Natural History Wanderings

I have spent the last few days in the Eastern Sierra and at White Mt. Wildflower blooms are good at high elevations. Here is a quick report.

On White Mt. the flowers only really start above 10,000 feet. they are found along the unpaved road above Shulman Grove that goes to the Patriarch Grove and Barcroft Gate. Lots of small “belly flowers”. There are thousands of the tiny paintbrush in bloom if you look carefully.

In the Eastern Sierra wildflowers are plentiful. Most are at about 8500 feet and up. I found most of the usual flowers in bloom on Rock Creek Road and Bishop Creek road. Of special note was the abundance of Lupine this year on Rock Creek Road and the little trail that goes off to the left at the beginning of the South Lake Trail that has many species in bloom and is a lush wildflower garden.