A bison tube just hanging around. Watch kids here since cars go by rapidly.
This cache is in one of a stand of black cottonwoods that grow along the confluence of Bean and Lockhart Creeks. Lockhart Creek is named after David Morrill Locke, a Forty-niner from New Hampshire who made his fortune through various business enterprises in Knight's Ferry in the Sierra foothills and by selling water to San Franciscans during the Gold Rush.
In 1859 after he had made his fortune Locke purchased 1131 acres along both sides of Mount Hermon Road from Samuel Dickens, a North Carolina lumberman. There Locke built his house along with its "magnificent oaks and pines and well-cultivated flower gardens" and started the largest dairy operation in the valley, the Springvale Dairy. Considered a tourist attraction, the dairy was known for its production of fine butter.
Locke's Victorian mansion that was located near today's 7-11, burned down in the 1929 fire that travelled across the hill from Zayante. Fortunately this stand of cottonwoods survived.
Santa Cruz County boasts two native species of cottonwood, Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii subsp. fremontii) and black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) in a total of about 22 recorded locations three of which are in the Big Basin fire zone. Other cottonwoods that grow in the county are the non-native white poplar (Populus alba) and the Lombardy poplar (Populus nigra), the classic poplar seen growing in rows in old European paintings.
Cottonwoods are deciduous - losing their simple spade-shaped leaves in the autumn. The best time to see their colors is in October and November. A similar tree that also grows along the creek is the box elder maple (Acer negundo) that has leaves with three to seven leaflets each. You'll also see the smaller red-barked creek dogwood here along with plenty of evergreen California bay laurels.