Super Bloom

[Mikey]

On Friday morning last week we decided to take a drive out to the Anza-Borrego desert to check out the early wildflower bloom. Something I haven't done in a long time, and we were not disappointed. These pictures are all from within about 100 yards of the side of the road at Henderson Canyon.






Desert sand verbena






Desert sunflower






Dune evening primrose




Desert pincushion




Creosote bush

[HighPlainsGrifter]

That is beautiful.

[Mikey]

Warning - the next post is going to be long. Skip it if you must.

[HighPlainsGrifter]

If Kierland asks, tell him, yes, I could build a road through that shit.

[Mikey]

We live about 12 miles from the Pacific Ocean. The spot we stopped at in the desert is a 75 mile drive (about 50 as the crow flies) mostly on winding two lane highways through the mountains, about 3/4 of the way to the Salton Sea. A little over a 1 1/2 hour drive each way.



It's really striking the changes in the ecosystem you go through in a relatively short distance. I didn't stop to take any pictures on the way over, but here are some on the way back.

Desert floor




Starting to climb






Here you can see the Salton Sea on the horizon






Fauna on the hillside




Getting close to the summit










At the summit, looking back. The sign in the background says: 8% downgrade. Trucks use low gears. This is a little over 5,000 ft elevation.




Looking west from the summit. It's suddenly a lot greener (and somewhat cloudier) going that direction.




It's sort of flat for a while at the top, then starts going downhill toward a valley that's at about 3,000 ft, with some very happy cows.








They actually have call boxes up there because there's no cell service.




At the bottom of that valley is Lake Henshaw. It supplies water for a couple of the cities in coastal north San Diego County.




At this point we have pretty much left the high desert behind and entered what we call Southern Oak Woodland. Mostly Coast Live Oak (quercus agrfolia).





Descending further, we are seeing some more agriculture mixed with the oaks, including some more happy cows and a tribute to our favorite singer from Tupelo.










This is now looking toward the coast over some citrus groves, descending into the San Luis Rey River valley. Maybe 25 miles inland.




The highway now follows the river all the way to the coast. The Pala Casino is barely visible in the background as the valley winds toward the coast. My house is basically on the other side of the hill in the far distance.

[Mikey]

If Kierland asks, tell him, yes, I could build a road through that shit.

LOL. No doubt.

[Mikey]

BTW...I know that this is California and it’s basically an overcrowded shithole. But we didn't see any homeless people, or human feces in the road, or illegals raping and forcing women and young girls into human trafficking the entire day. I’m not sure where they all went. In fact, on the way over, once we crossed the I15 freeway, we never saw another car going in the same direction we were going until we got down to the desert floor. Please don’t tell anyone.

[Sudden Sam]

I gotta get another bike.

[Roach]

I gotta get another bike.

Your ride / photo pets were epic.

[Roach]

Damn nice set of pics and reporting there Mikey.

[Mikey]

I gotta get another bike.

I get that, though I’ve never owned a bike and never will because it would be grounds for divorce. The wife was once a nurse at a rehab facility and saw too many quads and brain injuries to ever make that possible.

But this drive was also ideal for the electric Ionic 5. Dual motor, AWD, low center of gravity and lots of torque. But the thing that makes it really fun is the regenerative braking. Set it at the highest level and it’s one pedal driving the whole way. And it’s not just brakes on / brakes off. It modulates the motors and electric brakes based on accelerator pressure. Sounds strange but it becomes intuitive very quickly. Over and back on about 50% of the battery capacity.

[Mikey]

I gotta get another bike.

Your ride / photo pets were epic.

I think that’s what inspired this thread.

[Sudden Sam]

I just meant I’d love to ride that area. I wasn’t fishing for pats on the back, guys. But I appreciate the kind words. I do miss traveling on the bike and shooting pics.

The regenerative brake thing sounds pretty cool.

[The Seer]

Back in my Cali days we'd make the drive up to Antelope Valley to check out the poppies. Lotsa orange (the other kind). The cone cells in the eyes got some PT.

Been awhile and the stock pics suffice...minus the OL pics...so pardon me for going m2......

[Mikey]

We're thinking about going up to the Carrizo Plain National Monument in a few weeks.

[Rootbeer]

In fact, on the way over, once we crossed the I15 freeway, we never saw another car going in the same direction we were going until we got down to the desert floor.

You might want to get a plastic cheeseburger wytched over the backside of this pickup before Biggie sees it.

[Mikey]

That was on the way back, and in the afternoon. Saw a lot more in that direction because we stopped a lot for pictures. If you think about it, if everyone’s going the same speed in one direction you’ll never overtake anyone or be overtaken. So basically I was going a reasonable speed and no crazy bikers trying to go by me. Still it was nice to have the road pretty much to myself in the morning.

[kcdave]

Great PET Mikey. I wasn't aware how far south you are
in Cali. I hope to make it out there some time in the next
few years.

[Mikey]

You should check in if you make it out this way. Come by and show me how to use my smoker.

[Ken]

overtake anyone or be overtaken.

Why do you hate America?

Anyways, the wildflowers of California at this time of year can be spectacular. Nice work, Mikey. I especially love the California Poppies in the springtime. Work usually takes me to the central coast region around this time of year and I always made a point to take a drive. While not the central coast, I will be in the Salinas Valley all next week and will try to make a trip into the mountains there.

As an aside, on the central coast, I would also head out towards Vandenberg AF base and Surf Beach to see the Coreopsis gigantea blooming. While not anything aesthetically special, they are supposedly reasonably rare and only found there. But I could have been given a load of shit re: that story.

[Softball Bat]

What's happening here?

You pulled over to take a p!ss, and you snapped this shot?

[Screw_Michigan]

Great photos, Mikey.

Good photos, Seer. Amazing what you can accomplish when you commit yourself to productive activity instead of shilling for fascism.

[Mikey]

overtake anyone or be overtaken.

Why do you hate America?

Anyways, the wildflowers of California at this time of year can be spectacular. Nice work, Mikey. I especially love the California Poppies in the springtime. Work usually takes me to the central coast region around this time of year and I always made a point to take a drive. While not the central coast, I will be in the Salinas Valley all next week and will try to make a trip into the mountains there.

As an aside, on the central coast, I would also head out towards Vandenberg AF base and Surf Beach to see the Coreopsis gigantea blooming. While not anything aesthetically special, they are supposedly reasonably rare and only found there. But I could have been given a load of shit re: that story.

I'm not familiar with the coreopsis gigantea, but the whole central coast area is beautiful. We periodically visit Paso Robles for wine tasting but also hang out anywhere from Santa Barbara to Morro Bay to Cambria to San Simeon. You can actually take Amtrak from San Diego (Oceanside for us) as far as SLO, which we sometimes do and just rent a car there. The route is predominantly along the coast once you get to Oxnard, travelling through areas that you mostly can't get to otherwise through the Point Conception, Vandenburg, Lompoc area.

California has an incredible diversity of plant life, with something like 6,500 native species growing here, many found nowhere else in the world. There are many that are endemic only to small areas within the state. But a lot of them have been pushed out of their natural habitats over the past couple of centuries by invasive species brought here by the evil Europeans. This, in turn, has led to great reductions in the numbers of native fauna as well. I've been trying, over the years, to fill our yard with as many native plants as feasible, though I still have a lot of empty space that gets overgrown with grassy weeds. You make a foundation of plants that naturally grow in your area, for us that would include coast live oak, toyon, white sage, Cleveland sage, California buckwheat, artemisia, coyote brush, some ceanothus varieties, Tecate cypress, and a few others. Then you can fill in with more exotic varieties that are endemic to other areas of the state. We have some awesome buckwheat varieties that are endemic only to the Channel Islands, but do just fine here. St. Catherine's lace (eriogonum giganteum) and Santa Cruz Island buckwheat (eriogonum aboresecns). The results have included some great blooms in the spring and summer, and in the numbers of birds and pollinating insects.

If you really want to nerd out on this, there's a great website where you can enter any location to see what's found naturally there, or you can enter the name of any plant and it will show you where it's been observed.

https://calscape.org/

We just got our first poppy a few days ago. Expecting several thousand more in the next few weeks.

[Mikey]

What's happening here?

You pulled over to take a p!ss, and you snapped this shot?

Actually that's from the same spot that I stopped to take a picture of the lake from (the preceding photo). Just rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise to show the trees.

[Diego in Seattle]

You should check in if you make it out this way. Come by and show me how to use my smoker.

He could stay at Metzger's old place. I'm sure he'd be welcome there...

[HighPlainsGrifter]

Can I play too?

I'm in Arizona for spring break and went to Desert Botanical Gardens in Tempe. I'm not smart like Mikey knowing the names of everything but I'll do my best.

This bush has yellow flowers. Bees love it. You can play where's Waldo with the bees in this pic if you want.


This bush is also covered in bees. A sign says bees can't see the color red which makes no sense because they saw the shit out of these red flowers.


I like to think this butt plug is big enough even Screwy couldn't sit on it but I'm probably wrong about that.


These little guys are in rehab. Or jail. I nicnamed them Barflies.


This bird kicks ass.


This squirrel fucks.


We watched this bird dig a little hole under a bush and take a dirt bath. Filthy little slut.


These flowers smell like grape Jolly Ranchers.


These are called Centennial flowers or something like that. Do the Where's Wally thing with bees again if you want.


Rabbit ears cactus. Tilt your head just right and you can see it.


More cactus and shit. It's a desert. Amazing stuff.


They have a butterfly exhibit and we got to release recently hatched butterflies. I turned this one loose and my phone did some artsy shit with the photo.


This is another butterfly. Amazing.

[Carson]

David Attenborough on Line 1...

[The Whistle Is Screaming]

This bird is stuck.

Ftfy


Nice PET'S Fellas!

[Mikey]

Can I play too?

I'm in Arizona for spring break and went to Desert Botanical Gardens in Tempe. I'm not smart like Mikey knowing the names of everything but I'll do my best.

This bush has yellow flowers. Bees love it. You can play where's Waldo with the bees in this pic if you want.

My mom and my brother both used to live in Scottsdale. The desert around there (Sonoran Desert) is really just amazing, especially in the springtime. Very colorful, and a lot more interesting than around Vegas where I lived for six years (Mojave Desert), which is mostly brown, gray and dead until you start climbing into the mountains and you get into some pinyon pine forests.

That plant, BTW, is encelia farinosa (brittlebush). It grows wild around here, especially in the drier inland areas, but closer to the coast as well. I planted close to a dozen of those in my yard last fall. My wife loves the yellow flowers and the silver-gray foliage, which contrasts with a lot of the green stuff we have here. Similar color to salvia apiana (white sage). Not blooming here yet.