The White Mountains of California

Natural History Trip at the Crooked Creek Field Station

Friday, August 1st to Monday, August 4th, 2025

Trip Details | Registration | Naturalists/Presenters | Accommodations | Resources

**Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (*Pinus longaeva*)**

Enjoy four days of wildflowers, ancient trees, geology, and birds in the majestic alpine wilderness of the White Mountains, in Inyo National Forest, on the eastern edge of the Owens Valley. Limited to just 25 people, our group will stay at the Crooked Creek research Station (10,200’), part of the University of California’s White Mountain Research Center complex.

Knowledgeable and enthusiastic scientists/naturalists will guide small groups through the variety of geological and ecological communities found in the Whites, as we study and enjoy the fascinating natural history of this scenic and unique California mountain range, emphasizing geology, botany, and bird life. The Whites are home to ancient bristlecone pines (Pinus longaeva) - the oldest trees in the world.

**We will stay at the Crooked Creek Field Station**

We are privileged to be led by three field staff: Steve Junak, Botanist and emeritus Herbarium Curator at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Dr. Sabina Thomas, geologist and former Nature Education Manager at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, and Dr. Linnea Hall, Avian Conservation Biologist and Executive Director of the Camarillo Bird Museum.

Our relaxed pace will also include hiking opportunities and visits to the Schulman Grove (location of the almost 5,000-year-old Methuselah tree) and the Patriarch Grove. Evenings will include natural history slide shows. Daytime drives and hikes will take us above 11,000’. Though hiking will not be strenuous, participants should be able to acclimate to this high altitude.

If you have any questions about the trip, please get in touch with John Ziegler by email at john@cirweb.org or by phone at (805) 448-1501.

Registration Link

The Trip is SOLD OUT - Please get in touch with John Ziegler by email at john@cirweb.org or by phone at (805) 448-1501 to be added to the waiting list.

$680 for General Admission, $510 for Island Fox members, and $578 for Ironwood members—includes 3 nights’ indoor accommodations and use of research station facilities, eight delicious meals prepared by station staff and naturalists, and materials (animal and plant checklists, bibliography, and more).

Please email John Ziegler at john@cirweb.org for Ironwood and Island Fox member rate registration links.

Our Trip Naturalists and Guides

Linnea S. Hall, Ph.D. - Wildlife Ecology

Dr. Linnea Hall is Executive Director of the WFVZ Bird Museum and Research Center (WFVZ), in Camarillo, and was born and raised in southern California, running a horse stables with her family from age 11-22 in Moorpark. She received her B.S. in Biology from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, her M.S. in Wildland Resource Sciences from U.C. Berkeley for research in the White and Inyo Mountains, and her Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Arizona for research in the sky Islands of southeastern Arizona. She was also Assistant Professor of Avian Ecology and Wildlife Management at California State University Sacramento, where she taught many classes and mentored graduate students. She has directed the WFVZ since 2002, focusing on building a strong national and international museum that specializes in research, education, and conservation of wild bird species. With the help of her staff, board, volunteers, and field assistants she has developed and implemented programs for public education, avian field research, museum membership, and collections management and digitization.

Dr. Hall has been studying habitat use and population dynamics of wildlife, especially birds, since 1988, first working with raptors at the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory, and then in the White and Inyo Mountains, and on Mono Lake, from 1989 to 1993. In the Whites she studied small mammal and herp ecology and responses to food; bird usage of nest boxes in pinyon-juniper (PJ) woodland; and bird population trends and vegetation relationships in PJ and Bristlecone forest, among other projects. She has directed and conducted field research on more than 50 intensive studies of birds of the western U.S. and Guatemala, and continues to mentor undergraduate and graduate students and post-Docs, and partner with many agency and non-profit organizations throughout southern California. Since 2010 her and the WFVZ's research has been on sensitive bird populations in the Santa Clara River in Ventura County, where she also works with CIR; the northern Channel Islands; and the Santa Monica Mountains.

Steve Junak, M.A. - Botany

Steve is an active researcher and expert on the flora of the islands of California and Baja California, Mexico and has led nearly a dozen field trips to the White Mountains. Steve earned a master’s degree in botany at UC Santa Barbara, has led field trips for more than 50 years, and has coauthored several books about the Channel Islands, including “A Flora of San Nicolas Island California” and “A Flora of Santa Cruz Island.” He retired in 2014 from his longtime position as curator of the Clifton Smith Herbarium at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. He has continued his relationship with the Garden as a research associate and botanist emeritus. He also is an active researcher and expert on the flora of the islands of California and Baja California, Mexico.

Sabina Thomas, Ph.D. - Geology

Sabina Thomas grew up in Germany where she received her PhD in Geology. She left Berlin for the U.S. in 1989 and taught at colleges and universities in Texas and Ohio until she moved to Santa Barbara in 2010. Starting out as a naturalist, she later worked as the Nature Education Manager at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History until 2023. In 2023, she worked as a Backcountry Ranger at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden and also as Nature Educator. Sabina also teaches earth-science courses at Santa Barbara City College and has led five-day field trips for students as well as adult learners through the Eastern Sierra and White Mountains and Death Valley. She took several courses in Botany, earned the California Naturalist Certificate in 2019, the Climate Stewardship Certificate in 2022, and loves going on field trips.