Beth from Bay Nature magazine posted a link to this video in a comment to my post about the possible reopening of Mount Umunhum. The guide points out many of the things blooming in the South Bay at this time…
Tag Archive for wildflowers
Wildflower and butterfly update in the Mercury News
by tom • April 3, 2009 • 0 Comments
Lisa Krieger reports on the bay checkerspot butterflies at Coyote Ridge, a habitat so delicate that the only way to hike there is with a docent leading the way. At first glance, their home on Coyote Ridge seems unremarkable. Rising…
One for my to-do list: Briones Regional Park
by tom • April 1, 2009 • 5 Comments
Lots of open hills and sunshine makes Briones Regional Park worth checking out in the springtime. I’ve heard tell of massive California poppy blooms here in years past. I’ve driven around Briones once but haven’t gotten around to hiking it…
Massive wildflower action at Carrizo Plain
by tom • March 26, 2009 • 0 Comments
Calipidder was there last weekend. Here’s a Flickr slide show of “most interesting” Carrizo Plain pix (most aren’t from this season, but many are astounding). For a stroll down memory lane, check out my Carrizo weekend last year.
Why they call those flowers ‘blue dicks’
by tom • March 24, 2009 • 0 Comments
Unfortunately for the prurient-minded, it has nothing to do with the teen-age male malady known as “blue balls.” Because my fortysomething brain has frequent and severe bouts of CRS (can’t remember shit), I mistakenly called these things shooting stars in…
Sunol with a scramble
by tom • March 23, 2009 • 5 Comments
The idea was to see what the wildflowers were like at Sunol Wilderness. I saw a few but it might be a little early for the bloom there. What Sunol has lots of now is water: Alameda Creek is roaring…
Calipidder’s excellent wildflower pix
by tom • March 20, 2009 • 2 Comments
I suppose most of you have seen these, since she posted ’em a week ago, but if not, enjoy. I eventually worked my way up to Merced canyon to see the poppies. They are beautiful! I only stopped in Briceburg,…
If you want to see Grant Ranch in the worst way
by tom • March 11, 2009 • 1 Comment
You have to check out the Washburn Trail at Joseph D. Grant County Park (AKA Grant Ranch). It’s the meanest trail in a park that has an abundance of leg-burners. I saw a bunch of California poppies blooming on the…
Latest Hikes column: Santa Teresa County Park
by tom • April 17, 2008 • 0 Comments
Santa Teresa, wildflower and mountain biker hub of south San Jose, gets the treatment. The park at San Jose’s southern edge is a magnet for mountain bikers who delight in molar-rattling rides along the rockier trails. Riders were out in…