Other creatures live within an arm’s length of the rock.  Along the stream’s edge, Longtail Salamanders (Eurycea longicauda) are a common find.

Some Longtails are orange in coloration, some are yellow, but all of them are beautiful.

The Southern Two-Lined Salamander (Eurycea cirrigerra) is just as common as a Longtail, but not as pretty perhaps.  Longtails can also be found away from water, but cirrigera usually stay close to the stream.

Both the Fowler’s Toad (Bufo fowleri) and the American Toad (Bufo americanus) are present here, and during summer and fall the year’s crop of toadlets are thick  among the rocks along the stream’s edge.

When it rains, the little stream at the bottom of the canyon quickly fills with water.  When it rains hard for several days, an incredible torrent pours through.  This summer I visited after such an event, and parts of the stream was scoured of leaves and branches and cobble and gravel, exposing the underlying bedrock.

No salamanders or snakes or toads could be found in these sections.  The rock, old friend and landmark, remained in place, and by November, the bend in the stream looked like nothing had happened. 

Sooner or later, water will move the rock downstream, towards the sea; for now, for my lifetime perhaps, it will stay where it is.