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Redwoods

A trip through Northern California is not complete without a visit to the Redwoods. We stopped in one of the many Redwood State Parks and also the National Park. Lighting for tree photography was nearly as bad as it could be with high bright sunshine so I didn’t spend much time making images of the massive trees. It was good enough just to stand among them. I also enjoyed the other things growing in the old forests. Of particular interest to me was a large Trillium with reddish flowers. It was new to me. I found this article about it on the California Native Plant Society blog. One visitors’ center had slabs of wood from redwood trees showing their really wide annual growth rings. Here at home on the east slope of Washington’s Cascades, tree rings are close together, nearly impossible to see and showing very slow growth.

Trillium?
Buttercup. Much larger than the ones at home.

Another Day, Another Beach

Maybe it’s because we live in the mountains that we are drawn to beaches. We looked around for dog-friendly beaches on the trip and were pleased to find lots of places for them to run. This one at McKerricher State Park in California had a long open section in between two closed sections – one because the seals and sea lions hauled out on the rocks and at the other end was a nesting area for an endangered plover. We were there at an exceptionally low tide and saw a fellow out harvesting mussels. Yumm!

Anemones exposed by the low tide
Lots of mussels
Lots of tidepools to explore
Mussels and gooseneck barnacles
Gooseneck barnacles
Sea anemone
Golden beach
Black Oystercatcher
Mussels
Luna went right up to the sign before being called back.

Views from the Road

We spent three days in the Big Sur area and wished we had time for more. It was lovely and the weather was over the top nice. Even the views of and from the highway were superb. We saw migrating whales at most every overlook. We stopped at one place each time we went by in hopes of seeing a California Condor and sure enough, as we were headed north, Ken finally found one and we each had brief glimpses of it. The water of the Pacific looks different along the California coast compared to the Washington coast. Maybe because there are so many more rivers emptying into the ocean up here.

Unending vistas
We saw this fellow painting in the parking lot twice and he had paintings in his van that you could look at and possibly purchase.
A reminder to look for whales. There ought to be a condor outline also.
Whales
They look turquoise under the water.

California Blooms

More from the road trip.

We left here with snow on the ground so the profusion of flowering plants in California was very delightful. Many of the wildflowers were similar or the same as some that grow here. Others were quite new to me. And others were recognizable as nursery plants run amuck. But most were beautiful and lush.

Wild mint of some sort
A mint being choked by field bindweed
Field bindweed was very widespread on the cliffs above the beaches
Wild iris
I don’t know this one.
This is something common in CA but I don’t know what it is.
Perennial Martha Washington geranium shrub.
This succulent was pulling its way out of the big geranium
Some sort of berry?
Chocolate lily?
Yellow violet
Three-needled pine that somewhat resembles ponderosa but is different.
hmmmm.
hmmmm.
California poppies
Serviceberry?
I think this is an Arabis, similar to the local one
Eucalyptus blossom
Paintbrush
Columbine
Lupine
This reminds me of a tiny flower that grows from a bulb

This Morning’s Lunar Eclipse

There I was in my bog boots, bathrobe and heavy down coat. The temperature was well below freezing at 4 am today. The dogs decided I was nuts and they went inside and back to bed. I stayed out til almost 5:30 when the mostly eclipsed moon dropped below the ridge above us. Like they said it would, it had turned very red and lovely. We are lucky to have dark night skies here in the Methow Valley so we can enjoy our celestial world.