Spring Has Sprung!

After a very wet March, the sun has burst out and so have the flowers. Spring is here. I headed to the Yolanda trail to take a look.

With all the creeks rushing, Phoenix Lake was positively murky, thoroughly choked with sediment.

The Yolanda Nursery has sprung to life with two of my favorites: Red and Violet Larkspur. Also in the vicinity was a patch of Few-Flowered Shooting Stars and buds of succulents.

Plenty of Indian Paintbrush and the first Miniature Lupins also appeared along the trail.

Not to mention Irises and fields of Wild Onion.

Plus Blue Dicks, Scarlet Pimpermel, Orange Bush Monkeyflowers, Vetches, Blue-Eyed Grass, you name it. Get out there now!

Cataract

It's been a wet March, so I thought I'd head out to see how Cataract creek was flowing. Starting at Rock Spring and heading down the Simmons trail, I immediately came accross of patch of 30 or so Few-Flowered Shooting Stars.

Only a few steps away were a few Calypso Orchids.

And only a few steps from that I saw a Newt, one of three I spotted on this day.

The creeks were running well and everywhere was damp. I also spotted a number of these weird things that I presume to be spider holes. Probing a few of them with a stick, I never got a spider to emerge, but I did find that some of them are up to a foot deep.

Once done hiking, I got back on the road to San Francisco, and spotted another one of my favorite wildflowers is starting to bloom—Red Larkspur.