Footloose Forays is a small travel business begun in 1983 while I was still in graduate school at San Francisco State University. It has grown slowly and organically through the intervening years. I have taken over 10,000 people on various natural history outings ranging from 4-hour night hikes on Mt. Tam to three week adventures in Ecuador. I have enjoyed nearly every minute of this work. The Buddhists refer to the importance of right livelihood and I have been lucky enough to find that. I lead every single trip. Footloose Forays = Michael Ellis. I have no staff except when I enlist my lovely wife to help me. I have a very high repeat business and most trips fill up way in advance. One of the many blessings is the lovely relationships that I have with my fellow naturalists all over the world.
Currently I am concentrating on international travel and only offer a few of my favorite Footloose Forays trips in this country, mostly week-long camping in the mountains or deserts. If any of these trips interest you please feel free to contact me.
In addition to my own natural history forays, I often lead trips for a number of Bay Area organizations. I have a BS in Botany and Masters in Marine Biology. Though I firmly believe that formal schooling is only a small part of the educational process. I have been a regular contributor to the KQED-FM Perspective Series since 1988 and write the Ask the Naturalist column for Bay Nature Magazine.
January, 2012
The brochure is done and is heading toward
the printers and should be in your mailbox very soon if all goes well. I only
send out one mailing per year. Of course all of the outings are already listed
in the website, so you can sign up immediately if you like. In fact you should
do that.
I did the Hoffman Process from January 6 to January
14 and it was truly transformative in everyway. Here is Link: wym-1325791376597.
Age 60 has been quite a time for me in terms of spiritual growth and personal
challenge, so what the heck! I am plunging into all things headfirst and heart
open!!
I am in Tanzania until February 26th or
a month. Fun fun fun. This is the only trip I do nearly every single year since
1991! I have two trips back to back. And there is a couple celebrating their 25
wedding anniversary with me on this trip. In 1987 I was leading a whale
watching trip and we were just off the Marin coast when a small aircraft towing
a banner flew right over our vessel. It read “Mary Ann, WILL YOU MARRY ME?
Love, Bill”. I knew this had to be for our boat and so over the PA I said “So
how about it, Mary Ann, -will you marry Bill?” and a cheer erupted from the
stern so we all knew the answer immediately. I had not heard from them in the
intervening years until they booked the Tanzania safari last year. Don’t we all
enjoy sweet, sweet love stories with happily ever after endings? :)
I had some cancellations for my Bhutan trip in May
if you are interested please let me know. This is one of my favorite trips. I
would be delighted to send you details on this fantastic adventure and put you
in touch with folks who have done this with me. It was a highlight of their
life!
Galapagos 2013 is full with a waiting list, and
Baja 2013 is also full with a waiting list. It is not too late to sign up
for Tanzania 2013 because it too is filling.
Take Care…and enjoy the beautiful days of
winter. Below is my latest
Perspective for KQED NPR, which recently aired. Of course the day it aired it
finally began to rain.
Fondly,
Michael
REDWOOD TREES
By Michael Ellis
Last week I was walking
through a grove of coast redwoods in the sunshine with not a cloud in the sky
and suddenly felt really depressed. What was wrong with this picture? Simple, it
was January but felt like September. The forest floor was brittle not soft, the
moss was dry and compressed, there were few mushrooms, the ferns were suffering
and I was in a t-shirt. This was NOT
California’s winter weather. So odd that blue sky and bright sun can be
ominous. I looked at the trees and I realized they were at least 600 years old
and had seen many winters like this one. So I should not give up hope for the
winter rains quite yet.
California has 2 trees for
their state tree- the giant sequoia and the coast redwood. Both are incredible
biological wonders. The General
Sherman tree – a giant sequoia in Sequoia National Park- is the largest tree in
the world. And a coast redwood named Hyperion is the tallest tree in the world
at 380’. Which is by the way 75’
taller than the statue of liberty!
But 140 million years ago
when the worldwide climate was much wetter and warmer, redwoods stretched
across the entire northern hemisphere and were one of the dominant conifer. As
the climate changed redwoods have become more and more restricted until now
they exist in a very narrow band from Big Sur to just over the Oregon border; they
range inland no more than 45 miles. The largest specimens thrive in deep
valleys with abundant rain and fog where the soil is kept moist all year. But
the key to distribution is the presence of coastal fog. The greatest pressure
on redwoods occurs during August and September. The winter rains are but a distant
memory and hot, dry east winds desiccate the trees creating intense water
stress. But moist air in the form of fog rolling in from the ocean is literally
a lifesaver.
As the air hits the redwood foliage
the water condenses out and drops to the forest floor. The giant trees have tiny root hairs
that are ubiquitous and can take up the precious commodity. Scientists estimate
that fog contributes 20% of the water needed by redwoods. They have survived
this long so I suspect they will make it through this winter just fine. This is
Michael Ellis with a Perspective.
