Date: March 30, 2019
Place: Pacheco State Park, Hollister, California
Address: 38787 Dinosaur Point Rd, Hollister, California
Length: 2.5 miles
Level: moderate
This is a great spring in California! Winter was good and wildflower superbloom seems to be almost everywhere, especially in Southern California. Unable to go and see the spectacle in person I took to drooling over pictures posted online by people who did.
Then Pappa Quail offered to watch the chikas on the next Saturday so I could go out and find the suer bloom. And I would have, but the prettiest superblooms were too far a way for single day out. Besides, why should they miss it? In the end I found an almost hidden add online about a wildflower event happening that Saturday at Pacheco State Park, near the San Luis Reservoir. The name seemed familiar to me and a quick search located the park off hwy 152 between Gilroy and Los Banos, in the hills right above the reservoir, only 105 minutes drive away from our home.
Pappa Quail was happy to go. The chikas took a bit more convincing, but on Saturday morning we all got in the car with our cameras and drove south.
Rolling hills of Pacheo State Park |
Cottontail Rabbit |
Heeding the ranger's advice we set out on the same trail where the guided hike was going on. We passed the narrow gate into the green pasture area and almost immediately found that what seemed like a uniform green grass field was actually variegated with lots of short wildflowers of many different kinds.
Butter n' Eggs, Triphysaria eriantha |
Common Buttercup, Ranunculus californicus |
Fiddleneck, Amsinckia sp. |
We floppend the narrow path out of the pasture and up the hill along the creek. I was surprised that the creek wasn't flowing - with all the rains of late I was expecting to see some water there.
Dinosaur Lake Trail |
Padre's Shooting Star, Primula clevelandii var. insularis |
The old world grasses that covered the hills are clear enough evidence for the cattle-grazing use of this land but here and there were were more direct proof of the park's ranching past.
Blue Dicks, Dichelostemma capitatum |
Greene's Saxifrage, Micranthes californica |
Dinosaur Lake Trail |
Miner's Lettuce, Claytonia parviflora |
We stayed for a little with the group but soon the chikas started moving on so we continued at a faster pace. As the trail rose higher up the hillside, the view opened up, revealing San Luis Reservoir below.
San Luis Reservoir |
Meadow Deathcamas, Toxicoscordion venenosum |
Bush Groundsel, Senecio flaccidus var. douglasii |
I don't remember if the naturalist said anything about the Lomatium that was blooming right in the middle of the trail, but I wasn't about to ignore it.
Lace Parsley, Lomatium dasycarpum |
A small group of birders whom I though were part of the interpretive group hike split off and moved ahead as well. Pappa Quail and the elder chika chatted with them a little and also got some lovely photos of the bluebirds that posed on a nearby tree.
They found also a tiny hummingbird observing his territory.
As our trail descended into the canyon we were turning to face the south and our side of the slope suddenly was carpeted with goldfields, those tiny yellow composite that more than anything else give me the sense of the true California gold.
Goldfields, Lasthenia californica |
I did have better success with the smaller, closer flowers, such as the almost unnoticeable tiny Collinsia below.
Few Flowered Collinsia, Collinsia sparsiflora |
The small group of birders stayed behind, but not before sharing with Pappa Quail and the elder chika their excitement over spotting a Cooper's hawk.
They also found a cute little oak titmouse on the nearby now fully foliaged valley oak.We were ascending once again. The trail was a wide dirt road that led us up the creek between two round grass-covered hills dotted with large valley oak trees.
The grass was full of flowers, mainly fiddleneck and blue dicks. We saw some poppies here and there but not many. We started seeing butterflies flying around.
Occasionally the butterflies would land on a flower long enough for a photograph.
As we went higher other wildflowers became more dominant, painting the hills with patches of color, such as the blue lupine.
Lupine, Lupinus sp. |
A patch of Bird's Eye Gilia, Gilia tricolor |
Tomcat Clover, Trifolium willdenovii |
After a snack break we started down that trail. A bit down and around the curve to the east and suddenly the San Luis Reservoir came into view. And what a magnificent view that was!
San Luis Reservoir. A large patch of shootingstar flowers in the foreground. |
I took many photos of that rainbow patch, but the pretties composition photo was actually taken by the elder chika, who passed near me and snapped only a couple of shots.
After I managed to tear my gaze from the flowers and look up and away I noticed that I could see the snow-covered peaks of the Sierra Nevada from the trail.
San Luis Reservoir |
The chikas complained a bit about having to go uphill again. I ignored their complaints and enjoyed the magnificent oak tree at the beginning of the ascent.
Valley Oak, Quercus lobata |
California Buckeye, Aesculus californica |
Meadow Nemophila, Nemophila pedunculata |
As we descended back into the pasture where we had started our hike I noticed the red maids flowers which were closed in the morning hours and were now open in the bright afternoon sun.
Red Maids, Calandrinia menziesii |
Many people were walking along the arrow paths through the pasture, going on or coming back from the wildflower hike. We arrived back at the staging area and while the chikas explores he activities offered at the various booths Pappa Quail and I compared notes with other hikers and the rangers. As we got ready to wrap things up and head out of the park the birders in my family spotted a lark spray near the parking lot. It is very pretty for a sparrow, Pappa Quail told me as he handed me the binoculars. Indeed it is.
Beautiful flowers, vews and pictures :-) The bluebird is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteIsrael too have super-bloom this spring
Yes, I'm sorry I'm missing it over there ... I enjoy much the photos you, Anenet, and Erela post!
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