Natural History Wanderings

Pacheco is stunning right now, I just hiked there today. The hills are covered in an array of flowers – shooting stars, poppies, popcorn flower, wild hyacinth, fiddlenecks, violets, buttercups… The grass is lush, and there are some of the densest stands of miner’s lettuce (also blooming) under oaks that I’ve ever seen. The gnarly, lichen-covered deciduous oaks are in various stages of emergence, some just starting to bud, others with brilliant new growth, while many of the live oaks are sporting lovely new red growth and catkins, still in bud. Gorgeous and utterly satisfying.

I highly recommend Pig Pond and Spike’s Peak trails, there are tons of flowers, oaks, views and windmills off in the distance. And strongly advise against going on Whiskey Flat trail, it’s a mess from cattle, mud, and boggy places that are a pain to cross, and is just not a well-done trail at all. The only plus to that trail was a fantastic field of prime shooting star, maybe 1/3 of the way up the trail (if you can call it that) from where it leaves Pig Pond and the main road.