Death Valley Wildflower Report – DesertUSA reports
The 2016 wildflower bloom is the largest in Death Valley National Park since the Big Bloom of 2005, although you would not be able to tell that from the limited precipitation measured at the Furnace Creek weather station. Only 1.88 inches of rain has fallen in Furnace Creek for this growing season, nowhere near enough to produce a large bloom. The square miles of Desert Gold Sunflowers surrounding Ashford Mill, some 35 miles south of Furnace Creek, must have received much, much more than that, perhaps as much as 5 to 6 inches. Most of this precipitation fell in October of 2015, when the park was hit by three large storms, which damaged Scotty’s Castle in the north and ripped out the Jubilee Pass Road in the south. This large amount of rain was followed by two to four weeks of very warm temperatures, which not only caused the wildflower seeds to germinate, but the plants themselves to grow and bloom three months early in December. Christmas surrounded by desert wildflowers is a very unusual occurrence!
The bloom continues, but visiting the Ashford Mill area on Friday, February 19th, the effects of recent hot days with drying winds was evident in that many of the plants on the southern exposures have started to wilt. Still, many wildflowers will survive for the next month as the bloom moves upslope to cooler elevations.
Certain areas of this bloom, such as the extremely dense covering of Desert Gold Sunflowers on the Copper Canyon alluvial fan, and the amazing display of thousands of Desert Five Spots on the upper Warm Springs Fan exceed what was seen in 2005 or 1998. But the total area of the park that is blooming remains considerably less than either the 2005 or 1998 blooms. So when you read news articles headlining “bloom of a lifetime” or “a one hundred year bloom” you are reading basically hype.
Still, the Death Valley bloom is certainly worth visiting, and here are some tips to make your trip safer and easier. Plan to spend at least one full day viewing the wildflowers south of Badwater Basin, but make sure you have a place to stay either in a motel at Furnace Creek or a local campground. That said, all the motels and campgrounds are jammed packed, and you may have to find accommodations in nearby communities such as Shoshone, Tecopa or even Pahrump. Do not show up after noon and expect to find any open campsites or motel rooms! Gas up outside the park and bring water and lunch. Lots of water!
The park roads have heavy traffic (think Yellowstone but without the bison or bears) so make sure to pull completely off the pavement before getting out and taking pictures. Also, the bloom of Desert Sun flowers and other plants along the road both east and north of Furnace Creek is worth examining, and does not require driving as far for the southern park bloom.
Read more: http://www.desertusa.com/wildflo/ca_dv.html#ixzz40qpTdRJyThe 2016 wildflower bloom is the largest in Death Valley National Park since the Big Bloom of 2005, although you would not be able to tell that from the limited precipitation measured at the Furnace Creek weather station. Only 1.88 inches of rain has fallen in Furnace Creek for this growing season, nowhere near enough to produce a large bloom. The square miles of Desert Gold Sunflowers surrounding Ashford Mill, some 35 miles south of Furnace Creek, must have received much, much more than that, perhaps as much as 5 to 6 inches. Most of this precipitation fell in October of 2015, when the park was hit by three large storms, which damaged Scotty’s Castle in the north and ripped out the Jubilee Pass Road in the south. This large amount of rain was followed by two to four weeks of very warm temperatures, which not only caused the wildflower seeds to germinate, but the plants themselves to grow and bloom three months early in December. Christmas surrounded by desert wildflowers is a very unusual occurrence!
The bloom continues, but visiting the Ashford Mill area on Friday, February 19th, the effects of recent hot days with drying winds was evident in that many of the plants on the southern exposures have started to wilt. Still, many wildflowers will survive for the next month as the bloom moves upslope to cooler elevations.
Certain areas of this bloom, such as the extremely dense covering of Desert Gold Sunflowers on the Copper Canyon alluvial fan, and the amazing display of thousands of Desert Five Spots on the upper Warm Springs Fan exceed what was seen in 2005 or 1998. But the total area of the park that is blooming remains considerably less than either the 2005 or 1998 blooms. So when you read news articles headlining “bloom of a lifetime” or “a one hundred year bloom” you are reading basically hype.
Still, the Death Valley bloom is certainly worth visiting, and here are some tips to make your trip safer and easier. Plan to spend at least one full day viewing the wildflowers south of Badwater Basin, but make sure you have a place to stay either in a motel at Furnace Creek or a local campground. That said, all the motels and campgrounds are jammed packed, and you may have to find accommodations in nearby communities such as Shoshone, Tecopa or even Pahrump. Do not show up after noon and expect to find any open campsites or motel rooms! Gas up outside the park and bring water and lunch. Lots of water!
The park roads have heavy traffic (think Yellowstone but without the bison or bears) so make sure to pull completely off the pavement before getting out and taking pictures. Also, the bloom of Desert Sun flowers and other plants along the road both east and north of Furnace Creek is worth examining, and does not require driving as far for the southern park bloom.
Read more: http://www.desertusa.com/wildflo/ca_dv.html#ixzz40qpTdRJy
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