, no later than 10:00 pm.

OK, so let's start discussing practical logistics!

@leslie_flint, @dpom, @robberfly, @kestrel, @sea-kangaroo, @loarie, @kueda, @rebeccafay, @natureali

Posted on February 23, 2016 05:42 PM by gyrrlfalcon gyrrlfalcon

Comments

FYI - I think the bioblitz is Saturday the 12th.

Posted by jaykeller over 8 years ago

Corrected. Blaming the cold meds.

Posted by gyrrlfalcon over 8 years ago

awesome! Will check my calendar and see if this is in the cards for me. I've never actually been to Death Valley - looks like sea-kangaroo is the reigning top-observer http://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=4504

Posted by loarie over 8 years ago

BJ and I will be out there.

Posted by jaykeller over 8 years ago

Jennifer, I would love to do this, but I am uncertain of my schedule in March. Back to you as soon as I can figure it out.

Posted by leslie_flint over 8 years ago

well, robberfly, stay tuned. It is just possible that there will be two cars going, and one of them would be crazy enough to do the blitz then drive back the entire distance on Saturday evening.

Posted by gyrrlfalcon over 8 years ago

I've been hearing that the Death Valley bloom this year is just fantastic so we should have a lot to see! (http://www.desertusa.com/wildflo/ca_dv.html has some aerial shots)

I would love to both join y'all and not drive the whole 8 hours by myself for the hundredth time, but I'm thinking I'll probably want more than 2 days down there so I can go to Ash Meadows & etc. I'll think about it today and check the weather and so on and get back to you shortly.

If I go under my own steam I will head down from San Jose on Thursday to get a campsite, since all of the NPS campgrounds (except the completely booked-out Furnace Creek Campground) are first-come first-serve, so I should be able to snag a second campsite (or just share mine) if there are other interested folks who won't arrive until Friday evening.

Camping info:

The bioblitz site is halfway between the Furnace Creek & Stovepipe Wells "villages," which have 3 campgrounds between them: Texas Spring, Sunset, & Stovepipe Wells. Individual campsites have a maximum of 2 vehicles and 8 people (though there's no way they'd be able to tell to enforce that at Stovepipe Wells), and all have picnic tables and proper sinks & toilets but no shade or showers. Shower/pool passes can be got for $5 from the Stovepipe Wells & Furnace Creek motels. Texas Spring is the smallest and up a little hill so is the quietest, Sunset is basically a dusty roadside parking lot full of RVs, and Stovepipe Wells is also a dusty parking lot but the tent campers all set up randomly mixed in the surrounding creosote scrubland. Sunset & Stovepipe Wells are short walks to the showers/pubs, and Stovepipe is the closest to the sand dunes which are apparently good for kangaroo rats at night.

By the way, for anybody making bonus park plans NPS has a couple of active alerts: Scotty's Castle & its road are closed due to flood damage, and Badwater Road is closed between Ashford Mill and Shoshone also due to flood damage.

Posted by sea-kangaroo over 8 years ago

I'm in. Save a spot in your car for me. I am very happy not to camp!

Posted by dpom over 8 years ago

I am 90% on board, though I think the Thursday - Sunday plan would work better for me. I could drive. @sea-kangaroo, I'll email you.

Posted by kueda over 8 years ago

I so wish I could do Thursday-Sunday myself, but multiple Thursday obligations spoiled that plan. Glad we are getting critical mass here!

Posted by gyrrlfalcon over 8 years ago

Hi guys! My name is Lucy Ellis and I am helping to coordinate the BioBlitz at Death Valley. If you are interested in participating with a specialist to help collect data and log observations on iNat, please sign up here! http://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/nature/bioblitz.htm
If you have any questions about the event please contact lucy_landis@partner.nps.gov.
Can't wait to meet you all!
Lucy

Posted by lucyellis over 8 years ago

Hi Lucy! What would be the best way for hard-core iNatter's (which seem to be most of the people on this thread) to help with the BioBlitz? Is it best for us to focus on making as many Observations and IDs as possible, or is there anything else that we could do to help - like helping others get familiar with the app?

Posted by loarie over 8 years ago

Yes and yes! We can use your expert knowledge of the app and your uploads. The problem with using iNat in the park is the spotty WIFI. But the data collected at Salt Creek can be uploaded later when there is better connectivity, possibly at Furnace Creek or when you return to the Bay Area.

Posted by lucyellis over 8 years ago

Thanks for jumping in here, Lucy! And thanks for helping coordinate this Blitz! In our experiences here in the Bay Area with Blitzes, we've found that pairing hard-core users with beginners can spread the learning, but it severely reduces the effectiveness of the hard-core iNat-ters, who then have to spend more time teaching than garnering observations. Let us swarm the area by ourselves, and we'll generate tons of entries.

Posted by gyrrlfalcon over 8 years ago

The best course of action would be to sign up as a participant. The Salt Creek area is extremely fragile and we need to limit any impact we have with our activities. For this event, we will have the project created to allow observations and IDs within the Salt Creek area only. Observations made outside this area are most welcome, and I think you'll find more diversity along with easy access, but these will be your observations, not the DEVA BioBlitz's. Does this make sense?

Posted by lucy13 over 8 years ago

hmm - I wasn't aware that the Bioblitz wasn't using the NP boundary - but observations from anywhere within the park will still be counted for the Parkservice wide count right @forester93 ?

Posted by loarie over 8 years ago

Lucy,

I am a little unclear about what you are suggesting. Are you saying that participants need to be "guided" during any activities at Salt Creek during the blitz, otherwise we cannot participate?

Jay

Posted by jaykeller over 8 years ago
Posted by loarie over 8 years ago

@loarie @lucy13 We have planned on counting any observations within the whole of Death Valley NP during the bioblitz - both for the park counts and the larger regional and servicewide counts.

There's no reason to limit bioblitz counts to a subset of the park unless you're planning on holding more than one event simultaneously and need to compare the counts. I don't think that's the case at Death Valley, correct?

This is a great opportunity to welcome the iNaturalist community to a really special place and for the NPS to learn a lot in a very short time from their expertise. Are the bioblitz activities at Salt Creek purely guided, or are there opportunities for other exploration there (understanding that there will be rules of engagement on how to protect the resource while observing)?

Posted by forester93 over 8 years ago

@resourcesdeva - Sorry I hadn't included you earlier!

Posted by gyrrlfalcon over 8 years ago

@forester93 I think so, observations will count for the Park.
@jaykeller To be able to access parts of Salt Creek off the boardwalk you will have to sign up as a participant.
@loarie You are correct. Salt Creek activities are guided.

To better explain our event:
Our event is small, focused on documenting the biota of the hyper-saline Salt Creek, which lies in the geographic Death Valley 190ft below sea level. It is accessed primarily by boardwalk and a very limited trail system. This is an incredibly rare ecosystem and is sensitive even to footprints. Stepping off the boardwalk or trail will require you to sign up as a participant for the event and will be guided by a specialist. To simply come to the event requires no sign-up. Festivities will be held in the parking lot of Salt Creek where scientists will also be working on collections made the night before and possibly showing the taxa found that day. So there is still the opportunity to make observations without signing up. If you all would like to sign-up, we envision having an iNatter or two assigned to a specialist. I hope this clarifies our intent and the scope of our BioBlitz, which will be different from most.

Posted by lucy13 over 8 years ago

Thanks. I will refocus my efforts elsewhere in the park under those circumstances. Good luck with your effort. FYI @finatic.

Posted by jaykeller over 8 years ago

I'll speak from the heart here and let you all know I didn't mean for anyone to get the wrong impression about coming out to the park. For those of you hard-core iNatters, this place is a wonderland of strange species. Salt Creek is just where we are doing the BioBlitz, the park is just too large to have a coordinated event throughout. Our park is huge - 3.4 million acres, over 90% is designated Wilderness. Those of you wanting to get as many observations as possible will be rewarded. I know you all are really excited to come here and experience the diversity and I can not wait to help share it with you! Did you know we have dozens of endemic plants here?(That's what I go crazy for.)
Some diversity hot-spots I enjoy are Daylight Pass, Eureka Valley, Titus Canyon and Emigrant Pass.
In order to have a fun and safe time in Death Valley, there are several things that are important to know. Prior planning is key.
See our website for general information and to help plan your trip here.
http://www.nps.gov/DEVA/index.htm
More information to follow!
Lucy

Posted by lucy13 over 8 years ago

I'm just catching up on this thread as I've been traveling the past week. Yes, I agree with @jaykeller that I will be in Death Valley but not at Salt Creek. I'll be adding to the larger project (if one is created). I can understand the need for the average person to be led in a sensitive environment and since I am not known to the staff at DV I can understand not being given free reign. I will find more diversity and enjoy myself more without having a babysitter.

If anyone wants to meet somewhere else message me before the event and we can coordinate. I'll have a bug light for either Friday or Saturday night.

Posted by finatic over 8 years ago

Thanks Lucy! I'm really excited to participate by identifying observations from the Bioblitz and (assuming I can get down there with my 15-month old) by making observations myself! Sounds like the observations posted by @jaykeller, @finatic, @gyrrlfalcon et al from throughout the park will really complement observations posted from the more structured inventories occurring within Salt Creek area to round out the final DEVA Bioblitz species count. I also wanted to emphasize that everyone on this thread definitely understands and respects your and @forester93's point about taking steps to protect the fragile resource while observing (e.g. staying out of fragile areas and not handling vertebrates) and appreciates your guidance on how to best follow these rules while Bioblitzing. Lastly, will there be any opportunities for people observing at DEVA sites other than Salt Creek during the day on the 12th (and thus missing the Salt Creek inventory action) to come together with and meet park staff and Salt Creek inventory participants sometime during the event? E.g. maybe at a closing ceremony for the Bioblitz or around a shared moth-lamp etc.?

Posted by loarie over 8 years ago

Beetle lamp... ;-D

Posted by jaykeller over 8 years ago

Lucy, what are the official hours of the blitz at Salt Creek? That may give us a sense of how to set up a meeting between those who want to go to the formal Salt Creek blitz, and those who are blitzing another area in the park. I love the idea of meeting at an insect light!

Posted by gyrrlfalcon over 8 years ago

I love the insect light idea also. Official hours are from 8am to 9pm Saturday, March 12th and 7am to 10am Sunday morning. We are finalizing the schedule next week and will have it posted.
Other great places to survey: Greenwater Valley, Panamint Valley, Saratoga Springs, Lee Flat, Warm Springs Canyon, West Side Road...how many of you are coming and in what kind of vehicles? :)

Posted by lucy13 over 8 years ago

I know that I am coming with at least one other iNatter (@dpom), in a passenger car. Is the golf course at Furnance Springs open to birding in the early morning, do you know?

Posted by gyrrlfalcon over 8 years ago

I'll be arriving with @jaykeller in a 4WD vehicle.

And I'll have the bug light and portable battery. Not sure where I'll be setting it up as that will depend on temperatures that night and having a nice open area.
@gyrrlfalcon It's too early for the good birds. But having access to the golf course and waste ponds would be awesome for the overall count.

Posted by finatic over 8 years ago

Ok - just made plans to arrive Friday and leave Sunday (I'll be staying 40min away in Beatty since I'll have my wife & toddler in toe). Excited! Lets definitely plan a get together Saturday evening - @lucy13 will you let us know when the schedule is finalized and what you recommend for a Saturday evening get together?

Posted by loarie over 8 years ago

I will definitely let you know when the schedule is finalized. @gyrrlfalcon The golf course and waste ponds are a great early morning birding site, the golf course manager just asks that observing be wrapped up by 8am, when the golfers usually start.

Posted by lucy13 over 8 years ago

Thanks for that info, @lucy13 ! I would think we could get some nightjars and owls early, @dpom

Posted by gyrrlfalcon over 8 years ago

The schedule will be posted soon! I think the bug lamp meeting is best done sometime between 6 and 8pm. We will have had long days!

Posted by lucy13 over 8 years ago

Is there a site you'd recommend Lucy? Preferably something in the park and accessible?

Posted by loarie over 8 years ago

Assuming there are temperatures that are suitable for blacklighting, BJ and I will likely want to choose a spot based on the habitat to maximize diversity. The best sites in the desert tend to be areas where there is a permanent water source such as a creek, spring, or pond that also has a high number of different plant species. Of course, the site also needs to have an open view so the light can be seen for a large distance (avoid being completely surrounded by hills or high vegetation), and preferably not within an area that channels the wind. Not always easy attributes to make come together in the desert, but they are there.

Posted by jaykeller over 8 years ago

I probably won't visit sites other than Salt Creek, and we will have entomologists with bug lights there. It has flowing water, is fairly open and accessible. It does not have diverse plants. The wind does what it pleases out there, but it's not channeled. Furnace Creek wash east of the Inn has surface flow, a bit more diversity but is choked up is some areas. It's flat and you can park along the road. What do ya'll think?

Posted by lucy13 over 8 years ago

After consideration, the best place to meet would be at Salt Creek. That way I am sure to be able to meet you, since I am on-call for the scientists. There you could help make observations, too if you wanted. We are hoping to mist-net bats and you could get a nice picture of a Pallid bat or Fringed myotis, if you're in to bat kind of things. The area will be hopping with invertebrate specialists that would also appreciate your observations made elsewhere.
Also, just to remind everyone that collecting species of any kind requires a permit to do so.

Posted by lucy13 over 8 years ago

Very cool re. bats! Happy to meet you there.

Posted by gyrrlfalcon over 8 years ago

I tried to sign up but they said there were too many experts! I went to DV a week and a half ago. Quite fantastic. Enjoy and if any want to visit the Kern Valley coming or going, I would love to see my friends.

Posted by natureali over 8 years ago

Are you going to come @natureali? Sounds like there's going to be quite a few of us recording observations from around the park during the day Saturday while the expert led inventories are happening in Salt Creek. And during the evening on Saturday we'll be mixing with park staff and the inventory crew around a moth lamp. Would be great if you can make it! You'll probably contribute alot more to the Bioblitz in terms of data observing with the rest of us than leading one of the guided inventories.

Posted by loarie over 8 years ago

If I can find transportation or my insurance company settles with me soon. Suicidal 5-point buck destroyed my truck a couple weeks ago. If would be great to see everyone. I photographed 49 species of plants in bloom on the 28th.

Posted by natureali over 8 years ago

@natureali I do hope that you can find a way there. It would be great to see you. I am so sorry to hear about the deer incident and you not having that truck any longer. But it sounds like you're OK and that is all that matters.

Posted by finatic over 8 years ago

@dpom and I are staying in Lone Pine Friday and Saturday night. We intend to stop in Maricopa/Taft (California's greatest metro area) on the way down to look for LeConte's Thrasher on Friday. Perhaps we can figure out an angle between Maricopa and Lone Pine wherein we could pick you up, @natureali ? You can message me privately here if that seems feasible.

Posted by gyrrlfalcon over 8 years ago

@lucy13 was the Death Valley Bioblitz schedule finalized and if so can you post a link to it here so we can find it? Also @finatic @jaykeller @gyrrlfalcon et al., lets finalize details for the Saturday evening happy hour. Sunset is at 6pm. Is everyone happy to meet at Salt Creek around then? Hopefully we'll be able to find each other and set up mothlights without too much more coordination. Does that work for everyone? Also what are people's Friday night mothing plans? I'm happy to meet up Friday night as well round a moth light if anyone is interested so we can touch base before the Bioblitz and share our respective Blitzin' plans for the following day.

Posted by loarie over 8 years ago

Scott,

BJ and I are not likely going to make it to DV until sometime Saturday morning the way things appear to be working out. We're probably going to just troll around looking for maximum diversity areas on Saturday - probably well off the beaten path. Meeting Saturday at 6pm Salt Creek sounds good. I look forward to finally meeting you and others.

Jay

Posted by jaykeller over 8 years ago

Scott @loarie , that's a really good idea to figure out our plans for Saturday ahead of time, regardless of whether we are able to meet on Friday night, since I expect it will be difficult, if not impossible, to contact each other during the day on Saturday. It sounds like the areas with the best plant diversity should be the areas where we should spend most of our time. Maybe @lucy13 can give us a better idea for sites that are accessible to passenger cars with normal lower clearance. I expect that @gyrrlfalcon and I will want to start off by birding the area around the Furnace Creek golf course, so suggestions with that in mind would be appreciated. Really looking forward to seeing you all!

Posted by dpom over 8 years ago

Ok - sounds like 6pm Salt Creek Sat night is set then - look forward to seeing everyone there. Sounds like meeting up Frida night is not worth it. Thanks for sharing your plans jay and donna, I'll probably head to Salt Creek at 8am to catch the official start of the Blitz and get oriented and then will head out somewhere else in the park from there. So maybe I'll see folks at Salt Creek at 8am and if not will see you back there at 6pm. Looking forward to seeing more species than anyone else ;)

Posted by loarie over 8 years ago

Also - just to get folks inspired about how its done, I hope everyone's seen @silversea_starsong's epic showing at last week's Cabrillo Bioblitz http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/2016-national-parks-bioblitz-cabrillo-intertidal-bioblitz 165 observations and 91 species is the individual record to beat on Saturday!

Posted by loarie over 8 years ago

Schedule: http://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/nature/bioblitz.htm
Greenwater Valley Rd is a dirt road in good condition for normal cars. Paved roads that could lead to better diversity: Wildrose Rd., Daylight Pass, Dante's View, Panamint Valley Rd, Mud Canyon Rd, Grapevine Rd and the Southern end of Badwater Rd.
High Clearance 4X4 - Echo Canyon, Titus Canyon, - Westside Rd beware deep sand in the southern end
6pm moth light at Salt Creek should good, just note that you'll need to catch the shuttle or walk 1.2 miles into Salt Creek. Park along 190 at the junction.
See you soon!

Posted by lucy13 over 8 years ago

I expect a black light at a good spot in DV right now could get 91 species in an hour or so @loarie :)

Aim for 100 species, because I have a few IDs in progress...but yeah, spend the day on plants, spend the night at a light, and you can probably double my count.

Posted by silversea_starsong over 8 years ago

Really looking forward to hearing how it goes this weekend! Sounds like the friendly competition is on and @silversea_starsong set a high bar!

Posted by carrieseltzer over 8 years ago

I saw James' great outing - nice work James! Though you all have to be psycho to top BJ and me with our crazy typical blitz-like outings where we've been near or over 200 species in a day on multiple occasions. Maybe not a fair comparison to SEAZ in summer, but here is a fun example: ;-)
http://www.inaturalist.org/calendar/jaykeller/2014/8/23

Posted by jaykeller over 8 years ago

How late does the shuttle run, @lucy13 ?

Posted by gyrrlfalcon over 8 years ago

From the emailed volunteer schedule looks like the last shuttle to Salt Creek is at 5.

I'll be camping near Furnace Creek Friday & Saturday nights, and I'm on the mammal team at Salt Creek but not sure yet what that entails. But I'll be at Salt Creek for sure early in the morning and then in the late afternoon & evening. If you see someone with a platypus shirt it's probably me. See you all out there! Should be a great day.

Posted by sea-kangaroo over 8 years ago

Just to make sure that I have this correct. The last shuttle is at 5pm, the moth light doesn't start until 6pm and it is 1.2 miles to walk in and 1.2 miles to walk out. Is that right @lucy13

Posted by finatic over 8 years ago

Welcome @microm!

Posted by gyrrlfalcon over 8 years ago

If service dogs are not allowed on shuttle nor at Salt Creek, I have no business being there. Besides, it is now really crowded with folks who do tramp all over Salt Creek's delicate area. I saw plenty of foot prints when I went. So much for the ADA law...

Posted by microm over 8 years ago

@carrieseltzer Our server was down temporarily yesterday, did it work for other people? I tried it this morning with success.
@gyrrlfalcon @finatic Shuttle schedule has been loose until today, sorry for that. We are still working on it but we do know this:
Last Shuttle from Sunset Overflow to Salt Creek departs at 7:30PM
Last Shuttle from Salt Creek to Sunset Overflow departs at 9:00PM
Shuttles to and from the 190 junction to Salt Creek will run until 9:00PM
I suggest parking along 190 to meet up in the evening. I'll probably be coming back from dinner in a gov't vehicle so I'll look for you guys around 6pm. If need be, I can transport a few if you sign a volunteer waiver which we will have copies of.
I've been tracking the weather and it looks pretty bad Friday night. Be prepared for wind, rain and blowing dust. Saturday looks much better.

Posted by lucy13 over 8 years ago

@kueda and @laurie hope to meet you and others Saturday. @kueda I have enjoyed your iNat posts regarding Mt. Diablo. I'm camping in Texas Springs site 70. Teal VW Eurovan with white roof.

Posted by gatoraceae over 8 years ago

I think I'll be there. Let's see what happens...

Posted by silversea_starsong over 8 years ago

Hi all! I can't come but will be watching from here.

@lucyellis - sorry if this is late... but I saw your comment about using inaturalist out of cell phone service. Here in very rugged Vermont there are many many places I use iNat with no cell phone service (on an iphone). It works fine, you just have to remember to upload the observations to the site later when you get to WiFi. If you are getting problems with them trying to upload, you can turn off Auto Upload in the app settings. (I always keep it off anyway, because I always collect so many sightings - 50 to 100 or more in an outing - and don't want to blow through my phone data. Though at a bioblitz i'd consider turning it on if there was good cell service, just for fun).

Did you decide to limit the BioBlitz to Salt Creek? If so I will want to look at the place data instead of just Salt Creek, because I want to see it all :)

Posted by charlie over 8 years ago

@lucy13 Have you set-up the bioblitz projects on iNaturalist yet? One for Salt Creek and one for the entire Death Valley National Park. If so, it would be a good idea to post links to the projects here on this thread so that people can sign-up for them and know to where they should add their observations.

Posted by finatic over 8 years ago

@microm We have handicap parking at the north end of the Salt Creek parking area, and you and your service dog are welcome on the boardwalk. As you drive in just show them your handicap pass if you have one. If not I'll give the parking attendants your name if you are comfortable with that. As for the footprints at Slat Creek, soon we will be replacing the boardwalk with a longer-lasting material and hopefully renewing our signage to help protect the area. I hope this helps and I encourage you to come to BioBlitz!

Posted by lucy13 over 8 years ago
Posted by forester93 over 8 years ago

@forester93 I just joined. Looking forward to playing around in the park and finding some cool things.

Posted by finatic over 8 years ago

Here is the project for BioBlitz - http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/2016-national-parks-bioblitz-death-valley-discovering-life-on-the-edge-17239180-c28c-4994-a2a7-2c18625e74f8
If the link is bad sign in to iNat, go to Projects and search for Death Valley BioBlitz: Discovering Life on the Edge.

Posted by lucy13 over 8 years ago

Thanks @finatic for clarifying.
@forester93 welcome!

Posted by lucy13 over 8 years ago

34 members for the project already - wow! That must set the record for membership with no obs as yet!

Posted by jaykeller over 8 years ago

Hope you all are having a great time in Death Valley - I'm jealous.

Posted by forester93 over 8 years ago

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