Wildflowers and Wildlife From Near Onion Rock 4/1/14

[zippetydude]

Okay, for those of you who have accompanied me on this odyssey, at last some real payoff! We've had so little rainfall this year that I hadn't expected many wildflowers, and indeed there are very few in most of my usual spots. Whitewater normally has some excellent views, but this year, almost nothing. And, believe it or not (as this is normally the highest flow time of the year) there is no water in Whitewater at all. None. I even went up a couple miles and it was still bone dry. Wow.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I got up this morning and made my way up to Onion Rock. It seems to be a somewhat protected area up there, and for whatever reason, it actually has a fairly nice display of wildflowers. I also saw some wildlife...more on that in a minute. First, take a look at these flowers!



That's just the beginning. How about this?!



It's only getting better...



Sorry about the varying sizes, trying to make them fit the board here...



I just love poppies...One of my favorite shots



A rocky section:



The burned area is recovering:



The Santa Rosas in the background:



Look at the beautiful curve of the hillside in flower:



Maybe my favorite shot:



Not too shabby:



I like the contrast on this one:



Right by the onion...


Incredibly, the winds up there have somehow arranged the flowers in rows. Must be the weight of the seeds, like some derivation of an alluvial fan...


A better view:



Apparently the grazers have some grandfathered in rights...



A little bit scary:



Only the 6th known sighting of bears in the San J Wilderness:



And the first known sighting of....









wait for it...










wait for it...











wait patiently for it...












Okay, that's amazing, I admit it. But the next two shots may be hard to believe...first, some giant poppies, maybe 30 feet tall...



And even more amazing, a Giant Toddler from the PreKinderaceous Era:


For those of you who know how much I love my superzoom camera, here's a shot looking west:



And as the sun sets on me (I know, that's a tad unusual given that it's still morning on my hike)...



Hope you enjoyed the journey, and I hope this April 1st turns out to be your best April Fool's Day ever.

z

[Sally]

My oh My, Zip, so Ellen and I DID see hippos last time we went hiking. We thought we were just seeing things, but now there is proof that they're up there!

Happy April Fool's to everyone!

[Andy]

Ok, you had me for bit there... Touche' sir!

[Ellen]

Howdy Z-dude

Thanks for the best laugh I've had in a while

But wait, where are the big horn sheep? On second thought, they're probably photo-shopped somewhere in these pictures but Sally and I just can't see them

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

[HH8]

I hope this April 1st turns out to be your best April Fool's Day ever.

Your joke sure beats swapping salt for the sugar,
before someone has had his first morning cup of coffee.

[nobohiker]

This is a good one!

[bluerail]

priceless Zip, too funny !

[arocknoid]

Yep, Zip's been channeling The Onion.

cheers

[zippetydude]

Thanks everyone for playing along with my April foolishness. I couldn't believe I was lucky enough to find a picture of a mountain lion lying down in wildflowers, so I thought, "What the heck, wonder if I can find a hippo?" Sure enough! Gotta love the internet. BTW, what happened to halhiker's comment. I thought it was funny...

Incidentally, the comment about Whitewater is actually true. Bone dry. Amazing. On the bright side, this might be a good year to do the JMT, since there will be little snow and few mosquitoes!

z

[Perry]

We can talk about hippos if you want, or we can just continue hiking and enjoy the flowers...