2023 spring wildflowers

[wildhiker]

Photos posted on this public facebook group show good flowers already at Carrizo Plain. I'm going down next weekend (April 8/9).
https://www.facebook.com/groups/76304183224
-Phil

[maverick]

With warmer weather arriving this week, the week of the 17th and 24th should bring out the peak unless we have a drastic drop in temp after this weekend, which will delay it. I plan to head down on one of the weeks mentioned above, probably Tuesday or Wednesday for a week, to get a camping spot and avoid the zoo, which will start as soon as the media yells "Super bloom."

[SSSdave]

Since Wednesday and Thursday 4/5>6 were showing relative low breezes on wundeground, while this coming week wind, and I was interested in checking out a few obscure locations given much above precipitation across central Coast Ranges, I decided to do a one-day CCW wildflower exploratory loop road trip south down US101, across on SR58, then back north on I5, to Pacheco Pass areas for a fourth day. Thus drove out at Wednesday dawn and could see visiting some back roads and hiking up the Arroyo Seco canyon west of Greenfield is probably a worthwhile idea this spring. Also areas about San Antonio River once it lowers across the HL military land.

Stopped briefly at Shell Creek about 11:30am and it looked just as dry as some online photos recently posted. Plenty of midweek seniors in groups walking about enjoying it. Areas east of Shell Creek are posted NO TRESPASSING so no longer accessible. Plenty of short drought stunted flowers that all came up after the March storms, but nothing like better springs. Lots of goldfields, tidy tips, and patches of baby blue eyes. Apparently missed January storm rains. Red Hills BLM lands had nice swaths of goldfields and popcorn flowers. Further east on SR58 roadsides showed increasing wildflowers though all private lands behind barbed wire.

Northern Carrizo Plain along SR58 that is all private lands behind barbed wire, looked lush like one of best springs. Solar energy farms all over now. Drove past the Soda Lake junction towards the blocked highway at the junction with 7 Mile Road where it climbs into the Temblor. Private cattle lands with dense aesthetic pink filaree and fiddleneck. On the private cattle land just north of the block is where people have been taking those DesertUSA images. Mostly just solid areas of yellow hillside daisies, not particularly interesting versus what the better multi-hue Temblor areas in the BLM NM often look like. I drove south 9 miles along Elkhorn Road and found everything in that section of the Temblor Range south looking rather droughty with just patches of yellow though roadside fiddleneck are thigh high. Just what Sentinel Hub satellite images have been showing. So no, not a spring to capture any images like I did in 2017. Also the canyon myriad people hiked up to is all blocked now with NO TRESPASSING signs. Thanks to the 10% who are pigs that trashed it in 2017. I had talked awhile in 2017 with the nice cattle lands owner and he was not amused.

Turned around back north then drove SW on 7 Mile Road and at the west end about the water channels is where one will find some decent areas of dense goldfields and other usual species amid much saltbush. So precipitation only became heavy north of that which is out of the BLM NM lands. Then drove north on Soda Lake Road and increasing nice areas of open roadside flowers including patches of baby blue yes. But all the better spots close to SR58 are behind barbed wire.

Then drove the old paved Bitterwater Road, my main objective on the loop drive given what I'd seen on Sentinel Hub and obviously the center of heavy storms. Once into the Bitterwater Creek drainage is where landscapes look impressive with solid color areas of treeless badlands hills, though not with as much color variation one sees in the BLM NM. At the pass is an impressive view of distant mountains that looked spectacular. Those are mostly unfenced open cattle range lands without NO TRESPASSING signs. Also some USFS lands if one checks maps. Thus one can legally venture into those areas as long as a land owner doesn't ask one to leave.

I could have spent a couple days there except Pacheco Pass as I related on my other thread has much more interesting subjects. Never took my camera out the whole road trip. Thus escaped via Bitterwater Valley Road, continued north. Much of that section of I5 looks droughty. By 4pm had reached Pacheco Pass where I did a bit of late day work then over nighted. Thursday sunny low 40F's was a rare dead calm early morning. Then a cold breeze move in for a couple hours before waning allowing the best day I've ever experienced there in 2 plus decades.

[maverick]

Thanks for the report, Dave. Thanks to your report and others, I didn’t waste any gas or vacation time driving down next week. This year unfortunately did not turn out to be anything like the 2017 or 2019 wildflower showing at CP, even with all the promising precipitation that we received.

[SSSdave]

You and any other photographers really ought try and visit Pacheco Pass State Park during this next week. Catching the peak of spring wildflowers at given top locations is always a tricky narrow window as species bud, bloom, then go to seed quickly. As I indicated in the other thread, will be working that area a fifth time in the last two weeks on Monday 2 days away. Forecast perfect for wildflower landscapes, sunny into the 70F temps with calm to light breezes. Just as in past years, a state park few are aware of that ironically has IMO easily the best wildflowers in our region. This year right now given once in lifetime exceptional rains, is the best I've seen. Thursday had just a dozen cars at its parking lot leaving relative emptiness over a vast area of over 8 square miles.

[maverick]

The Pacheco Pass area doesn’t do it for me, Dave. I’m very particular on my locations, especially when it comes to wildflowers. Color variety and topography all have to check off my personal preferences, and what my clients expect.

[wildhiker]

I toured and camped at the Carrizo Plain National Monument this past weekend, April 8 and 9. Although the flowers may not be up to Dave's or Maverick's standards for professional photography, if you are just an ordinary person who likes to see wildflowers, go now! Large dense flower fields of mostly yellow (goldfields, hillside daisies, some kind of sunflower, and some tidy tips), blue (phacelia) and pink (filaree) are at their peak and scattered throughout the lowlands of the valley. Drive the full length of the Soda Lake road, from highway 58 in the north to 166 in the south, and take the short side dirt roads that head down toward the valley center to see all these blooms. Soda Lake road is in good condition, paved at both ends and gravel in the middle. You generally only needed to drive a short distance down the side dirt roads, also in good condition, to see the flowers. Also drive 7 Mile Road and Simmler Road at the northern end of the monument. Both cross the entire valley. 7 Mile Road is a well-graded gravel road. Simmler road is dirt, but in good condition except for some bad ruts near the western end by Soda Lake that may be too deep for sedans (we were okay in our Subaru Outback). Simmler also had some of the best flower fields. We also tried to drive Panorama Road, but the ruts were too deep for us in the middle of the valley.

If you drive around the Carrizo Plain, you come to realize that the most amazing flower, though not that showy, is the fiddleneck. Literally thousands of acres of the slopes from the valley center up to the lower hills on both sides are crammed with billions of these flowers. The plants are generally a couple feet tall with many flower stems, but the yellow flowers themselves are small. From a distance, these fields of fiddlenecks look a sort of dim rusty orange. But close up, the density of flowers is impressive.

All these flower fields on the valley floor and lower slopes are at their peak and will start to fade as the weather heats up. The higher slopes of the Temblor Range are showing some yellow areas (likely hillside daisies), but we did not go up to investigate. The Temblor Range is not as colorful as I remember from the 2017 and 2019 superbloom years. It may be that this area has not peaked yet, or it may simply not be as good a flower year there.

Here are some photos to illustrate what you can see now.
-Phil

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[austex]

Holy Moses! I'll take that over W Texas now a'days. Nice color! Peak/non peak. Enjoy the moment

[maverick]

Aren’t the bluebonnets supposed to be spectacular near Austin this time of the year?

[austex]

I can attest first hand that the Bluebonnets and or Lupines are blooming along the byways of Centex. No pictures, sorry.