God’s Cheetos

Megalion — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 06:06:40 +0000

Wow, I can’t believe I’ve never gone to see the Poppy fields before. Especially since I often drive through the high desert just a mere 15 miles away from it. But all the wild california poppies and other various wildflowers do not bloom within view of the 14.
Nicole woke me up at unholy hour of 7:30am, right on schedule. We got there about 20 minutes after the preserve opened which was what we planned since she noted on the websites that it often gets crowded and parking fills up.
We hiked out to the highest peak which was just 2 miles of “moderate slopes” which didn’t feel so moderate at first but after the first mile, my legs were warmed up enough that I didn’t really notice anymore.
It was very windy which meant the poppies were still furled up or only half open. But even in that state, the views were magnificent and breathtaking. By the time we were walking back from the peak, it’d warmed up enough that even with the wind, the poppies had opened up and it was even more beautiful!
There was one space where the poppies and goldenrod had blended in a field and looked like a sunrise. In another place, the poppies were splotches on the yellow fields of goldenrod and looked like God had been eating Cheetos and had touched the ground with zie orange stained fingers.
After we left there, we drove 7 miles to another preserve that had been donated as a Joshua Tree preserve. My camera battery died near the end of the Poppy Reserve hike so I have no pictures of this but hopefully Nicole will get hers uploaded soon *hint nudge nudge*.
It was much smaller and completely flat which was nice change from the Poppy Preserve. The other thing that was nice was that we were the ONLY people there. We almost didn’t even find it because the entrance was not well marked. So we got to walk leisurely in peace and quiet (well you could hear the dirt bikes roaring around in the fields next to the poppy preserve) with the park to ourselves.
I’d seen Joshua Trees before didn’t ever recall seeing them in bloom before. It has kind of an odd beauty… odd because the Joshua Tree is already a very odd looking tree. There was even an elderberry bush!
However the most memorable thing for me was coyote scat right in the middle of the trail. Since we’d been reading the DIY tour guide with the markers, we’d just read that the coyotes ate the berries from some of the plants even though they couldn’t digest them. And sure enough it looked like a broken up energy granola & berry bar because it was mostly berries that were untouched.
Doing this 101 in 1001 list is proving to be very effective in getting myself to actually do the things that I want to do. It’s easy to think “oh I want to go on a wildflower hike” after seeing someone’s pictures but then put it off and then forget about it altogether. I definitely would have been one of those people but this time around, I was not!

Click the pictures to see the full album of pictures from the hike.

People started showing up when we finished the trail through the 2nd park. There was a single picnic bench so we went and got our lunches and picnicked among the Joshua Trees. The sun felt good.

It was still early afternoon so we decided to go on up to Tehachapi and check out the monastery that I knew was tucked into the mountains above it. But it ended up being closed or at least we figured it out after going in the unlocked doors and finding no one around. They must have all been offsite because no one came out from any of the other buildings either.

We ate at Kelcy’s with K and ended up laughing ourselves silly with very inappropriate conversations. For dessert, K & I got the Tehachiberry pie which was an invention of the cook’s. It was a basic pie with both blackberry & raspberry filling. I got it a la mode because I’m really an ice cream person. I enjoy a pie slice here and there but not really into them in general. However, this pie was SO good that I couldn’t stop exclaiming and moaning over it. Nicole was so surprised that she asked if they were going to have to wipe down the booth after I was done! But it was really that good. I ate all of the pie and left half the ice cream melting on the plate. I didn’t even want to mix them.

Then we went post card hunting but pickings were slim among the stores that were still open which was surprising. Oh well.

All in all that was a really good Sunday! It was very relaxing and felt good to be out in the sun. Though next time, I will try to remember chapstick because today I’m feeling a little wind burn on them still.

Gorgeous Temptation

Megalion — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 07:28:10 +0000

Mary had a pretty day! California poppies look so beautiful!

I’m reminded again that wildflower season is NOW. And #86 (Go on 3 wildflower hikes) is calling my name.

I need to start keeping a calendar. I wish I had my iPhone already because then I could keep it on that. Google Calendar will have to do for now.

I say that because I hesitate to plan trying to go for a hike because I might have stuff planned that I’ve forgotten off the top of my head. *sigh*

Leonine Ponderances » california poppies

God’s Cheetos

Gorgeous Temptation