North Table Mountain, 4/16/16

5.1 miles.
Drove up to look for some wildflowers, after the disappointing trip at Folsom lake last week.  North Table Mountain did not disappoint!  There were plenty of lupine patches, with the occasional Owl's Clover and patches of yellow.  California Poppies looked like they had just started; flowers were only about 1/2 to 3/4 inches.  Lots of baby grasshoppers everywhere we stepped.  Creeks and falls were flowing lightly.

Phantom Falls.  The specks in the shadows were birds.

Sedum oreganum, Oregon Stonecrop

Owl's Clover amidst Lupine

Read More

Folsom Lake, 4/9/16 - 4/10/16

3.5 miles.
4/9/16.  We had an event to go to earlier that day in Sacramento, so we decided to check out Folsom Lake to see if the lupines were in bloom.  Spent the night at Beals Campground.  When we got there, there was a car parked in our clearly marked RESERVED campsite.  So we told the ranger and he found the owner and have him move it.  There were a lot of Boy Scouts there, multiple troops.  Owner of the vehicle was part of one of the troops.  We set up the car and went to bed, skipping dinner because we were still full from lunch earlier that day. 

4/10/16.  Ugh...the rain.  Pitter-patter all night long.  We drove to Beeks Bight hoping to see the endless fields of lupine like the last time were there.
And it had been raining, so I was hoping for some great water droplet pics.  Unfortunately, it was a little drizzly, so I didn't want to take my camera out.  Plus, there were hardly any flowers.  Lots and lots of wet grass though.  The trail we took ended up under the lake, so after half a mile we turned around back to the car.  We hiked around the boating area for another 2.5 miles, then headed home.

Read More

Garrapata State Park, 4/3/16

4.5 mile hike over two hikes.
Parked on the turnout opposite the coast side.
Start time: 8:51am.  End time: 1:15pm.
Sidenote: On the way home, we stopped in Gilory for some garlic ice cream.  Tasted like eating chocolate ice cream after eating some garlic pasta.

1.5 miles, Sobranes Point Trail.  Hiked along the coast for a short ways.  We had intended on doing the loop, but because of the narrow trails and abundance of poison oak, we opted to turn around.
Saw a few bunnies and flowers though.

Indian Paintbrush

blue blossom ceanothus (California lilac)

Poison Oak, and lots of it!

3 miles; Sobranes Canyon Trail.  Opted to do the less strenuous portion of this loop, and only did an out and back on the Sobranes Canyon Trail.  Still quite a bit of poison oak, but the trails were slightly wider (not by much though).  There were quite a few people, so it seemed like at least every 5 minutes somebody had to move aside.  First portion of the trail had lots of cacti.  There were a few stream crossings too.

Read More