Field Trips Log
May 2005
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ There were numerous things in profuse bloom today such as bush monkeyflower (Mimulus aurantiacus), common deerweed (Lotus scoparius var. scoparius), caterpillar phacelia (Phacelia cicutaria var. hispida), white sage (Salvia apiana), and of course the cottonthorn. At first I thought I was too early because I didn't immediately see any flowers, but then I found a large shrub that was beginning to bloom and so I was at long last able to get some pictures. Probably a few weeks from now, these shrubs will be covered in blossoms. After getting the pictures I wanted, I walked down the road that eventually
leads up into the Arroyo to Oakwilde, Switzer Trail Camp and Red Box
junction. This was a hike I had done in the opposite direction, from
Switzer to JPL, with my daughter's class from Sequoyah School when she
was in the 6th grade. It is a 10-mile hike, and even though it's mostly
downhill, still I was proud that the kids made it. On the hillside above
the road was the most spectacular display of elegant clarkia (Clarkia
unguiculata) I have ever seen, including many flowers that were
pure white. This outing was a perfect example of what many of my excursions
are like nowadays, to a location where I know there is a specific plant
that I want to see and photograph. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Being a diehard adventurer, having proved my willingness to endure
the absurd, and knowing of no other way to get into Fish Canyon, I started
up the trail early this morning. It had just rained, briefly but sufficiently
to get all the vegetation dripping wet. Since the trail is totally overgrown
(and in fact hard to see in places), I was soaked within the first few
hundred yards. I beat my way up the trail, trying to keep my waistpack
dry, then giving up on that and just trying to keep my camera dry, constantly
pushing my way through shoulder-high mustards, grasses and other things.
Some plants that were blooming nicely were California thistle (Cirsium
occidentale var. californicum), short-winged deerweed (Lotus
scoparius var. brevialatus), common sunflower (Helianthus annuus),
blue dicks (Dichelostemma capitatum), mustard or California evening
primrose (Camissonia californica), eucrypta (Eucrypta chrysanthemifolia),
golden yarrow (Eriophyllum confertiflorum), chicory (Rafinesquia
califor- Cliff aster (Malacothrix saxatilis var. tenuifolia) began to show a profuse bloom, along with small-seeded spurge (Chamaesyce polycarpa), black sage (Salvia mellifera), canterbury bells (Phacelia minor), strigose lotus (Lotus strigosus), two-tone everlasting (Gnaphalium bicolor), tons of white pincushion (Chaenactis artemisiifolia), and numerous white-flowered south coast morning glories (Calystegia macrostegia var. intermedia). Switchback after switchback took me higher up the side of the ridge, and at one point I missed a sharp, rather inconspicuous turning in the trail, continuing ahead on what appeared to be a path. Others clearly had made this same mistake for it was well-tramped, but it grew fainter and fainter and less like a real trail. However, the trail had been in such poor condition right along that I assumed I was still heading in the correct direction. Eventually, after literally pulling myself up some steep, narrow gullies almost on hands and knees I realized that I must have gone wrong. By this time though, I was reluctant to go all the way back to try to find the real trail, so I bushwhacked up the incline another few hundred yards and ultimately emerged, sopping, dirty, sweating and cursing the trail gods and Vulcan Materials, onto the trail. I rested for a while and then continued on. I had to find the Plummer's mariposa lily, and I was determined not to allow these minor inconveniences to deter me. White sage (Salvia apiana) was in good bloom, as was California everlasting (Gnaphalium californicum), wishbone bush (Mirabilis californica), purple nightshade (Solanum xanti), chamise (Adenostema fasciculata), and unfortunately the painful tocalote (Centaurea melitensis) and Italian thistle (Carduus pycnocephalus). Soon the saddle across the ridge came into view, and my spirits picked up. Downhill from here, at least until the return trip. But now poison oak began to predominate and I was forced to use my clippers to clear some away from the trail. By now I was so wet I didn't care any more, and I fought my way down and up and through and emerged from the vegetative morass at a fence which I did not remember being there. It was not obvious where the trail went from there, so I went back to see if I had missed another turn, but I hadn't so I returned to the fence. It had probably been at least six years since I had done this hike before, and at this point I was tired and discouraged. I reasoned that based on what I was observing, I could ask Dan about the trail and find out where it went for another day's try. On the way back down I added common deerweed (Lotus scoparius var. scoparius), collarless California poppies (Eschscholzia caespitosa), canyon dodder (Cuscuta subinclusa), buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum), elderberry (Sambucus mexicana), and best of all the unexpected climbing milkweed (Sarcostemma cynanchoides ssp. hartwegii). By the time I got back to the car I was pretty beat, but I saw some obvious hikers heading up the road toward the quarry, so I asked them where they were going, and they told me that today the quarry had arranged a shuttle to transport people through their property to the old trailhead! I'm glad I didn't have any lethal weapons with me because I don't know what I might have done, but I called my wife and she looked online to confirm the truth of what they said, and added that you were supposed to have arrived before noon. It was already 12:30, but I slapped my pack on again and headed up the road. As I was going through the quarry gate, I met a van coming out which stopped and the driver asked me if I was there for the shuttle to the trailhead. He said it was too late, but I persuaded him nevertheless to take me through, promising that I would be back at the trailhead before 3pm which was when everyone was required to be out. He was clearly not a hiker because he seemed surprised when I indicated I could do the four-mile hike in that time. This was the old trail into the Falls and this would be the first
time I had ever had an opportunity to hike it, so I was pretty excited
about it. It is a lovely trail, one that older people and kids can handle,
and it's such a shame that it has been blocked. It was interesting how
different some of the plants were on this mostly shaded, riparian trail
than on the open sunny chaparral slope of Van Tassel Ridge. Right away
I saw masses of elegant clarkia (Clarkia unguiculata), smooth
cat's ear (Hypochaeris glabra), western wallflower (Erysimum
capitatum), canyon sweet pea (Lathyrus vestitus), golden
stars (Bloomeria crocea), bush poppy (Romneya coulteri),
hedge nettle (Stachys bullata), longstalk phacelia (Phacelia
longipes), yarrow (Achillea millefolium), farewell-to-spring
(Clarkia bottae), fairy lanterns (Calochortus albus),
spreading larkspurs (Delphinium patens), woodland stars (Lithophragma
affine), baby blue eyes (Nemophila menziesii), wild blackberry
(Rubus ursinus) and bush sunflower (Encelia californica),
none of which had been on the Van Tassel trail. Regrettably, though
I did reach the Falls, I did not find any of the mariposa lilies that
had been the object of this quest. I could only think that it might
be too early for them to be blooming, or they might not be here any
more. But I knew that sooner or later, I would find them, and meanwhile
I had had quite a day. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The trailhead to this newest section of the Backbone Trail is at a little turnout on Yerba Buena Road across from a driveway with a heavy chain across it at about mile marker 7.6 and only about a mile east of the Mishe Mokwe parking area. It is not signed and is not apparent as a trail until you cross a little rise. This year it is heavily covered in grasses whereas last year it was bare. Caterpillar phacelia (Phacelia cicutaria var. hispida), hedge nettle (Stachys bullata) and miner's lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata) lined the sides of the trail, and I saw a single large fragrant pitcher sage (Lepechinia fragrans) about to bloom. There was morning glory (Calystegia macrostegia ssp. intermedia), bush monkey flower (Mimulus aurantiacus), canyon sunflower (Venegasia carpesioides), a single star lily (Zigadenus fremontii), blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium bellum), and purple nightshade (Solanum xanti). Suddenly my eye was drawn to a flash of color and I saw a fire poppy (Papaver californicum) with its delicate four-petal flower on top of a tall slender stem. Then there were others, all occupying the same habitat on a relatively bare dirt bank just under the shade of some shrubs. I continued on and was soon rewarded by another member of the poppy
family, the tall beautifully-white bleeding hearts (Dicentra
ochroleuca), which apparently can be yellowish but more typically
are white to cream in color. Butterflies were flitting around all over
the trail and I managed to get some nice pictures of a sara orangetip
(Anthocharis sara) which obligingly
sat on a golden yarrow (Eriophyllum confertifolium). Popcorn
flowers and silver puffs were low growers, while up on the increasingly
stony trailside were numerous lance-leaf dudleyas (Dudleya lanceolata),
all with the reddish coloration I have come to associate with this area.
I came to one place where there was a profusion of peninsular onions
(Allium peninsulare), and
beyond that there were Chinese houses (Collinsia heterophylla),
fiesta flowers (Pholistoma auritum) and heart-leaved penstemons
(Keckiella cordifolia). On Tuesday I met my friend Richard Sapiro who was also eager to see the redmaids, and we drove back to the same trailhead and met Tony. He was an immediately congenial trail partner and it was obvious that he had a great deal of expertise with plants in general and those of Circle X in particular. We headed off to the area where the redmaids were supposed to be, stopping only briefly to discuss a few things seen en route. It only took him a few minutes to find the first one, and I realized that there were several reasons I had not seen it before. It's quite possible that since on Sunday it was earlier in the day, the blooms had just not begun to open. But after seeing a few, it was clear to me that my mental image of both the plant and its likely habitat had been insufficient for me to find it whether it had been open or not. All other redmaids I had seen are typically found along the grassy verges of trails, whereas these were growing in the exact middle of the trail, just where people would walk on them. And it was a much smaller plant and flower than I had expected. In any case, then and later as we continued on along the trail, we found more and more of them, and I was able to get the photographs I wanted. See photograph here. This is an absolutely beautiful section of the Backbone Trail with
gorgeous views down into the valley of the Arroyo Sequit and out to
the ocean and the Channel Islands. There is also a trail that provides
access to Triunfo Peak. I thank Tony Valois for introducing me to it
and to the Brewer's redmaids, and I hope we will be able to hike together
again. Tony's pictures of Santa Monica Mountains wildflowers are absolutely
stunning and can be found at http://www.nps.gov/samo/bloom/bloom.htm. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ On the way into the campground, along Death Valley Road from Big Pine,
I was introduced to a new yellow- The dune we were camped next to is the highest in California and 2nd highest in the United States. It was of a type that has been called a 'singing' or 'booming' dune, because of the rumbling sound that it occasionally makes. It is a phenomenon that is not well understood, but appears to be caused when the wind or people's footsteps get the sand grains to rolling over each other. Dana described it as a vertical reservoir, or a 'reservoir in the sky,' because even at the top of the dune in the dry part of the year, you can dig down a few feet and feel moist sand. On Friday morning we took a walk up onto the loose sand of the lower slopes of the dune to see some dune endemics like shining milkvetch (Astragalus lentiginosus var. micans), eureka dunes evening primrose (Oenothera californica ssp. eurekensis), and eureka valley dune grass (Swallenia alexandrae). There was also dotted indigo bush (Psorothamnus polydenius), naked cleome (Cleome sparsifolia), yellow saucers (Malacothrix sonchoides), dune spurge (Chamaesyce ocellata ssp. arenicola), the stout-trunked Inyo prince's plume (Stanleya pinnata var. inyoensis) and lots and lots of the little desert trumpet (Eriogonum trichopes). Across from the campground, perhaps a mile away, the bajadas coming down from the Last Chance Mts were colored yellow from this last species which was amazing because each individual plant is almost invisible due to being so slender and diminutive. Some of us also saw the yellow-blooming lanceleaf browneyes (Camissonia claviformis ssp. lancifolia), gravel milkvetch (Astragalus sabulonum), and an Atriplex that might have been silverscale saltbush (Atriplex argentea) but might also have been something else. After a brief break, we piled into several vehicles and headed for Hanging Rock Canyon, home of some rare carbonates. There we saw Rixford's rockwort (Scopulophila rixfordii), Gilman's cymopterus (Cymopterus gilmanii), Shockley's goldenheads (Acamptopappus shockleyi), sunray (Enceliopsis nudicaulis), desert sandwort (Arenaria macradenia), Death Valley beardtongue (Penstemon fruticiformis), Jones' cloak fern (Argyrochosma jonesii), lilac sunbonnets (Langloisia setosissima ssp. punctata), Panamint phacelia (Phacelia perityloides var. perityloides), Gilman's buckwheat (Eriogonum gilmanii), broadleaf gilia (Gilia latifolia), round-leaved phacelia (Phacelia rotundifolia), wild onions (Allium atrorubens), threadstem gilia (Gilia filiformis), slender lipfern (Cheilanthes feei) and Parry's lipfern (C. parryi), roundleaf oxytheca (Oxytheca perfoliata), Panamint prince's plume (Stanleya elata), yellow-eyed lupine (Lupinus flavoculatus), three-hearts (Tricardia watsonii), and the beautiful Death Valley monkeyflower (Mimulus rupicola) which I had looked for unsuccessfully on several previous trips to Death Valley. These listed species were only about half of all we saw. It was almost too much to absorb, and it was only Friday. Saturday morning we got up and headed toward Dedeckera Canyon, on the back side of the dune from the campground, stopping to take a group photo and to see the large yellow primrose (Oenothera primiveris ssp. bufonis) and Shockley's desert lupine (Lupinus shockleyi). Dedeckera Canyon received its current name some-what circuitously. Mary Dedecker on July 4th, 1974, discovered a new genus and species in this canyon which was given the name of Dedeckera eurekensis, commonly called July gold for its bloom time. Since you can't name a physical feature for a living person, they named the canyon instead after the shrub she found there. In addition to the Dedeckera, which was not blooming, we saw limestone beardtongue (Penstemon calcareus), Acton encelia (Encelia actonii), holly-leaved hazardia (Hazardia brickellioides), Shockley's prickle-leaf (Hecastocleis shockleyi), desert rock-nettle (Eucnide urens), Panamint butterfly bush (Buddleja utahensis), the Inyo blazing star (Mentzelia oreophila), winterfat (Kraschenennikovia lanata), Death Valley goldeneye (Viguiera reticulata), gum-leaved brickellia (Brickellia multiflora), Death Valley sage (Salvia funerea), and the borages curvenut cryptantha (Cryptantha recurvata) and bushy cryptantha (C. racemosa). On the way back to camp, we made one final stop to check out some caltha-leaved phacelia (Phacelia calthifolia), Layne's locoweed (Astragalus laynei), and the rare Reveal's buckwheat (Eriogonum contiguum). Saturday evening after a good dinner we went down to the playa below the dune and began removing a large patch of an introduced species called African mustard (Malcolmia africana, not to be confused with Brassica tournefortii, another species sometimes called African mustard). Dana said this was its first observed occurrence in Death Valley, and we worked on its removal until after dark, searching for these invasive weeds by flashlight, when Dana called a halt. Sunday morning after breakfast, we went back down and worked on the Malcolmia removal for another hour before packing up camp and heading for the Inyo Mts. Our destination was Harkness Flats Road, where we parked and began checking out the Great Basin flora there. We saw spiny menodora (Menodora spinescens), naked milkvetch (Astragalus serenoi var. shockleyi), slender beautiful rock-cress (Arabis pulchra var. gracilis), Minthorn's milkvetch (Astragalus minthorniae var. villosus), an entire hillside covered with beautifully blooming desert peach (Prunus andersonii), Newberry's rattleweed (Astragalus newberryi), rose heath (Chaetopappa ericoides), red-stemmed monkeyflower (Mimulus rubellus), Fremont's milkvetch (Astragalus lentiginosus var. fremontii), Bigelow's monkeyflower (Mimulus bigelovii), wingfruit sun cup (Camissonia pterosperma) and Shockley's rock-cress (Arabis shockleyi), and no doubt could have encountered many other things if we hadn't had to end the outing by mid-day. Other plants that we saw in more than one location during the weekend
were birdnest buckwheat (Eriogonum
nidularium), woolly marigold (Baileya pleniradiata),
gravel ghost (Atrichoseris platyphylla),
the beautiful bristly langloisia (Langloisia
setosissima ssp. setosissima), Cryptantha micrantha and
C. circumscissa, Nevada ephedra (Ephedra nevadensis),
Booth's intermediate sun cup (Camissonia
boothii ssp. intermedia), indian ricegrass (Achnatherum hymenoides),
Fremont's phacelia (Phacelia fremontii),
fanleaf (Psathyrotes annua), desert
needlegrass (Achnatherum speciosum), desert larkspurs (Delphinium
parishii), desert calico (Loeseliastrum
matthewsii), Death Valley browneyed primrose (Camissonia
claviformis ssp. funerea), purple mat (Nama
demissum var. demissum), cheesebush (Hymenoclea
salsola), blackbrush (Coleogyne
ramosissima), rock gilia (Gilia
scopulorum), blackbanded rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus paniculatus),
apricot mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua),
Mormon needlegrass (Achnatherum aridum), Pacific blazing star
(Mentzelia obscura), spreading
gilia (Ipomopsis polycladon),
Panamint milkvetch (Astragalus panamintensis),
spiny hopsage (Grayia spinosa), white tackstem (Calycoseris
wrightii), showy gilia (Gilia cana
ssp. triceps), and several other gilias and at least one other
Astragalus that have yet to be pinned down. All in all, it was
an amazing trip, the best of the five I have taken with the Jepson people. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I continued up the road, stopping at one point to ask a Fire Service
employee whether the road I was on did in fact loop around and return
to the parking lot. I had to pick up my daughter from school at 3:15
and I didn't want to get too far along a road that wasn't going back
to the car. Although I saw many other flowers including a really nice
patch of yellow monkeyflowers (Mimulus brevipes), some rush-roses
(Helianthemum scoparium), and some healthy-looking yarrows (Achillea
millefolium), the red soil area had been left behind and I saw no
sign of Plummer's mariposas. I decided that I would have to come back
again in a few weeks and try again. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ After passing through an open gate I saw my first brodiaea, and it
was with excitement that I scanned the grassy surroundings to see more
and more of the beautiful blue flowers popping up. I photographed a
number of them from different angles, being careful to get pictures
that showed the absence of staminodes, which is the key dis- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jay Sullivan had notified me recently that the California tea (Rupertia physodes) was beginning to bloom at Reagan Ranch, and since this had been one of my goals this spring, I was optimistic that I would at last get some photographs of this species. Having seen at least a couple of other species that I had originally thought were this one, I was pretty convinced even before hearing from Jay that we had California tea growing here, and I had been to see it several times to check on its bloom status with disappointing results. Along the road from the parking lot, I saw a number of erect-stemmed
clumps of what I now recognize as onion- At first the California tea looked the same as it had the two times
I had seen it recently, that is sans flowers, but as I searched around
more carefully I began to find blooms on some of the plants. I will
probably go back again in a couple of weeks to see if the bloom is more
profuse, but for the time being it was good to be able to determine
that the species here is actually as Richard and I had thought it was,
and to get some photos of it. On the way back, I dropped down into the
meadow to find a few earth brodiaeas (Brodiaea
terrestris ssp. kernensis) and goldenstars (Bloomeria crocea)
peaking through the tall grass, and the silver and brown seed balls
of Uropappus lindleyi and Stebbinsoseris heyerocarpa.
The golden current (Ribes aureum) is finished now, but there
were numerous blooms on the wild rose shrubs (Rosa californica),
and large clumps of harding grass (Phalaris aquatica) lined the
trail. This section of the trail is in even worse shape with deep ruts
caused by water-erosion from the recent rains and the further damage
caused by horses' hooves. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This morning I took advantage of a day off from my volunteer job at the Page Museum and drove over to the Circle X Ranch area of the Santa Monica Mountains to hike the Grottoes Trail which I had never done before and had always been curious about. The road goes from the Ranger Station down through the group campground where I had camped on my Backbone Trail hike with Milt McAuley several years ago, and seeing it again brought back some nice memories of a wonderful week-long tramp across the Santa Monicas. I had no real specific botanical goals for this hike although my friend Tony Valois, volunteer ranger and camp host for Circle X, had told me of seeing some blue scarlet pimpernels down in the Grottoes and I was eager to see if I could find any. The trail basically winds down into the West Fork of the Arroyo Sequit and is pretty much downhill all the way. I passed some gorgeous displays of elegant clarkia (Clarkia unguiculata) and sticky madia (Madia gracilis), noting also the white blooms of California everlasting (Gnaphalium californicum), heartleaf penstemon (Penstemon cordifolia), crimson pitcher sage (Salvia spathacea), yellow and bush monkeyflower (Mimulus brevipes and M. aurantiacus), several Catalina mariposa lilies (Calochortus catalinae), and numerous popcorn flowers, at least some of which turned out upon keying to be Cleveland's cryptantha (Cryptantha clevelandii), one of the five cryptantha species in the Santa Monicas. There were intermediate sun cups (Camissonia intermedia) amongst buckwheats toward the top of the trail, and down lower I spotted some Fish's milkwort (Polygala cornuta var. fishiae) in full bloom. Butterflies were very numerous along the trail, mostly Gabb's and chalcedona
checkerspots. Toward the bottom of the trail, I was temporarily excited
to see what I thought at first was Nuttall's nemacladus (Nemacladus
ramosissimus), which is a Santa Monicas species I had never seen
before. Unfortunately for me it turned out to be the superficially similar
small-flowered dwarf flax (Hesperolinon
micranthum) which I had photographed at the Santa Rosa Plateau
once before, but this was a much denser stand of it. It is a short,
intricately-branched plant with extremely slender stems and tiny white
flowers that would be easily missed. Although I saw many of the salmon-colored
scarlet pimpernels, there were none of the blue ones in evidence, and
I turned around for the 1- Before going home, I walked part of the new section of the Backbone
Trail I had done with Tony and my friend Richard Sapiro two weeks ago.
I wanted to see if I could get some pictures of the many-nerved catchfly
in bloom, but alas all flowers were either done or still in bud. Maybe
it's one of those that's not open during the hot part of the day? I
was not particularly disappointed by this since I had photographed it
in bloom on my Otay Mesa field trip last month. The peninsular onion,
fire poppies and bleeding hearts were still blooming nicely, but the
Madia exigua was all gone. I noted several lovely yellow mariposa
lily (Calochortus clavatus) blooms along the way and a profusion
of California hedge nettle (Stachys bullata). The trail was lined
in places with canyon sunflowers (Venegasia carpesioides) and
graced in a couple of spots by beautiful white fragrant pitcher sages
(Lepechinia fragrans). I stopped to photograph a pale swallowtail
(Papilio eurymedon) that was so engrossed in feeding from a large
bleeding heart that I think I could have stroked its wings without bothering
it. This is a lovely trail but amazingly grown over with grasses in
many places. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Having a few hours to spare today and armed with somewhat more detailed information provided by my friend Jane Strong, I ventured up the Cobal Canyon trail in search of the Plummer's mariposa lily (Calochortus plummerae) I had been unsuccessful in finding on my previous visit here and in Fish Canyon several weeks ago. Immediately beyond the parking lot I was chagrined to notice some Bituminaria bituminosa blooming along the road. It seems to be spreading all across the foothills. There were some nice displays of common phacelia (Phacelia distans), canterbury bells (Phacelia minor) and caterpillar phacelia (Phacelia cicutaria), bush monkeyflower (Mimulus aurantiacus), common deerweed (Lotus scoparius var. scoparius), farewell-to-spring (Clarkia bottae), cliff aster (Malacothrix saxatilis var. tenuifolia), a single moth mullein (Verbascum blattaria), and some San Bernardino sun cups (Camissonia confusa) and mustard evening primrose (C. californica). The trail crosses a stream channel and then in a short distance forks with the Cobal Canyon trail going straight ahead and the trail going up Burbank Canyon going off to the left. I continued straight ahead. Beyond the second stream crossing the trail enters some shady woodlands and I could see on the right a really beautiful stand of Humboldt lilies (Lilium humboldtii), with a second even larger stand a little ways farther on. I decided to leave that for later and pressed on. My friend Jane's instructions said to go beyond the "second big curve" and I was just pondering what a big curve was when I came to the first and it was obviously a big curve. Then when I got to another big curve with an open area on the east side, I knew I was in the right place. And sure enough it didn't take much searching to locate my first Plummer's mariposa, a lovely long-stalked flower high up on a bank. There were a couple more of them even higher up, but I took some pictures of the first and continued on, hoping for greater displays. The high road bank of different looking red soil continued up the road and I saw what appeared to be several more plants on top that were in bud, but no more blooming. As soon as I could, around the 3.75 mile marker (the first marker indicates 4.25 miles and is measured from the other end of the loop), I clambered up the bank onto the grassy mesa above and was instantly rewarded by a single gorgeous flower. As I looked around and began walking through the tall grass amongst yucca plants and burned chamise stems, I noticed more and more of them. There were not the "hundreds" that Jane reported last May on a hike with Bob Muns, but it's early yet and considering that I had walked through this same area just nine days ago without seeing any, I had no doubt that her report was accurate. It had been 7-8 years since the only previous time I had seen this species and it was so nice to make its acquaintance again. My few poor photos of it from then only hinted at its beauty, and of course since the mariposa lilies are my favorite group of wildflowers, I was quite ecstatic, and I thank Jane again for letting me know about this location. See photos here. After photographing many individual flowers, I headed back down the
road, eventually sliding down an embank- |