Natural History Wanderings

Updated 5/17/12

Excerpt from Calphoto wildflower updates for trails at  Mt. Diablo

two short hikes on the top of Mt. Diablo today, both very worth your while
for wildflowers. One is a .7 mile loop called Mary Bowerman (it shows up as Fire
Interpretive Trail on all maps.) Most noteworthy on this loop are the bitter
root plants near Diablo Perch.
The other walk we took was the Summit Trail north to almost the saddle between
the two peaks of Diablo. Here there are large amounts of bush lupine.
Both trails have a great degree of variety, and of course, gorgeous views too.

Mitchell Canyon trail had a very good showing of flowers, more than
I expected.  Good variety and quantity, especially along the Globe Lily trail
and further up the canyon where it starts to come out of the nice, shady
trees. Ithuriel’s spear was most copious, and others in full bloom
included indian paintbrush, Mariposa lilies, morning glories, yerba santa,
black sage, monkeyflower, wind poppies, wine cup clarkia, oregon sunshine,
some Mount Diablo sunflowers (these might be better this weekend) and yes,
the Mount Diablo globe lilies, especially on the section of the Mitchell
Canyon trail that’s parallel to the Globe Lily trail

Read all Calphoto wildflower updates at: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/calphoto/

Related articles

• Mt. Diablo Wildflowers, North Peak Trail (naturalhistorywanderings.com)
• Mt. Diablo Wildflower Bloom Report (naturalhistorywanderings.com)