Forests and Meadows of the Southern Sierra: An Afternoon Hike Around Quaker Meadow

 

Date: July 4, 2024 

Place: Quaking Aspen Campground, Springville, California

Coordinates: 36.121227, -118.544999

Length: 2.9 miles

Level: easy 

This year, the 4th of July occurred on a Thursday. I asked Pappa Quail if he could take a day off on Friday the 5th, and when he said he could, I started planning a four-days getaway trip for him and me. The destination I chose - the southern part of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, around the Sherman Pass area, has been on my mind for many years, ever since we crossed the mountains on this road years ago, when the chikas were very young.

As the time of our planned trip approached we realized that our trip was coinciding with the worst heat wave of the summer so far (turned out the worst for the entire summer). We didn't have many alternatives though, and it looked like up in the mountains it was going to be more tolerable, so we decided to stick with the original plan.

We left home in the morning of the 4th of July and were making a good time driving down hwy99. We had a long day ahead still, and it was too early to check into our reserved lodge in California Hot Springs so we drove up CA-190 to Quaking Aspen Campground to hike one of the forest trails in that area. 

There was no day use parking inside the campground so we parked off the road outside the campground and walked down to where the trailhead of our choice was. 

Our hike as captured by my GPS

 

I started seeing wildflowers even before getting to the trailhead, right by the campground road. Little mats of the Sierra Lotus dotted the flad ground beneath the pine trees there.

Sierra Lotus, Acmispon decumbens

The forest that shaded the campground was made of mostly pine trees with some cedars and firs in between. The forest extended all around the campground and the trail led us right into the forest.

Right from the beginning Pappa Quail was hearing and seeing birds. Most of the birds we heard were not making themselves easily visible, but some of the bolder ones did.

Hermit Thrush

Next to the campground was a small creek that was flanked on both sides by a lovely, narrow meadow. The trail was in the woods but very close to the meadow so we had a nice view down to the creek and the vegetation that grew near it. 

I didn't think to go down to the meadow at first but then Pappa Quail pointed out a bog orchid that was blooming there right by the little creek. He offered to take a closeup photo with his birding lens but I didn't stay on the trail long enough to hear the end of his sentence - I was already going down there to take a closer look.

White Bog Orchid, Platanthera dilatata

There were plenty more bog orchids blooming near the water. There were also plenty of other wildflowers blooming there as well.

West Coast Goldenrod, Solidago elongata

Many of these flowers I would have probably enjoyed from the trail and not coming down to the meadow to check them up close, but since I did go down to look at the orchids, I lingered a bit more to appreciate the other wildflowers there.

Woodbeauty, Drymocallis lactea

Some of these flowers were well hidden in the tall grasses. A bit surprising when it came to a plant that usually towers high above their ambient greenery, such as the larkspur.

Meadow Larkspur, Delphinium gracilentum

I mover to and fro along the creek and eventually Pappa Quail joined me down in the meadow for a little while. He was pointing out to me more and more flower he saw. 

American Bistort, Bistorta bistoroides

Eventually it was time to continue the hike though. Slowly we lugged ourselves back to the trail and the forest, and on the way I got to see a few more wildflowers. I was liking this hike already. 

Musk Monkeyflower, Erythranthe moschata

It was a hot day for sure. The sun was near zenith and the tree shade was the smallest, but we were thankful for it regardless. 

We made good progress under the forest shade, but we were also crossing areas where the trees were more sparse and with many dead. There was more undergrowth in these patches, with more wildflowers.

Busy over the wildflowers were many butterflies, most of them little blue butterflies. We slowed down in these parts of the trail, affected by the heat and attracted to the butterflies we saw. 

Boisduval's Blue Butterfly

I was surprised to see some hounds tongue blooming near the trail. Hounds tongue is one of the early blooming wildflowers and it was quite late in the season, even at 7,000 ft elevation. 

Hound's Tongue, Cynoglossum officinale

Even the wallflowers  which normally bloom in mid spring were nearing the end of their bloom season, having the last few fowers on a stalk already loaded with growing seed pods. 

Western Wallflower, Erysimum capitatum

A few elderberry bushes bloomed along the trail as well. Elderberry was a very useful plant for the local native Californians. From the berries to the branch shafts, they used every part of this plant.

Elderberry, Sambucus mexicana

The foot path we were hiking on connected to a forest dirt road. A couple of dirt roads converged at that point and the junction itself was blocked by a large, yellow bulldozer. We passed the bulldozer and decided on the road we wanted to continue on - the one leading to what was labeled on the map as Quaker Meadow. 

Trail

Ahead of us was a small peak which was completely red with bloom. I was sure it was the flowers were scarlet gilia. As it turned out, that wasn't the case. We were headed in that direction and I hoped to see this red peak up close. 

Crimson Hill

Meanwhile I paid my attention to closer wildflowers that were blooming right by the trail, and there were plenty of them. 

Bluewitch Nightshade, Solanum umbelliferum

Pappa Quail also kept watching for birds, catching even the smallest of movements in the trees. A tiny hummingbird on a distant branch doesn't make a big movement, but Pappa Quail knew what he was looking for and found it. 

Anna's Hummingbird

A small clearing that seemed like it could develop into a real meadow someday appeared below the trail. For a moment I contemplated going down there, but the way was littered with fallen burnt logs and I felt too hot to try and negotiate what looked like treachery terrain. 

The trail went up an around a mild slope and beyond the crest a side trail appeared that led right to the red blooming peak. Needless to say I wanted to go there and check it out. Pappa Quail followed me and started scanning the tree tops with his binoculars while I looked at the wildflowers. 

Pale Mountain Monardella, Monardella odoratissima

The first thing I noticed when we approached the little hill were the blue penstemons. These gorgeous wildflowers are among my favorite sightings on my Sierra Nevada hikes. 

Mountain Blue Penstemon, Penstemon laetus var. laetus

The red flowers I saw from a distance and thought were scarlet gilia turned out to be another species of penstemon. 

Bridges' Penstemon, Penstemon rostriflorus

The little hill, which turned out to be a pile of rocks resembling construction waste (and possibly it was) was covered with thick, luxurious clumps of the Bridge's Penstemon. It was so spectacular that I looked at it for the longest time. One of the photos of this red extravagance heads this blogpost. 

Bridges' Penstemon, Penstemon rostriflorus

There were other things to look at too. From that little hill we were on we had a nice view of some of the rock outcrops of the ridge to our southeast. 

The part of the forest we were in had suffered serious damage in a fire that ravaged through the area about three years ago. Pappa Quail went down between the charred trees, following a movement he saw in the burnt canopies. I looked below at the green, regenerating forest floor. 

Three years after the fire the highest living plants of this forest were elderberry bushes. The elderberry can certainly grow to a good size tree. The only question is how fast would it take for the conifers to regenerate in that spot, because once that happens, the elderberries, along with the other shrubs and bushes there, will die back. 

Elderberry, Sambucus mexicana

The ridge across the valley from us showed a much greater fire damage and much less recovery. I don't know if that is because the slope was steeper and retained less moisture or because the fire was more intense in that spot and left less in theground that could bounce back. 

We started slowly back toward the trail. Once again I passed through the patch of the blue penstemons, now paying more attention to the numerous insects that enjoyed the feast that these flowers offered them (in exchange to reproductive services, of course). 

A bee visiting Mountain Blue Penstemon, Penstemon laetus var. laetus

There are many species of wild bees in California, all of them solitary. Not all of them even look like bees. The penstemon too had its variants. It was interesting to see a white variant of the blue penstemon growing with its blue population members. I've seen similar variation in the slender penstemon population at the summit of Prospect Peak in Lassen Volcanic National Park last year. 

A bee visiting a white variant of Mountain Blue Penstemon, Penstemon laetus var. laetus

The white penstemon variant could be considered albinism - a simple lack of pigments. Near the penstemons I saw blooming a species of monkeyflower with a color variation that was not albinism, but a color variant of different pigment composition. 

Harlequin Monkeyflower, Diplacus bicolor

Back on the main dirt road we resumed our hike to the Quaker Meadow area. It looked that near the road here, efforts were made to clear away the burnt logs. 

Spreading dogbane was one of the bushes that bounced back after the fire, taking advantage of the abundance of unobstructed sunlight. 

Spreading Dogbane, Apocynum androsaemifolium 

The blooming dogbane was a powerful magnet to butterflies. Many of them hovered around the patch of dogbane and Pappa Quail and I stood there, looking at them for a while. 

Pale Swallowtail on Spreading Dogbane, Apocynum androsaemifolium 

Pappa Quail even got some really nice photos of some of these butterflies and moths. The scorching mid summer heat didn't bother the insects. If anything, they seemed more active because of that.\

Shadowy Arches moth on Spreading Dogbane, Apocynum androsaemifolium 

We arrived at the trail junction near Quaker Meadow and looked down.  It was hard to tell what we would find there. It was hard to see the meadow between the trees. The dirt road split into tow where we stood - it was, in fact, a single road that looped around the meadow somewhere below out of our sight. Without as much as an ini-mini-miny-moe we started going down the right trail, going counter-clockwise. The trees looked better there - the fire had spared them. Farther along we saw a private campground on the other side of the meadow, and it's possible that there was a special effort to save the establishment and the area around it. 

Quaker Meadow Road

More wildflowers were growing along this part of the trail, including species that we haven't yet encountered on this hike. 

Richardson's Geranium, Geranium richardsonii

The lupine shrubs followed us all along the trail. They were in varying stages of bloom - some of them were just beginning their season, and some nearly at its end. Some lupine species have a pretty long bloom season as a population, taking every chance to reproduce. 

Lupine, Lupinus sp. 

The gooseberry bushes however, were all done blooming and gone to fruit. The fruit were not ripe yet but they did look pretty, hanging off the branches like holiday decorations. 

Sierra Gooseberry, Ribes roezlii

Once again Pappa Quail detected a movement in the trees and took his time to locate and photograph the bird that was active there. 

Black-headed Grosbeak

I took that time looking and more wildflowers. We also too a few minutes, sitting on a fallen log to rest and to drink more water. It was very hot still, and both of us were sweating, even though the trail was easy and our walk very slow. 

Common Yarrow, Achillea millefolium

We also had a much better view of Quaker Meadow down the trail. From up close it looked like an older meadow, which was graduating the prairie look and and growing taller thickets of shrubs and bushes. If given to nature without interfering, trees would eventually grow there and the forest will take over the space, erasing the meadow. 

Quaker Meadow

The dominant wildflower blooming in the meadow was the California cornlily. The cornlilies were at the peak of their bloom and looked like lovely white candles shining over the entire meadow. 

Lilies and cornlilies in Quaker Meadow

We continued walking down the dirt road. A few wooden cabins became visible through the trees on he far end of Quaker Meadow and it was obvious that the dirt road was leading us there. I hoped that we wouldn't find a gate and a no entry sign there and that we could walk through or around whatever establishment was there. There was no other way to find out but walk ahead. 

Bigelow's Sneezeweed, Helenium bigelovii

Then, all of a sudden, we saw a little nook of flower heaven on the side of the road. From a distance it didn't look like much - a tiny creek flowing into the meadow from the forest with the water barely visible because of the thick vegetation that grew at its banks. 

The vegetation there however, was blooming so nicely that both Pappa Quail and me were immediately compelled to step off the trail and approach the little creek and the wildflowers display there. 

The lilies were probably the most eye-catching flowers blooming there were the lilies The lilies attracted more than human attention - butterflies were going crazy over these magnificent flowers. 

Pale Swallowtail butterfly on Kelley's Lily, Lilium kelleyanum

The red, lamp-shaped flowers of the crimson columbine also adorned the creek side. Crimson columbine is pretty common throughout California, adding its beauty to many wild areas around the state. I'm always happy to see them on my hikes. 

Crimson Columibine, Aquilegia formosa

Getting down to the creek was a bit challenging - the bank was a bit steeper than expected and it was slippery. Some of the nicest flowers were blooming on the other side as well, and I didn't feel like hopping in the mud to get across. Pappa Quail used his strong birding lens to get some nice close up photos for me. 

Checkerbloom, Sidalcea sp. 

In some cases I settled for a broader view from farther away. In the case of the monkshood, it was simply easier than bushwhacking to get close, especially since I didn't want to damage any of that beautiful wildflower garden. 

Monkshood, Aconitum columbianum

Hedgenettle, Stachys sp. 

When we came back to the trail I looked at the place where the creek continued on the other side, spilling into the meadow. There were seep monkeyflowers blooming there.

Seep Monkeyflower, Erythranthe gutatta

A couple of cars came down the road behind us, passing us on a really slow speed. We caught up to the cars as they lined up behind other cars along the road, waiting for a young man in a vest to direct them towards the cabins area. Now we could see that the establishment was a fully developed campground and it was full of people. There was no gate and a no trespassing sign but there was also no visible way around the campground. It was going through or turning back.  We approached the guy wit the vest and said we were hikers, and asked for permission to walk through the campground. The place, the guy told us, was the Sequoia Meadow Christian Camp. He had no issue with us walking through the establishment and pointed out to where the road went around the buildings. We thanked the man and moved along the road in the direction he pointed out. 

Quaker Meadow

I didn't include any photo of the Sequoia Meadow Christian Campground and it was mainly cabins and there were many people walking between the cabins. Somehow we've missed the main road and, as we tried to cross the campground behind one of the buildings we found ourselves on the shore of a small, human-made pond. The pond had a vertical hose sticking out of its farther end, splashing water about like a fountain, and a few empty kayaks moored on the near ent where we were. 

Pond at Sequoia Meadow Christian Camp

On the ground near the kayaks was a sole fox sparrow that hopped around and called pretty loudly. It seemed unconcerned by our proximity. 

Fox Sparrow

We edged along the pond to the other side where we finally reconnected with the road that looped around the meadow and the campground, and resumed our hike. On the road curve back to the north we noticed a sign, Garden of Prayer. I thought it would have been nice to sit there and meditate for a while. We were however, hot and sweaty, and by now also hungry. Besides, we were not guests of this camp, so we moved on. 

From the east side the Quaker Meadow looked more much less a meadow, full with thick riparian growth, mainly of arroyo willows which marked where the main creek was. 

Some lovely cornilies were blooming below the arroyo willows and I took a moment to look at them more closely. 

California Cornlily, Veratrum californicum

Pappa Quail also found something to look at - a chipping sparrow that landed in the grasses and was looking at us with interest. 

Chipping Sparrow

We completed the Quaker Meadow loop and took the dirt road back to where the junction with the bulldozer was. We didn't stop on the way back except for a few hydration pauses. 

Well, I did pause a few times to take more photos of wildflowers, some of which I already had a few images of from the hike in. We didn't go again to that little red hill with the penstemons, though. 

Northwest Cinquefoil, Potentilla gracilis 

At the junction we turned back onto the footpath leading to the Quaking Aspen Campground. We hiked that trail too without any stops - we have seen pretty much what there was to see along the trail, and the heat drove us to continued on to the end of the hike. 

Dark-eyed juncoes are a very common forest bird in California, and indeed, there were many of them around the forest we were hiking through. The se birds however, are hyperactive and rarely sit still. Moreover, when they do pause, they seem to always prefer to do so in the shade. In short, they are not an easy bird to photograph. Pappa Quail did get a photo of one though, a juvenile who probably didn't finish reading the junco handbook. 

Dark-eyed Junco, juvenile

When we were within eyeshot of the Quaking Aspen Campground we noticed a thin trail cutting through the meadow that we checked out at the beginning of our hike. We took that shortcut without stopping and emerged behind the side loop of the campground. Pappa Quail made it directly to the nearby campground facilities and I took a moment to check out a beautiful emerald bee that took its dessert from the last blooming flowers on a phacelia inflorescence. 

A green bee visiting Rock Phacelia, Phacelia egena

We made it back to the car and sat there with the air conditioner on for a few minutes, eating a light meal before heading up the road that turned south along the ridge of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This lovely hike to and around Quaker Meadow was a lovely start of a very interesting vacation.