Wildflower Weekend, Part 3

After lunch, we headed down to the road toward Carrizo Plain National Monument, where I had seen fields of coreopsis in previous years. This year was no different...blooms of the yellow and white daisy-like flowers (also known as tidy tips), mixed with fiddlenecks, goldfields, phacelia, baby blue eyes, and owl's clover covered the valley floor. There had been some concern that we might be too late in the season to see a good bloom, but as it turned out, if anything we were too early, as we could see many buds not yet opened.


In fact, it was probably the best weekend for us to go, since the following weekend (Easter weekend) the weather turned cold and rainy and even dropped a little snow on the higher peaks in Los Padres.

After a trip to the Soda Lake overlook to see a profusion of the hillside daisy,
we backtracked to the 58 and then over to the 41/46 to Shell Creek Road, which had been posted online in several places as a great spot for wildflower viewing.

Along the way, we found a few additional opportunities to pull off the road and appreciate more spring blooms, including a field of shooting stars and a field with coreopsis and bison.


Once we reached Shell Creek Road from the 46, we didn't have to go far before we saw the results of the postings: the sides of the road were filled with cars and the fields, including some private property, were being mobbed by people tramping down flowers. We carefully but quickly bypassed the crowded areas until we reached a part of the road with no people and fewer flowers but plenty of cows and vineyards. Here we also saw towering hillsides with exposed rock and soil, which added additional colors to the palette of oranges and yellows of the far away fiddlenecks and coreopsis.


Then, just a little further down and across from the vineyards, we found what was probably the most colorful hillside yet, one that reminded me of an easter egg. Here we saw many of the same wildflowers as before, with the addition of the purple bird's eye gilia, which had been absent in the plain.



We continued on Shell Creek Road until we reached a fork, then continued along some smaller countryside road that wound through a narrow canyon and past some small farms and houses. We stopped briefly to admire some horses who looked lovely against a background of bright yellow goldfields.
We continued as long as the road did, then finally had to make a U-turn and head back. Along the way , we spotted a roadrunner, a fairly uncommon bird and managed to grab a couple of shots from the car before he ran off with a group of quail.


After that, we reconnected with the 46 and found the turnoff to Bitterwater Creek road, which was purported to have additional wildflower displays. Although it was a peaceful and scenic drive, we didn't find anything really other than fields of fiddlenecks and mustard so we didn't stop until we reached a turn where a collapsed store was settling into the ground.
We continued until we connected back with 46, through Lost Hills.
We made a stop at Blackwell's Corner to pay tribute to James Dean and get some gas, then headed back to Lancaster for the evening.

Wildflower Weekend, Part 2

Taking advantage of a promised rain-free weekend, we took a trip to some of the reported best places to view wildflowers. Having visited the Carrizo Plain a few years ago, I had a good feeling about the area and anticipated exploring it further. The heavy rains of the season offered hope of abundant blooms, and the postings on Flickr from some of my contacts motivated to grab up all of my camera gear and pack the family into the SUV for a road trip.

We first visited Wild Wolves Preserve (first time for me) off the 166 on the way to Carrizo. Then we continued along 166 to the 33 and through Taft on the way to highway 58. Along the way, we stopped to appreciate the numerous fields of fiddlenecks and coreopsis in the otherwise empty fields. The road was quiet and the weather was beautiful.



When we turned onto the 58, we started seeing a few other wildflower fans. In fact, every turnout on the mountainous part of this road had at least one car containing people and cameras. Fortunately, there was plenty of room to pull off the road and enjoy the scenery.


Now, fields of brilliant orange California Poppies and yellow Goldfields joined the ever-present orange fiddlenecks and yellow coreopsis.


We also saw bunches of the pale yellow Cream Cups on the high side of the road.


After the abundance of oranges, golds and yellows, it was a nice change to see the phacelia again. We found a spill of the purple-blue flowers on a sunny hillside.


We continued down the hill, oohing and aahing at the brilliant splashes of color and pulled off the road next to an abandoned cottage to have a picnic lunch before heading down to the Carrizo Plain.

Wildflower Weekend, Part 1

Since we had a good amount of rainfall this past winter, I hoped that the wildflowers would make a better-than-average display. We planned to head out on the one weekend this early spring that seemed to not have any sign of rain.

Our trip took us first to Wind Wolves Preserve, which is an area west of I5 and Bakersfield. We took highway 166 west and arrived by late morning to be greeted by hillsides covered with lupine and owl's clover.

The preserve is very peaceful and open, with many hiking trails along grassy hillsides. We were not equipped for hiking, but did take a short stroll along a small creek and along a path that led to a hillside covered with fiddlenecks and phacelia.


The wildflower display at Wind Wolves was not what I'd call spectacular, but it had several satisfying displays that could be viewed from the car and it was a pleasant stop after 2 hrs on the freeway.




After Wind Wolves, we continued west on 166 then took the 33 toward Taft, a town built around oil. Not the most pleasant drive, although the road leading to Taft is flanked on both sides with citrus trees that smell wonderful when they are blossoming later in the year. Taft was a forest of oil pumps and strange pipes running along the ground. We were glad when we started climbing the hills on the other side of Taft, where the first signs of what would be endless fields of fiddlenecks began to make an appearance.