This excursion was more or less a follow-up to my April hikes to Pacifico Mountain from Mill Creek Summit and Little Rock Creek Road, but with the particular goal this time of determining whether the Eriogonum I saw up there then was kennedyi or wrightii. Our hike today was limited to about a 1-mile section of the PCT toward Mill Creek Summit from the saddle between Pacifico Mountain and the adjacent peak, and then offtrail to the top of the ridge, and thence back along the ridge. I had come to be fairly certain that the buckwheat was not going to turn out to be kennedyi, and this was the case. I met Angeles National Forest botanist Kerry Johnston and former Angeles National Forest botanist Jordan Zylstra at the Mill Creek Fire Station and we drove up 3N17 to the saddle where we parked. The temperature at 9:30 am was around 90° and it looked like it was going to be a blistering day, but thanks to a somewhat cooling breeze, it did not seem that hot. We found some interesting species and had a thoroughly enjoyable outing.

Beaked penstemon
Penstemon rostriflorus
Plantaginaceae

Possibly coccoons of parisitoid
wasps

Aphids on stem of Eriogonum nudum var. pauciflorum. The critter with the
white bumps on its back is a ladybug larva that eats aphids. Thanks to Bob
Allen for this id and the one on the left.

Mountain blazing star
Mentzelia montana
Loasaceae
[Named for Christian Mentzel, 1622-1701]

Cushion cryptantha
Cryptantha circumscissa var. circumscissa
Boraginaceae