PHOTOGRAPHS

PHOTOGRAPHS

Frank J Kluber

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John Muir National Historic Site, 2015 The slopes of Mt. Wanda are dominated by vegetation communities very similar to that recorded by John Muir and others. Located near the Muir residence, John Muir would walk the hills with his daughters Wanda and Helen. Mt. Wanda is named after the eldest daughter. The vegetation distribution on Mt. Wanda consists of Blue Oak Woodland, Coast Live Oak and California Laurel Forest on the northern slopes with Valley Oak Woodland and California Laurel forest on the southern slopes. Wild Oats and Ryegrass Grassland occupy the upper elevations with a patch of Leymus Grassland. Buckeye Woodland and Oak Forest are also included. As John Muir’s “backyard” Mt. Wanda is historically unique. The lack of cattle grazing on Wanda allows the grassland to remain untrammeled; the oaks are free of cattle browse and allowed to regenerate which is how Muir managed the land. The Latin name for oak, Quercus, was derived from two Celtic words: quer, meaning “fine” and cuezi, meaning “tree.” A walk on Mt. Wanda in March after some winter rain as the oaks begin to emerge from winter dormancy allows the photographer an opportunity to document the landscape as Muir experienced it on his walks with his daughters.

John Muir National Historic Site, 2016

©Copyright 2016 Frank J Kluber