Searching for wildflowers

Coppertone and I revisited the park at what we hoped would be the near peak of wildflowers in the park.  We recall a blanketed slope at Bald Mountain that we wanted to see again.

When we started our hike at the Observatory hiked the Meadow Trail we were a little concerned.  There just didn't appear to be that many flowers around.  Recent fires had certainly taken its toll, but one would expect wildflowers to be some of the first to come back in force.  One interesting thing we also noticed in the area was the apparent physical removal of the enormous brambles of blackberry bushes that used to line the trail.  Looks like we'll have to pick another park later in the year to pick and eat.

The steep climb up the Gray Pine Trail was pretty much as we remembered it from past visits.  Steep.  And on top of that some false summits thrown in to make you think the hard work was just about over.  Still, as you top off on the rolling ridge that leads to Bald Mountain you are rewarded with views of Mount Tam, Mount Diablo and peaks into two of the best valleys for wine in the world.

Thankfully, when within sight of Bald Mountain we could see the south facing slope was indeed covered in wildflowers.  From a distance white flowers, probably Milkmaids, were the only color to be seen.  Even up close they dominated.  But as we got closer to the summit we could see plenty of blue from Lupines as well as some orange Poppies and a few other pallette selections thrown in as well.  We may not have arrived at the peak, but we got to see what we came for.

Our route back to the car took us down the relatively busy Bald Mountain Trail.  A turn onto Lower Bald Mountain Trail lead to the Observary and our car parked not too far away.

We were a little disturbed by a couple of groups on the trail hiking with no masks.  These weren't folks who were a little slow in applying masks on hand when passing by others, but rather people with no masks at all.  We had to dart off trail, always a bit no-no, twice to provide the requisite 6 feet of separation from them.  It's a disturbing sign with the pandemic still in force.  We may need to select parks and routes with wider trails, such as those suitable for jeeps to ensure we can maintain distance while still staying on the trails.