PRE-PEAK...

...but you'll catch the peak-peak if you leave home RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE!!

Baby Blue Eyes

Fun with Baby Blue Eyes

Pitcher Sage

Blue-Dick

Wood Violet

Chocolate Lilly

White Layia

White Layia, closer

Tidy Tips

Tidy Tips, closer

Hillside Daisy

Broadleaf Filaree (Stork's Bill), en masse

Broadleaf Filaree, closer

Blue Phaecilia (Wild Heliotrope) en masse

Blue Phaecelia, closer

Goldfields, en masse

Goldfileds, a small patch

Popcorn

Henderson's (Foothill) Shooting Star, en masse

Henderson's (Foothill) Shooting Star, closer

Manzanita

Bird's Eye Gilia

Menzies' Fiddleneck

Blue Witch (nightshade)

Indian Paintbrush

Bush (Sticky) Monkeyflower

California Dodder. There has been some confusion about its proper classification, but in most references this parasitic plant is included as a member of the Morning Glory family. I used to just call it "Witch's Hair" until I found it in a wildflower field guide; it actually bears tiny tiny flowers in the Summer!

Bush Poppy

Lindley's Silverpuff

Blue-Eyed Grass

Flowers were found in the following California locations: Figueroa Mtn. (Los Padres National Forest), Carrizo Plain National Monument and Shell Creek Road, Pinnacles National Monument, Jolon Road (Monterey County) and California Highways 41, 166, 58 and 25.

BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU ROOST!

(my son re-captioned this...thought the original was boring. I have to agree!)

EAT DESSERT FIRST

You'll have to visit old Cabo San Lucas to get one of these.

JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH...

...of California's blue and gold

There are literally hundreds of species of Lupine.

Here on Figueroa Mountain, Lupine was so profuse, my friend Joan commented that its rich, powerful perfume reminded her of Nehi Grape Soda. Well it's no wonder. Her astute observation simply alerted us to the likelihood we were smelling Lupinus excubitus (grape soda lupine)!

Many many varieties of California Poppies, Eschscholzia californica, exist with colors ranging from yellow to golden to deep orange.

These poppies are happy-making flowers, for seeing them reminds us Winter is behind us.

SYCAMORES, CONDORS, OAKS...

...bats, night skies unpolluted by light, 400 species of bees and over 100 species of wildflowers. PINNACLES NATIONAL MONUMENT in San Benito County, California is a springtime paradise for hikers, rock climbers, birders and wildflower enthusiasts.

LOOK! Up in the sky...the folks with bird binoculars swore this is one of the park's resident California condors. Looks like a condor to me, alright!

This only APPEARS to be a dead tree.

Actually, it's alive with fungi,

Abundant woodpecker activity, stashed acorns (not olives!),

and ants. They're there -- guess you'll have to trust me again!

In my former life (young, agile and svelte) I made annual treks to Pinnacles, always before May's heat, to hike its trails and caves, watch the rock climbers, and to follow its wildly diverse wildflower bloom throughout the park's different elevations and habitats.

Until about four years ago, the only camping facilities, located at the East entrance, were privately owned and located outside the park boundaries by a little over a mile. The National Park Service has purchased the campground (with its pool and showers), and has embarked on a program of improvements that include the addition of hook ups and a dump for RVers. It's a lovely campground, *very* busy on Spring weekends; it does take reservations, and the best part is that old pharts can camp with hookups at half price: $18.00 a night.

Up the hill from the campground, at the Bear Gulch Nature Center (the original Visitor Center), there is limited parking for motorhomes so it's best that you have a toad or plan on an uphill hike from the campground if you want to push off to the various other trail heads.

On the East side of the park, Highway 25, a favorite of cyclists, is one of California's loveliest backroads, especially mid-week!