The real voyage of discovery consists of not in seeking
new landscapes but in having new eyes.
~ Marcel Proust

Here is a magnificent stand of thriving California Black Oaks (Quercus kelloggii). The original tree died and new ones sprouted from its roots.  

Unlike the evergreen California Live Oak, these California Blak Oaks are deciduous, that is, they lose their leaves in the fall. When wet, the trunk and branches are glisteninglyand starkly black, showing off the fine "bone structure" of these oaks. 

The California Black Oak acorns was the main staple of the "Yuharetum," or "People of the Pines," who summered in the valley for 2000 years. They were later known as the  Serranos, a name given by the Spaniards, meaning "mountaineers."  They believe that God's Spirit still remains here and that God continues to watch over us here in the Valley.

The Yuharetum dried the acorn meats and pounded the nuts into a flour with long, rounded stones. The meal was placed into reed baskets and water was poured over it to leach out the poisonous tannins and remove the bitter taste. The flour was then boiled into a porridge known as wiich.

In his book, BIG BEAR TRAILS which is found in the local bookstores, author Jim Hickman has a map that leads the interested hiker to the Indian Grinding Rocks in Big Bear City.

Because of their poisonous tannins, do not pick up and try to munch on these acorns.  Deer and squirrels are able to flourish on them "as is."  Humans must "process" their acorns first to make them palatable. 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and before we leave this stand of oaks, the underfoot beauty of the woods with its subtle greys and tans catch our attention.  Nature reveals its uncanny talent of littering with an artistic flair that is pleasing to our eyes. 

We look forward to returning in the springtime to enjoy their soft pink foliage; and again in the fall, their striking yellows.  

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