Friday, June 21, 2019

Farewell to Spring!


The Tiburon mariposa lily (Calochortus tiburonensis) is a species of rare flowering plant that, apparently, grows nowhere else on Planet Earth but the serpentine soils atop Ring Mountain Open Space Preserve in Marin County. Yesterday I spent three hours looking for the damn thing—five hours if you throw in the bus rides to and fro and the additional walk to the trailhead—tramping about the preserve with no real idea where the plants might be, no idea if they'd still be blooming, and no real idea how large or recognizable they'd be if they were (it's way late in the season and I'd heard reports that the flowers were well on their way out).


Big, beautiful, gnarly oak tree. 

Coyote mint (Monardella purprea)

Chick or gully lupine (Lupinus microcarpus densiflorus)

Indian pink (Silene lacinata)


Tidy-tips...a fave! (Layia platyglossa)

After a two hour solo ramble I was feeling a bit discouraged; it was windy as hell up there and the June grasses were tall and brown, hiding lots of detail in the folds and crags of the mountaintop. I was certainly enjoying the whole first-time adventure but realized that my chances of finding the fabled plant—and a blooming one at that—were fading with each passing step and each passing minute. Alas...as the sun slanted toward the summit of Mount Tam to the west, and remembering plans to meet some friends for a 5 o'clock beer at Sam's in Tiburon, I reluctantly turned back toward the trailhead. Disappointed that the search was a bust, I nonetheless kept looking on the tricky descent, my gaze volleying back and forth from one side of the trial to the other. I cautioned myself to take it slow, as well—do NOT trip and break anything, Palmer!—which was (as always) good advice, because, lo and behold, tucked near the base of another jumble of serpentine rock, hidden in a tangle of other flora, I somehow noticed a teeny-tiny little bloom.

I knelt down to inspect further. Is it? No. Wait...that can't be. It's puny! Oh my god, I think it is!

Yup, it was.


Behold, in all it's prehistoric-looking glory,
the Tiburon mariposa lily

'Nother one

And again!

Shaking my head in amazement (I still don't believe it!) and chuckling to myself with amusement, as I walked on I noticed a few more blooms here and there; all superbly camouflaged, and all much, much smaller than I'd have guessed. Further down the trail my chuckling turned to outright laughter, and, once I remembered that there was no one else around, my laughter turned to a big vocal skyward "YEE-HA!" in celebration. 

I feel as tho I've become part of a somewhat small but blessed and wonderful subset of humanity...someone who's seen a Tiburon mariposa lily live and in person. (I also feel as tho I've crossed over into unabashed wildflower geekdom, here.) But throw in a slew of other blooms, including an abundance of shockingly pink/violet Farewell-to-spring on the last actual day of spring, and the fact that the trek was my first on Ring Mountain (WOW!), and, well...I'm pleased as punch.


Harvest brodiaea (Brodiaea elegans)

Soap plant, a lily (Chlorogalum pomeridianum) 


Farewell-to-spring, another fave. (Clarkia ruicunda)

Farewell spring!
Hello summer!

And happy trails,
Peter J. Palmer


Sunday, March 24, 2019

Spring is Sprung, Part III

Le printemps est arrivé! Along with some more rain, but that's okay...s'all good. (Well, not the flooding up in wine country; hate to see that kind of destruction caused by too much life-giving, nurturing, rejuvenating water.)

More pics of the 2019 wildflower bloom, followers, these from the Batteries to Bluffs trail south of the GGB. Was a gorgeous day for a hike, even when the fog rolled in and the temperature dropped!

Coast blackberry

Checker bloom

Blue Blossom

Blue blossom again; it's going bonkers out there,
crowding the trail and scenting the seaside air.


Beach morning glory

Beach strawberry

Blue-eyed grass (one a me faves!)

Marshall's Beach

More soon.
Peter J. Palmer



Monday, March 18, 2019

Spring is Sprung, Part II

Second day off; second hike under warm and sunny skies. My trusty hiking buds Don and Heidi craved someplace new (I did, too), some trails we'd never before hiked, and we found 'em in Homestead Valley, on the lower eastern flank of Mount Tamalpais. Good tramp; 4.5 miles or so, with some impressive elevation gain, beautiful scenery in and out of the forest, lovely little creek crossings, redwoods, a delightful showing of early spring wildflowers (the parade continues), and virtually no other people on the (well-marked and cared for) trails! Loved it!

Trillium, a pink one!

Trillium, a white one!

Indian Warrior

Oakland Star Tulip

No idea.

Forget-Me-Not (non-native)

SHHH...

Marin Checker Lily (a rare bloom, I've been told)



Douglas Iris

Mount Tam "View Spot"

Hope you enjoy the pics and the wildflower updates.
More later.

Peter J. Palmer


Saturday, March 16, 2019

Spring is Sprung

Greetings, my fellow outdoor amateur naturalists!

Beautiful day out there today, with a few more to come before some potential rain returns to the Bay Area. See below for current wildflower pics from the Hill 88 loop hike above Rodeo Beach. Got two more hikes scheduled for tomorrow and Monday, so more pics will hopefully follow. May not yet be spring according to the calendar, but Mother Nature thinks differently.

Happy trails!

Start to the Hill 88 loop hike.

Footsteps-of-Spring

California Poppy

Rodeo Beach from up the Coastal Trail

Milk Maids

Shooting Star

Coast Rock Cress

Nice and green!

The Mighty GGB

Peace out.
Peter J. Palmer