Tall Tales and True Stories

A Healthy Mix of Fact and Fiction

Photos by LindaJaneHiker

Some of our little true life explorations, fictional adventure stories, walking day dreams, or likely a mixture of these, threaded with basic science from all subject areas that may apply to a view of natural and cultural history. We'll keep the science and history parts real. Written by David Renfrew

What tree is this? This is the Wally Waldron tree and it sits high up the trail from Vincent Gap on California Highway 2 nearing the summit of Mt. Baden-Powell. This beautiful tree is estimated to be 1500 years old and is named for the Boy Scouts leader Michael H. "Wally" Waldron (1). This is a magnificent specimen of a Limber Pine tree scientifically known as "Pinus flexilis" in Latin (Genus: Pinus putting it in the plant group commonly referred to as pine trees; species: flexilis, meaning flexible, supple, or pliable) . Waldron led a large group of scouts in a project to construct a monument to Lord Baden-Powell on the summit of the peak that bears his name. (2) The Boy Scouts to this day maintain the American flag on top of Mt. Baden-Powell. This peak was once known as North Baldy but was renamed in 1931 to honor the founder of boy scouting in America. Nearby Mt. Baldy is the highest peak in the San Gabriel Mountains in southern California and can be seen in the background in the flag photo.

Scientific names use Latin because this out-of-use language doesn't evolve and was the "lingua franca" of the middle ages for science (Ancient Greek is also used in science for the same reasons. It has been replace with Modern Greek which millions of people continue to use) (3). According to the online Oxford dictionary that means it is a mixture of languages used by people who do not speak the same native language. This naming system was devised by Carolus Linnaeus and established with the publication of his "Species Plantarum" in 1753 and "Species Naturae, 10th edition" in 1758 (4) . Linnaeus was an interesting person, renowned in both medicine and botany and one of the founders of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1739. His work in taxonomy, the science of classification, especially of organisms, influenced both Gregor Mendel and Charles Darwin. Linnaeus asserted that "a country’s welfare depended on science-based administration."(5) I like that.

(1) https://www.kcet.org/shows/socal-wanderer/five-famous-trees-to-visit-around-socal
(2) https://www.sbsun.com/2016/03/07/mount-baden-powell-and-its-scouting-history/#:~:text=On%20a%20narrow%20ridge%20near,construction%20of%20the%20concrete%20monument.
(3) https://www.reginaldgibbons.northwestern.edu/2011/03/25/who-still-speaks-ancient-greek/#:~:text=An%20isolated%20community%20near%20the,extinct%20language%20of%20ancient%20Greece.
(4) https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carolus-Linnaeus/Other-contributions
(5) https://universalium.en-academic.com/241980/Linnaeus%2C_Carolus
Below- Renfrew on top of Mt. Baden-Powell. The flag photo credit to an anonymous friendly hiker.

Beek's Place

This is the recently restored "Beek's Place" at the top of Black Star Canyon in the Santa Ana Mountains near the town of Silverado. The first time I saw it, which was only a little over a year ago, it was a graffitti tagged shambles. The next time I hiked up here there was a man hard at work in the restoration process. Since he was in the middle of his work using power tools, I didn't want to interrupt to ask questions. However, I mentioned it to "Hiking Guy" on his YT channel in the comments and he said that the word is the family is restoring the property. Looking good!

Beek's Place In The Santa Ana Mountains

A view east to San Gorgonio Peak of the San Bernardino Mountains taken from the Doppler radar station of Beek's Place.

This is a photo of Beek's Place recently restored in the Santa Ana Mountains at the top of Black Star Canyon.

This is a photo from Donahue Pass, I think, in the Sierra Nevada at the source of the Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne River.

Bear stories? You want bear stories? While as stated this page is intended for fiction, some of my students have heard a bear story or two that is true and requested more here. I will give it a whirl. These will be true tales of my own bear encounters and so maybe not so exciting as what I can dream up.