Natural History Wanderings

     The desert gold bloom south of Badwater looks fantastic still; mixed with sand verbena around  Ashford Mill is wonderful. There’s plenty of meadows of flowers now on 190 through the middle of the park: lines of cars on the side of the road there.

     There are  Phacelia, gilia and possibly purple mat on scattered on  the edge of  Ubehebe Crater near the parking lot. To ones right there is a slope that may be covered with gold flowers. My ankle was sprained so i just have my glimpse from afar. I mention all this to point that going north and getting into the washes (which i did do, slowly, with tripod as a cane) is incredibly rewarding. 

     Roadside mixtures of phacelia with the desert gold (or another similar asterace), with white gravel ghost or pincushion are a delight.

     We had sprinkles on the windshield on Saturday so it’s possible the moisture in the air refreshed. On the other hand, strong winds on Sunday.

     Other things to note: Joshua trees are blooming on 395, with carpets of some yellow flower and quite a mix of other small wildflowers.

     Around  Kern  wildlife refuge there are carpets and carpets of low gold flowers (goldfields?) The western approach to Tehechapi is carpeted with fiddlenecks and distant mountain sides with poppies. Incredible.