Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Wildflowers in Death Valley National Park

I had a very good weekend for hiking--three hikes, which is about as much as can normally be fit. Nothing particularly long, but all very nice, in their own way.
These aren't from any of those hikes. These are just from the side of the road--mostly on the Beatty Cutoff, just east of CA-190, in Death Valley National Park. I didn't make it to the southern part of the park, where thicker blooms are reported. Instead, I stayed mostly north of Furnace Creek, just making it down to Golden Canyon and Gower Gulch. I'll need to blog those hikes, still.

In the meantime, I just wanted to help get the word out, should you be trying to decide where to take your next weekend trip.
It was already in the 80s last weekend. It may cool on occasion, still, but it will likely continue to warm, so the pleasant season for Death Valley is going to be pretty short.

Regular wildflower reports can be found on the Desert USA website.

Right now, Death Valley is the main show, but in the next month or two, blooms should spread in our other desert parks, and the Antelope Valley. That's assuming we can avoid a too-sudden heat up, like last year.
Wildflowers were mostly immediately next to roads, probably because they get the runoff from those roads, and the soil was disturbed by construction. However, there were some nice filed of flowers, too. Hopefully, those will continue to spread, although, again, if it gets too hot, too fast,t hose plants may die before getting to a really good bloom.
I will continue to monitor, of course. I'm also planning trips to Death Valley (again), and the Mojave Preserve, and will probably make it Joshua Tree a few times, too. Partially, it depends on other obligations and chores, but that's the plan.

In the meantime, get on out there! I'll do my best to catch up on my blogging during the week. Maybe get my first post out on Thursday night, then maybe another on Saturday. Of course, by Saturday, I also hope to be hiking, again, so we'll see.

No comments:

Post a Comment