wildflower walk

 i took a ramble through the rolling hills, venturing out upon a little nature-jaunt nearby in coloma where gold was discovered in 1848. hydraulic gold mining may have once marred the landscape of dutch creek that flows into the south fork of the american river, but it is all overgrown with wild beauty now.

this is the tiny bumpy road that goes up the mountainside.

i was on a quest for wildflowers and i really want to learn more about them.

let me know if you know the truth about any of these that i photographed.

blue mountain lupine

this has my favorite name: pussypaw

i walked out on this pretty little trail through the hillsides of pocorn flower and aster.

heading up the little trail. that's mt. murphy in the background, exploded yellow with poppies.

in real life the slope is golden especially when the sun shines down.

california poppies!

i think this is some kind of brodiaea?

amidst the oaks and willows i felt like i was in an enchanted elfin land.

the trail hadn't been cleared since our big snowfall that felled oak trees and branches all over our county.

foxlike, i had to scramble over obstacles like this:

it felt kind of like no one ever comes out here, and i was completely and utterly alone with the ghosts of the indians and the gold miners.

then i remembered that i had read that this area is inundated with poison oak. is this it?

i used a big stick to push this out of my way to go check out the falls. well, as darin likes to say, i'm no ballerina. the damn stick snapped and i went DOWN. my camera was in my right hand and cracked against the rocks. can you believe it survived?! only injury was a little pinky flesh wound which i quickly ran to wash off in the running water.

in all its glory, the american river flows. this is the spot they call troublemaker.

hmmmm, maybe i'll build my cabin RIGHT HERE.

oh and later i found a new thrift store in the cute river town of lotus and got some GOODS. my day was complete.

wishing you all a weekend of nature and adventure!