Eclipse and blooms in the Sierras

So I went up to the Sierras with some friends to see the annular eclipse this last weekend, and was also pleasantly surprised to see a lot of spring flowers.  First some pics of the eclipse and the weird suncircles that would filter through the leaves of the trees.

And now onto flowers.  The dogwoods were in bloom.  This one was next to our campsite.

 

I've never seen so many fairy lanterns (Calochortus albus) before.  They were scattered all along this trail.

 

More after the jump.

Angel Island

So the bizarre weather continues.  It being Super Bowl Sunday today, I decided to take advantage and go to Angel Island out on the bay.  We caught the ferry from Tiburon.

Had some great views of the Golden Gate Bridge on the ride over, and from the island itself.

Hiked up the North Ridge trail to the top of Mt. Livermore, the highest spot on the island.  Saw a lot of California hazelnut (Corylus cornuta) with long dripping catkins along the way.

And fields and fields of Star Lily, or Death Camas (Zigadenus fremontii)  Most haven't bloomed yet, but quite a few have.

Although there were some signs of the fire in 2008, which apparently burnt about half the island, the island seemed really green to me.  The north side of the island is still heavily forested and there were quite a few big oaks and other trees in other parts of the island.

We saw one deer, several hawks and vultures, and not too many people.  A really spectacular day.  In the 60s, sunny, almost no wind and great views.  All at the beginning of February.

Volunteer sunflower in January

So in case you haven't stuck your head outside, or don't live in the western region of North America, the weather has been unseasonably warm and dry.  So warm and dry in fact that my neighbors yard has a volunteer sunflower!  Not the mightiest of sunflowers, only about 2 1/2 feet tall, and already looking worse than in this photo from a couple days ago, but still, very strange.  The weather is finally supposed to start to cool, and rain is forecast for the middle of next week, so I'm off to the local pool to enjoy it while I can.

Happy Solstice, Christmas, Holidays and New Year

I went to  a solstice celebration in Muir Woods 2 days ago.  They opened most of the main grove for free from 3-8pm.  Music, carolers, children running around with flashlights. It was good fun.  And they lined the path with luminaria, something I know more from my time in Arizona.  A great way to guide people through the trees without the need of flashlight.  But as you can see, it's really dark under redwoods at night.

I've had a very busy 2011 and have not been blogging, but will be back in 2012.  A very merry season to you all.  And from here on out the days just get longer. 

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - April 2011

The tax day addition.  Fortunately for my procrastinating self, taxes aren't due till Monday, and my first appt was a no-show, so I have time to blog a bit.

On my little patio/potted garden I have a couple things blooming, the first four Ca natives.  The biggest surprise were my western bleeding hearts (Dicentra formosa).  They die back completely in the dry season, and I mean completely.  I was a little afraid they wouldn't come back, but a couple of weeks ago they started leafing out and today, blooming beautifully.

My redwood sorrel (Oxalis oregana) has been green continuously, but just started flowering for the first time in almost a year.  I like the second pic.  I looks like the one flower is incredibly shy.

The columbine (Aquilegia formosa) has also just started to flower.  It's also covered in these monstrous giant bugs.  Well they look that way with my macro lens.  Way to go macro lens.  Boo to the bugs.  They were actually pretty small, and have now met their doom.

The last of the Ribes sanguineum glutinosum.  It was actual beautiful last bloom day, but I wasn't around to blog about it.

And this volunteer oxalis in one of my pots.

Happy bloom day, and thanks as always to Carol at May Dreams Garden for hosting bloom day.

Hiking in Redwood Regional Park - 1 New, 1 Old

So my blog is now 2 years old, as of a couple days ago.  I'm mildly proud of that, even though I haven't been blogging as much as I would like to.  Completely unrelated, this year I've been trying to see parts of the Bay Area that I haven't seen before.  This can be exploring a new park, new hot springs, a new restaurant, or something as simple as hiking unfamiliar trails in a familiar park. This post is a conglomeration of photos from  hikes I did about in Redwood Park about 3 weeks ago.  The first, hiking out of the serpentine prairie (new) and the second leaving from Skyline Gate(old).

For the first hike I went up to the Serpentine Prairie (see my previous post about this area here) and then went out the Dunn trail and back on the Golden Spike trail for a short loop.

The first blue dicks were out, as were some tiny insects.  Are they flies, tiny bees?

A field of common star lilies (Zigadenus fremontii).

 And does anyone know what this is?  It looks like red asparagus.  It was growing in some shade under oaks I believe.

 Find the other hike after the jump.