A Napa Valley Nature Walk | National Geographic

Hi! I'm Ashley Kalina, and I'm here in beautiful Napa Valley to talk to you about National Get Outdoors Day. I'm here with National Geographic and our friends at Nature Valley. We're here to experience the beautiful outdoors.

Now, I'm not the expert here, but I do have a wonderful expert who is going to answer all of your questions and all my questions too. Let me introduce you to Jay.

Jay: I absolutely welcome you both to Napa Valley Park. Thank you!

Ashley: So can you tell me and all of our wonderful viewers a little bit more about this park that we're in right now?

Jay: Sure! Well, even though it doesn't look like what most people think of when they're in Napa Valley, we’re in this woodland setting. But our proximity is really what we're known for—The Vineyards and the great wine. You can kind of have the best of both worlds here by camping, hiking, and then having access to the valley as well.

Ashley: So how many trails are there in this park that people can walk on?

Jay: Yeah, there are about 10 miles of trails total, and we've got two different trail systems. This one is along Ritchie Canyon, and you can do loops of up to six miles. But what's really great about it is you actually have access to the creek and the redwood trees. You don't have to walk far necessarily to get that access.

Ashley: And so, I am not an avid hiker; I don't go outdoors that much. But I love experiencing nature. What kind are these trails like? Expert trails, or can anybody really kind of get out here and experience the majestic nature out here?

Jay: Yeah, like I was saying, the access is really great to the creek and the creek is one of our main features here, along with the Redwood groves, which we'll probably be seeing here today. And the oak woodlands around as well. So, yeah, that’s really accessible. If you want something harder, there are some moderately strenuous hikes which are going to have that much more variety—about 700 to 800 feet of elevation gain. So most people can handle that and would enjoy that as well.

Ashley: Now, you said there's also camping here. What kind of camping is available?

Jay: Yeah, we've got the standard car camping that people are used to, but we also have yurts and cabins.

Ashley: Wait, I'm going to stop you for a second. What's a yurt for people who don't know?

Jay: Sure! So a yurt is basically a large tent that's already set up, made of canvas. What's nice is you've got beds in there, cots, and sometimes tables. So it's just kind of a nice glamping option for people who want that.

Ashley: So what is something that you love telling people on your nature hikes?

Jay: Yeah, so there are several things we're going to see. I mean, we'll be seeing the Redwood and the Doug Fir forest, which is home to this Northern spotted owl. That's the kind of habitat that they need, so that's something that's featured here. We'll see some things as we're just walking along the forest floor that are a little less obvious that I'll point out.

Ashley: Great! Is the northern spotted owl a threatened species?

Jay: Yeah, it's an endangered species and it's protected here. We have some experts come here and study the nests that are further up the canyon as well.

Ashley: Do they have any special identifying markers? I know there's a lot of really cool birds that live here, right?

Jay: Yeah, I mean, one is they're rarely seen, so it's not a bird that I've seen, you know, except in pictures.

Ashley: And I just want to remind all of our fans on Facebook that you should comment below and let me know where you're experiencing your Get Outdoors Day today, and then I'll give you a shoutout later on in the show.

So what else can we see kind of along the path here that’s interesting that people might not pick up?

Jay: If we walk up a little bit further here, there's something called an oak gall—it rhymes with ball, so it's easy to remember. We should have one coming up here somewhere. Oh, here! I see one! Alright, this is a small one; maybe we can find a larger one as well.

Ashley: Alright, different sizes! So let's start with actually the small one. Is going to be better in this case. What is this?

Jay: Yeah, why don't you go ahead and hold it? Just get a feel for it.

Ashley: Okay. This is really light! I actually thought this was going to be really heavy, like almost like a nut, but this—this isn’t. It could give people an idea.

Jay: Yeah, it's really, really light! It's almost like paper.

Ashley: Right. So these actually, what happens is a wasp puts kind of an enzyme on the oak tree, so we're in partial oak woodlands here. And this is an outgrowth on the tree. It doesn't hurt the oak tree; that's why they eventually fall off. But it's actually a wasp nest.

Ashley: Now it's not the kind of nest, you know, the kind of wasp that we're familiar with that would ruin our picnics.

Jay: Right. We often don't see that, but go ahead and see if you can find a small hole.

Ashley: Oh yeah, there's a small—there's a very, very—it’s like a pin-sized hole right there.

Jay: Yeah, so it's actually a wasp nest. There's sugar inside. Sometimes when it’s more decayed, you can see it. It kind of looks like sugar—like people would think of sugar.

Ashley: Or, well yeah, it looks like that.

Jay: Yeah, it does look like that. But you can actually—they actually eat out, so it's both their nest and it's their food source. When they eat out, they actually fly out of this hole, and there are lots of native wasps and native bees that are very small that people don't often see. That’s something they can learn about here.

Ashley: That’s amazing! And so the babies live in here too, right? It's like a whole little family home, right?

Jay: I mean the babies—that's their nest and they're eating out the sugar and then launching out into the world. And then it falls off the tree, right? It hits the tree, it falls off, and then we can find them on the ground like we did—different sizes, and some that are decaying more, and some that are whole like that one.

Ashley: Very cool! You can see all these tiny little majestic treasures just walking along the paths here. I'm just going to put this down on the ground and keep walking.

So let's talk about the birds a little bit more. We were talking about the spotted owl, but what are some other unique birds that are kind of your favorite to see?

Jay: Yeah! So we're known in this park for a lot of woodpecker species, including the pileated woodpecker, which is the largest in North America. It's identified by size; it's larger than a raven, kind of skinnier.

Ashley: That's a pretty big size!

Jay: Yeah! It's a very noticeable bird; if you see it, you're not going to miss it. The other neat thing, if you don't see it, you can often hear it, and it's going to sound like a construction site.

Ashley: Now, of course, this is public land; we don’t have building going on out in the woods. So if you hear something like that—you know, that's louder than what we think of as a normal kind of pecking of a woodpecker—that's going to be the pileated.

Jay: So does it sound like a hammer, would you say?

Ashley: Yeah! Yeah, it’s like a big racket of a building going on, you know, even by one bird.

Jay: We do occasionally see them as well and get a good look at them.

Ashley: Are there other kinds of woodpeckers that live in this park?

Jay: There are! There are acorn woodpeckers. Again, we also feature the oak woodland, and that's where they live. They create these granary trees where they store acorns. They store more than they really need. It’s kind of interesting too; they sometimes get in competition with gray squirrels. So you'll hear a lot of squabbling sometimes in days as well.

Ashley: I can't imagine what that acorn woodpecker and gray squirrel battle for acorn turf is like.

Jay: Yeah, I've heard it more than seen it, but I know that acorn woodpeckers will go after the gray squirrels, and squirrels get pretty afraid of them in some cases.

Ashley: So what other kinds of mammals can you see around here?

Jay: Um, there are mountain lions—also known as pumas or cougars—kind of known as the cat of many names. That would be the largest of the carnivores here. Bobcats, deer, which we would occasionally see. Now some of the larger, the charismatic fauna, you're not gonna see, especially in this kind of woodland setting. They're elusive, first of all, of course, and but also given the cover, you know, they're going to be good at hiding, and they might see us, but we probably won’t see them. So it's really the bird life more that you know it’s a great place to bird. But who knows? You know, if you're out on the trails, who knows what you can see?

Ashley: Well, speaking of flora for a second, because I see a lot of this green covering on the ground.

Jay: Right! That's another—yeah. Like I said, we're famous for the proximity to the Napa Valley, and we're also famous for poison oak. In fact, we used to have T-shirts about it!

Ashley: So, it’s going to be strange to say that we love it here, but I’ll tell you the reasons why we need—and it's right here in front of us.

Jay: This is something that we should definitely—I should not go running into this field of poison oak. What are you trying to tell me?

Ashley: Yeah, first of all, I'll tell you how to stay safe from it. That's key! And then I’ll tell you why we love it here as well. So, yeah, it creates an itchy reaction and I think something like 90% of people are sensitive to it.

Jay: So yeah, you want to stay away from it. If you stay on the trail, if you stay in your campsite, you're going to be safe from it. One thing to keep in mind too is if you do think you brushed up against it, you can put dirt on it because it's urushiol—the oils. That's something like immediately you can do if you think you've come into contact with it—immediately.

Ashley: Yeah, I mean that's not foolproof, but that’s something you can do if you do on an ankle or a wrist or something like that.

Jay: Okay. And, uh, the animals love it though, so that’s the reason we love it. Deer eat it.

Ashley: Looks like maybe we need more deer in the park!

Jay: Did you—or maybe they aren't really hungry.

Ashley: Right! Yeah! And also, birds love it; like there are 50 species that eat the seeds and the berries, and it’s starting. And that's not poisonous for them.

Jay: It's not at all. It’s really just toxic for us!

Ashley: So what I like to tell people is it's a barrier for us. We want to treat it with respect, but we also want to remember that the bird life loves it. It's also beautiful! Right now, it's green from June to October; it starts to change colors from red to yellow—almost every color of the rainbow!

Jay: And it grows on ground cover like we're seeing here, but also in vines.

Ashley: So if anybody has questions for Jay, especially about poison oak or any other plant that you might see just along the trail here, shoot them over—comment below, and we will take your questions.

Jay: I also see another really pretty plant over here; it has a nice pink flower. What is this?

Ashley: Yeah, and what I’d like to tell people is once they learn about poison oak, that kind of opens up the other plants with guidance and you can use all your senses and experience them. So why don't you go ahead and just actually rub that really vigorously and tell me what you smell there?

Jay: Oh, it definitely has a very spicy kind of smell to it!

Ashley: Yeah, right! Some people pick up citrus and different things. So it is called spice bush, so it's aptly named. Go ahead and smell the flower; it’s got a kind of different smell.

Ashley: Okay, I have to say—it smells like Elmer’s Glue.

Jay: Okay, that's what it smells like to me!

Ashley: It smells like a flower that smells like Elmer’s Glue! I can see what you're saying now; a lot of people say wine.

Jay: So unless it's just that flower that smells like glue...maybe something's wrong with my nose then!

Ashley: That smells like we get wine—bluish wine maybe?

Jay: Yeah, I like it though—it’s a beautiful...it’s a really beautiful flower!

Ashley: Yeah, and this season’s a great time to be here because this is blooming. We might see some California Buckeye or if we don’t, you know, for people to know that those are both blooming in late May and early June. I mean, it’s competition with the fall too, because we've got some beautiful fall foliage here.

Jay: We'll see other wildflowers like this.

Ashley: Yeah, the spice bush is really the highlight though right now; it's a beautiful plant!

Jay: Yeah, it’s only—you know, some people are really surprised and they think it looks tropical, and it actually is a native plant here as well.

Ashley: So that's a, you know, surprise that people sometimes have!

Jay: So I hear a lot of birds. What we were talking about—the owl before, the woodpecker—are there any other kind of unique birds that you really like?

Jay: Um, yeah! Sorry, I’m a bird nerd, so I’m going to keep going on about nerds. I apologize, everybody!

Ashley: Yeah, but also hi fellow bird nerds!

Jay: Yeah! So like I said, I go back again to the woodpeckers. And we might be able to see a granary tree up here, or a log that's fallen down where they're storing the acorns.

Ashley: One neat fact that, you know, I’m sure some people know about but is the length of their tongue. It actually wraps around their skull, and so it's amazing enough that they have a skull that can take the impact of knocking on a tree like that.

Jay: Right! And creating the cavities! But once they create that cavity, they have this really long tongue to be able to get to the insects.

Ashley: And no, we don’t really see that part of it, but I think that’s just helpful to think of what they’re doing with their beak with their tongue.

Jay: I can’t even imagine what that’s like—a bird that has a tongue that can wrap around its head!

Ashley: Yeah! It's pretty fascinating; it’s really interesting!

Jay: So I see a lot of these trees down. If a tree falls—I'm not going to say does anybody hear it if nobody's around—but if there is a redwood that falls and it covers the path, what would you do?

Jay: So we've got a trail crew to help move, you know, but we keep it as natural as possible, right? You know, that’s why you’re seeing a lot of deadfall. We've had, with the drought that just ended recently, and then with like heavy rains—a little more tree fall. That's natural, you know?

Ashley: But at the same time, it's a little more than we've had, and we've been busy with keeping the trails clear.

Jay: I just want to stop here for a second because I've been seeing some butterflies as we were just approaching this area. Of course, we're not going to see them now because they just got a little bit camera shy. But are there some butterflies in this area?

Jay: There are! There are a couple favorites that I have—kind of the usual suspects. There’s the tiger swallowtails that are here. Those are going to be the big yellow and black ones. If we're fortunate enough to see them, there’s also one that I really like called the California sister, which is flying around right now.

Ashley: Okay! And yeah, what do you think butterflies—what do they usually eat? Do they like eat from like the pollen?

Jay: Yeah, that's a typical answer, and that’s usually true, and that's true of most of our butterfly species. But the California sister actually eats dung and carcasses sometimes.

Ashley: They’re actually related—like the short end of the stick?

Jay: Yeah, for how beautiful it is! It’s a little surprising to see it!

Ashley: Now, what does the California sister look like if somebody was just out here and wanted to see a cool butterfly?

Jay: Yeah! It’s got, uh, it’s orange and black—kind of orange on the tip, and it's kind of unmistakable with that color pattern.

Ashley: I just want to give a shoutout to some of our friends that are joining us on Facebook. Maurice, I’m glad that you're enjoying your Get Outdoors Day from Winter Park, Florida. Thanks for joining us! And Arlene, I'm glad that you're enjoying your hike in Gloucester Park! I hope you're having a great day outside.

So everybody, keep commenting because I want to see how you're getting outside just like we are, because outdoors—nothing beats it! Nature—absolutely beautiful! Maybe there are a couple plants we can talk about right over here as well.

Jay: So this is a granary log. You know, the acorn woodpeckers usually use dead tree branches or limbs, but they'll also use things like telephone poles or houses—whatever’s there. So you can see, you know, if you kind of explore these, the acorns might not be in there because other bugs and animals are getting to them, but you can really see just how many they store.

Ashley: Oh, this almost feels like a little—it's like dense; it’s kind of wet a little bit even!

Jay: Yeah! Right? It’s still probably retaining some of the moisture from all the rain, even though it’s dried out here!

Ashley: And then back here we also have the native grapevine as well!

Jay: Is that what's growing around this?

Ashley: Yeah, exactly! Be careful of the poison!

Jay: Yeah, just told me, right here.

Ashley: And that's also about this—this is the great...

Jay: Yeah! So, you know, of course, we’re known for our grapes in Napa Valley, but I think it's really amazing and a cool connection that here in the forest, this is the native grape. It's kind of the underpinning of the grape and wine industry.

Ashley: There’s some kind of—you know, I’m not an expert in it, but some sort of grafting process that goes with that in a lot of cases.

Jay: So that would make a lot of sense to see a grapevine here in the valley.

Ashley: Yeah! Right! So I think that's a draw too; people can hike and, you know, get a different setting and see it as well, after they’ve done their wine tasting—or maybe before.

Jay: For everybody just joining us right now, we are currently here in Napa Valley for Get Outdoors Day! Keep sharing your comments below. I want to hear where you are today and where you're experiencing your Get Outdoors Day, and we're here with Jay, who's the park expert, and he's also here to answer your questions. So keep firing away!

Jay: We are approaching something that I have to say is kind of blowing my mind a little bit.

Ashley: Yeah! Yeah, it’s impressive!

Jay: So we're coming up on the redwoods! Like I said, we're kind of in the oak woodland, and we're kind of in that transition area where we're going to the mixed forest of redwoods and Douglas firs.

Ashley: Why don't you go and walk in first?

Jay: Yeah! Let’s take careful of the poison oak but this journey right inside! So the first thing I always tell people to do up here is to look up!

Ashley: Right! I mean, looking up—how old are some of these trees that are here?

Jay: Well, what's interesting about this grove is you know we’ve got—the first of all, we’ve got the easternmost redwoods. There are a few remnant ones kind of a little further on but in sort of bulk, we feature those here, so that's neat!

Ashley: We do get fog that the redwoods really need here.

Jay: What's interesting, I mean, they're impressive to look up, but most of these are really like teenage trees!

Ashley: So these are some pretty impressive teenagers—look at that! They’re gigantic!

Jay: Yeah! Still impressive! Still amazing! I think another really neat element is we’re standing in the middle of where a grandfather or grandmother tree was because the redwood trees share a root system, so they all grow around that.

Ashley: And that's what you mean!

Jay: They do! Whether it was cut down or fell by lightning, and you can see some of the parent trees around there too that are stumped! Those were definitely cut, and then you see the kids of those.

Ashley: And one thing we do in junior ranger programs here, and I like to have the kids, you know, sometimes count them, and I’ve had some that have ended up counting every single sapling—so they’re in the hundreds!

Jay: And you know, that’s a surprise! It’s great! You know, I learned something! I’m counting a certain number, and they’re like, “There’s hundreds!”

Ashley: So we’ve got the babies right on the edge too!

Jay: Now, what is this? This bark is so different than anything I’ve seen. It comes down in strips. What’s unique about this bark?

Jay: Well, for one, it’s permeable, so it takes in—it’s not the main way it takes in fog, but that’s part of it. It’s got that softness that it can retain moisture; it’s very—it can actually take in water through its skin.

Ashley: Right! And it's anti-fungal for one thing, and that's why it's such a great building material too.

Jay: But it also—the way, in addition to that, it gets its water is from the canopy. So we get these fogs that come in; you can get up to two inches of rain just captured in the canopy and falling down. And of course, the root systems might touch the creek, too, and that’s another way that it gets water.

Ashley: And that’s how these trees can really grow to impressive heights because they live in just like this really great rain environment!

Jay: Right! Rain mix! We get the big winter rains, but the fog is what they really need to have that year round.

Ashley: What’s the most impressive thing? I mean, you're out here all the time with these redwoods. What just blows your mind every single time?

Jay: Yeah! I think just—yeah, I think coming to this grove, and every time that I bring people here, having them look up, you know, I’m just astounded again! And I remember that these aren’t the biggest redwoods, but they’re amazing, and it just makes me want to travel more around the state and see even more!

Ashley: And to know that they’re the easternmost is kind of the edge of their range is um...I highly recommend everybody coming out here and just looking up, taking a moment, taking a breath, just looking up, because there’s nothing better!

Jay: It is just stunning! So we're going to…

Ashley: Gorgeous! Right along the creek too! I know you can just hear the water! And then just, it’s just like this moment of peace; it’s like that moment of Zen!

Jay: Now we’re gonna keep walking up here. Right now, what is unique kind of about the stream that is coming through?

Jay: Yeah, this area! So first of all, it’s a watershed for the Napa River! So this is Richie Creek; it flows into the Napa River, which flows not too far away into the ocean. We do have ocean-going trout, which are called—usually commonly referred to as Steelhead.

Ashley: We’re hoping to bring back the range a little bit more and to protect it, and we want to bring them back more fully, but there we sometimes still find the small fry here.

Jay: And you know, that’s always fun to see—especially when we’re with the kids.

Ashley: It’s also spring-fed!

Jay: So the fact that we have—

Ashley: Foreign! You know, anything can really happen when you are doing live, right in the middle of the outdoors! But we got your back! We’re here now!

Jay: So while we were—we were trying to get back on, Jay found something really interesting that he wants to show you!

Jay: What? Yeah, this is California bay leaf! This is—if you're walking in the forest in California, if you're not familiar with the California forest, this is often something you’re gonna smell as you're walking by—the kind of bay leaf that you would cook with! Well, it's a cousin to the Mediterranean bay that you cook with! It's a little spicier!

Ashley: Some people first of all—I should say, I picked this case since I'm a naturalist here and a guide, right? And since we're doing this special, you know, we picked it to smell it. But just for you at home, we don’t normally do that unless we're with the naturalist.

Jay: But yeah! So it is—it’s a little spicier! So some people who grow that in their garden, you know, once it’s dried out, use it in soups like they would for the Mediterranean.

Ashley: This is very, very spicy-smelling; it has—I got it right up to my nose, and it’s right up in there!

Jay: And people pretend to love it or hate it! What do you think?

Ashley: I enjoy this a lot!

Jay: Yeah? Yeah! It smells really good!

Ashley: Yeah, you can carry it around for a while!

Jay: Yeah, it smells nice!

Ashley: So I just want to find everybody that we’re here in Napa Valley for Get Outdoors Day. And also a reminder coming up on July 9th—Sunday, July 9th—we have another great live special. If you want to see wildlife, it’s called Earth Live, and it’s going to absolutely blow your mind!

Jay: So I think we’re coming up—I can also hear the stream!

Ashley: Yeah! Yeah, there’s actually a good place over here where we can go directly to the creek. Maybe do a couple hands-on things.

Jay: We again do hikes here—we do junior ranger programs, so you’ll get a little taste of some of those things we do—the activities that we do in the park on a weekly basis in the summer.

Ashley: So what are some of the things that you like to show people down here at the stream?

Jay: It's just a beautiful spot! You know, whenever you can get up close, um, so I'm gonna not trip over this log because that would be really embarrassing, but this is just absolutely beautiful!

Ashley: Yeah! And in the backdrop, there are a bunch of giant chain ferns!

Jay: So not those specific specimens, but that fern is the largest in North America as well.

Ashley: And yeah! It’s gorgeous backdrop!

Jay: And the creek, again—we were talking a little bit about what’s in it! So in terms of fish, there's not a lot of water right now, but there’s a steelhead occasionally! We also take groups here, and they look for aquatic insects.

Ashley: That always kind of surprises people because we get to compare insects that start their life cycle in the creek and then become flying insects!

Jay: And so, can we maybe—

Ashley: Sure! Yeah, we can go a little closer, and I’ll tell you more about it!

Jay: We're gonna take some careful steps down here because—

Ashley: Yeah, follow me in this case.

Jay: Yeah, I'm gonna follow you, I'm going to take your lead!

Ashley: And there’s no poison oak right down here at the creek, so we don’t have to worry about it right here!

Jay: I'm gonna—I think I’m going to go this way, this looks like the safer bet for me—there are more rocks for me to not fall over here!

Ashley: Here we go! So I'm seeing actually—what’s this very unique rock that's right here?

Jay: Yeah, so that’s—we've got different kind of lava rocks, and I'll talk about that a little bit more. But that’s a kind of pumice right—a lava rock!

Ashley: Yeah! So there has been some volcanic activity!

Jay: We have deposits of ash here that go as deep as 800 feet. You can see that some in the park. You can see that some in the in road cuts near here; you can’t see it so much.

Ashley: Sometimes when a tree comes down, you’ll see it underneath and the creek as well. It clouds up in the spring or with a lot of winter spring runoff, and so it almost has that kind of glacial look, but it's from the ash underground kind of feeding into the stream.

Jay: And it's kind of, in fact, one of the activities we do is some face painting with the kids.

Ashley: And you can see face painting with what? What are the kind of—

Jay: Yeah! So there's actually this—some ash rock! We usually—we get it wet!

Ashley: Let’s make sure I get the right one here! Sometimes you just have to test!

Jay: And sometimes it’s a mix of mud and ash or sometimes just the ash, or you can see clay as well!

Ashley: So is the clay this?

Jay: It’s ash—it’s more of this; it’s like a sandy white or green.

Ashley: Yeah, so are you game to put some on?

Jay: This is gonna go on my face if he wanted to! Yes!

Ashley: This looks like nature’s free facial! I just have to find the actual rocks now!

Jay: We actually—I have a question for you first!

Ashley: Sure!

Jay: From Leroy, he wants to know what type of hummingbirds are around the park—if there's any.

Jay: Yeah! There are! We get—we get Allen’s hummingbird, and Diana’s hummingbird, so it’s kind of easy to remember. Those are the two; I mean, we might have a couple other ones!

Ashley: Yeah, and I think somebody actually moved my rock, so if you can take some questions while I find—

Jay: Sure! I’ll definitely take some!

Ashley: That happens in a park!

Jay: Are there any—Heather wants to know, are there any other outdoor activities that people can do while in this park?

Jay: Yeah! So there’s a pool that I talked about. There’s horseback riding. Right now, we don’t have a concessionaire for that—might change in the future hopefully. And also some mountain biking—not a lot here, but there’s part of our park system.

Ashley: So we're part of the Napa County Regional Park and Open Space District, so we've got other trails near here too which are great for mountain biking, and we can direct people to that if they’re in an area.

Jay: Well, why don't you look for some of these?

Ashley: Thank you so much!

Jay: Yeah, like I said, somebody moved them, so...

Ashley: And I'm just gonna say thank you Christine for hiking in the Rifle River Recreation Area in Lupton, Michigan! I hope you're enjoying your day—that sounds beautiful! And Ronnie, you’re spending your Get Outdoors Day in Yellow Creek Park playing disc golf—that sounds like a pretty unique activity!

Jay: That sounds like a pretty good choice for your Get Outdoors Day! Everybody keep commenting! I want to know where you are spending your Get Outdoors Day because today is the best day to get outside, and you should be telling me where you are!

And also keep firing away with your questions for Jay because he’s the expert! He’s got your back; he knows all of the answers to your questions!

Jay: And I also just want to say hi to our friends at Nature Valley because they are amazing! And just a reminder—we are here with National Geographic for Get Outdoors Day.

And be sure to watch Earth Live on July 9th if you want to continue to see another amazing live event with wildlife and nature—two hours long, and it's going to be pretty good!

Ashley: Two hours? You should probably watch it!

Jay: Alright, you ready for the face paint?

Ashley: I'm game! Let’s do this!

Jay: Cool! Did you want tiger stripes or what do you want?

Ashley: Okay, can you draw like a really cool animal design?

Jay: I’m not quite there! I’m working on it!

Ashley: Yeah! Okay, I'm working on it, but I’m good with the stripes or whatever!

Jay: I'm here! Here we go!

Ashley: By the way, Calistoga is known for its mud baths and facials as well with the volcanic mud and ash, so this is getting this for free!

Jay: So people can come down to the creek and do any of our programs and ask about it!

Ashley: Cold?

Jay: Yeah! And I’ll do one more stripe on each!

Ashley: Okay!

Jay: And I enjoy it!

Ashley: I’m sure this is a really—it’s probably a really good look!

Jay: I can feel it being—it's...I can feel like—is this mineral?

Ashley: It’s obviously mineral water, right? That’s coming down in this creek?

Jay: Spring water!

Ashley: Yeah! So I can almost like feel it, yeah! That cool feeling!

Jay: Yeah! It’s nice! And who else can wear our volcanic ash on their face? Like where else can you go that’s pretty cool?

Ashley: Yeah! It’s an ancient practice, and like I said, you can do it for free here and yeah, it feels great!

Jay: And you can also wear this clay I—there's a clay in the ash!

Ashley: So I’ll do it as well!

Jay: Yeah! We can be partners in ash-facialness together here!

Ashley: And also down here, we’re not seeing it today, but we do see banana slugs down here!

Jay: A banana slug! It looks like it sounds! And people who have been to Northern California hiking are familiar with it!

Ashley: You know, it’s just bright yellow, but it can have patterns on it as well!

Jay: Yeah! And um, yeah, we can—we can look around and see if we see any!

Ashley: Because I know like you can probably see some pretty interesting things among these rocks, I would imagine. Right?

Jay: Yeah! We’re often down here exploring both the aquatic environment and kind of the terrestrial.

Ashley: What else might you see besides a slug?

Jay: So, you know, there’s—in terms of, kind of what people think of creepy crawlies or things like that—scorpions!

Ashley: But small ones, right?

Jay: Yeah! I don’t—I do not want to see a scorpion, so if you see the scorpion, please tell me first, because I’m gonna—

Ashley: Yeah, they probably won’t be—they probably won’t be in this environment, and they’re not poisonous like people think.

Jay: So they’re pretty—they do have a sting, but it's more like a bee sting.

Ashley: Okay! So what does a banana slug look like? So I know what I should—

Jay: Yeah! Just if we’re walking slow here! So if you’re watching your step, it’s gonna—going to be yellowish or like I said, a pattern, and we'll see it’s kind of drying up around here, so we may or may not see one!

Yeah, I was out here yesterday; I saw one, so I know it’s like—I feel like wildlife is probably pretty hit or miss.

Jay: Yeah! You might not always see one or any kind of wildlife in general! That’s like, you know, you can’t predict!

Ashley: Like washing water boil—you don’t know when it’s gonna happen.

Jay: So we’ll just look in the vicinity where we've found it before!

Ashley: So what are some other unique things that you can see out here that you just always are fascinated with?

Jay: Yeah, I think it’s really more being—I think we’ve discussed most of those things! So yeah, I think it’s being in this environment, having the access to the water, some of the—the large things like the giant chain fern, the redwoods, the pileated woodpeckers—I mean, there are some of those things that are amazing!

But it’s the subtle things too, right? I think it's just being down here, being at the creek; we don’t have huge waterfalls or things like that. But once you settle into it, you know—that’s what this—I mean it’s kind of just like look at what we’re surrounded in right now!

Ashley: Yeah! Absolutely gorgeous! Well, thank you so much for joining us today!

Jay: And thanks to all of you watching! This has been an absolutely beautiful day and beautiful experience!

Ashley: I hope you are enjoying your Get Outdoors Day! I am Ashley Kalina, and this is Jay Jessen, and we have been so grateful that you have gone on this wonderful journey with us! Hope you enjoy the rest of your Get Outdoors Day!

Bye!