The Hills Are Alive in the Sonoran Desert

During these times of sheltering in place, when the weather turns nice we are bound to get the urge to take part in an outdoor activity. Luckily, in Maricopa County (Phoenix and surrounds) the weather has been perfect.

Wildflowers generally bloom this time of year and because of the rather abundant winter rains, we were hoping they would be putting on quite a show. We wanted to share the hiking activity with my brother-in-law and his friend and naturally we needed to observe appropriate social distancing.

We decided to visit an area we thought would not be too crowded even though it is beautiful. The plan was that each couple would drive separately and meet up at Lake Pleasant near Wickenburg, AZ.

Once at the parking area, we used the amenities, reviewed the maps and headed out on the Cottonwood Trail.

This is a view of the lake from the parking area.



The Cottonwood Trail was in a direction opposite that of the lake and thus there we only encountered a few other hikers.

Almost immediately, we found a beautiful hedgehog cactus (chinocereus Engelmannii). The colors seem almost too intense to be real like those in an overpriced tropical drink!



Pink and purple were the dominant colors of the day. The hills were covered with owl’s clover (Castilleja exserta ssp. exserta).



They found footing in and around rocks and in what appeared to be inhospitable spaces.



Some patches were so dense that the entire hillside was pink!



The combination of the flowers, green bushes and towering saguaro cacti (Carnegiea gigantea) highlighted the natural beauty of the desert.



There were also ample displays of orange globe mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua).



Anecdote: We had a Maricopa County Park pass which allows for an entire car to enter the parks (including Lake Pleasant) on the one pass. Since we drove separately and although we totalled only four in our “group,” we inquired as to whether under the circumstances, we would be allowed to enter under the one pass. The attendant thought for a moment and said: “How about a Coronavirus discount?”… and waived us along.

Everyone is doing the best they can!

 
Read more hiking and exploring stories on JBRish HERE


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Year of Yosemite (YOY) – Day 106 (Owl’s Clover – Hetch Hetchy)

Owl's Clover at Hetch Hetchy 

Owl’s Clover (Castilleja exserta) at the Hetch Hetchy section of Yosemite National Park

It was very interesting for me to see this variety of Owl’s Clover at Hetch Hetchy because we have a variant of this plant in our Sonoran Desert. It looks slightly different, but the relationship is unmistakable.

The plant is not really a clover although it does look a bit like one. An interesting fact about this plant is that it uses host plants to derive some of its sustenance. It may not be parasitic, but it does have a symbiotic relationship of some form.

The purple against the brown grasses made for a pretty setting on this overcast day.

Learn more about Owl’s Clover at the California Native Plant Society

 
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.

 

JBRish.com originally published this post
*All photographs Copyright by Jeffrey B. Ross with all rights reserved.

 
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.

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Meta Data – Day 105 YOY – Year of Yosemite

File Name: 0427.CR2
Capture time: 12:03:30 PM
Capture date: June 11, 2016
Exposure: 1/200 sec @ f/6.3
Focal Length: 53mm
ISO 100
Canon SX50 HS