At The Backroads

California Poppy, Lake Poway

Spring is here, in San Diego, anyway! Or should I say we had both fall and spring since summer ended  ? Though some flowers here and there did not really leave the landscapes of San Diego, but to me spring is when the hills explode with wildflowers.

Mix of Golds Along the Hillside Somewhere on I-15, Ted Williams Parkway Exit

Two weekends ago, I mentioned about wildflowers starting to bloom in Mt.Woodson Trail, and predicted that in 2 weeks there will be more flowers. We went to hike to Mt.Woodon Peak again yesterday, and here are the wildflowers show along the hike. I must say that most of the wildflowers though are at Lake Poway side, and the colorful show fades as we went higher in elevation.

Hills at Lake Poway Archery Range ( left side when you enter the park)

Though I must say that the bloom this year is less spectacular than last year, this year, the bloom is more of spotty rather than covering all hillsides. Nevertheless, it is still a treat when at other times of the year, I do not see these colorful display in the trail.

Entering Lake Poway Park, it is hard not to notice the colorful hills on the left side, which is the site for Lake Poway Archery Range. We usually do not take this trail when we hike to Mt Woodson, but because of wildflowers display, a short detour is a welcome additional exercise.

Mix of Lupines, Canterbury Bells and Mustards

Some of the slopes have mixed wildflowers, but the lupines are not yet in full show, I noticed a lot of them are still growing and very few are in bloom.

Lupine

From afar, what is more obvious is orange and yellow,

Lake Poway (Dam) and The Colored Slopes ( looking towards Lake Ramona)

which means that most wildflowers are California poppies and mustards.

California Poppy

Mustard

Most of the colors actually are on the left side of Lake Poway Park or going to Lake Ramona, however, since we were hiking to Mt Woodson, I was kind of lazy to take a longer detour. Instead, we just took right away the trail that leads to Mt.Woodson. This is not to say however that the slopes going up Mt Woodson would be less colorful, there are colors still, but just not as much compared to the colors on the opposite side.

Maybe a fifth of a mile after crossing the suspension bridge,

Suspension Bridge

you will see a field of blue on the landscape. These blue hues are from the canterbury bells.

Field of Blue Canterbury Bells mixed with little poppies @ Lake Poway

Blue Canterbury Bells Against Orange Poppy

This is actually another short detour going to Mt Woodson, but just a short one. From here, we made a right to take the trail that goes up to Mt.Woodson.

Hillsides as viewed from Mt Woodson Trail

As we went to the peak, the wildflowers diminish, but I actually saw little patches of wildflowers still at the higher slopes. There are some brittlebush, but kind of far out from the trailside for me to take a picture of them. There are still patches of poppies, and morning glory.

Morning Glory with Green Bug Inside

I was tempted to just stay at the bottom and enjoy the wildflowers, but then, the reward of getting a really good uphill exercise still dominates, besides, the view at the top of Mt Woodson is for me, very rewarding.

For my previous posts regarding Mt Woodson, you can visit this sites:

a. Hiking Mt Woodson From Lake Poway - please visit http://sandiegobackroads.today.com/2008/07/31/lake-poway-to-woodson-mountain/

b. Hiking Mt Woodson from the East (shorter hike) - please visit  http://sandiegobackroads.today.com/2008/08/18/hiking-and-geocaching-at-woodson-mountain/

And for those who just want a shorter hike with smaller change in elevation, here is a link to Lake Poway Loop Hike, http://sandiegobackroads.today.com/2008/09/20/lake-poway-loop-trail/

And I believe, somehow, this trail would have the most wildflowers basing from what I saw, since most colors are on the slopes going to Ramona Dam. I still have to verify this since did not take the hike to Ramona Dam. Here is a trail description for a hike to Ramona Dam which I posted previously: http://sandiegobackroads.today.com/2009/01/15/ramona-dam-from-lake-poway/ . I will have to hike this trail next weekend.

And for those in San Diego who wants to experience wildlfower wonders in the desert, Anza Borrego is in beautiful bloom now.

California Poppy @ Mt Woodson Trail

We hiked to Mt.Woodson from Lake Poway today, and observed the promise somehow of more wildflowers in the trail in maybe 2 or 3 weeks. The hike from Lake Poway to Mt Woodson is about 7 miles round trip to the peak with an uphill climb of about 2300 ft.

Lake Poway from Mt Woodson Trail

A Popular Resting Spot About 2/3 way of the hike

View of Rolling Rocky Hills Near the Top of Mt Woodson

We started at about 8:20 am, and at about 9:00 am we noticed a halo around the sun. I wanted to take a picture of the halo with the sun, but I could not even take a long look since the sun was just too bright, almost was blinding me to take a look at it. I took a picture instead of just the bow when the sun was covered by the hill.

Halo Around the Sun ( Sun is Hidden in the Hill)

The bow looks like a rainbow to me, only that not as colorful. If not for Solar Halo and Really Big Moon post in Blackholes and Astrostuff, I may not be even aware of what the bow is. I really am learning a lot in that site regarding astrology and give me hints for more photo opportunities I could look for when I take a hike.  This halo around the sun lasted quite long, and now I feel sorry a little bit that I did not try hard enough to take a quick picture with the sun in it :( but at least, was able to take the half of it :).

It is another beautiful day today, sunny, blue sky with nice clouds scattered in the sky. Saw some spots of wildflowers here and there along the stretch of the trail too, but I give it 3 weeks maybe for the hills to become more colorful. If I am wrong, pardon me, as I actually also have limited knowledge about wildflowers. The most that I saw in the trail are the purple phacelias.

Purple Phacelias @ Mt Woodson Trail

Phacelias

There are two spots where I saw abundance of phacelias, one at the little island after crossing the small suspension bridge at Lake Poway, and the other one, where I took the picture, is near the intersection of Lake Poway and Mt Woodson Trail. There were a lot of California poppies growing, but they were still very green, and most of them don’t even have buds yet. There were also several brittlebush lining up the trail, but just like the poppies, most of them are just sprouting, so my guess maybe in 3 weeks, I see more wildflowers from this trail. On the other hand, I saw some poppies in bloom mixing with the phacelias, very little though.

California Poppy

I still need to find out the name of the other wildflowers I saw in the trail. Most of them are yellow in color. I will name them later when I find out what they are.

Wildflower in the Trail (1)

Wildflower in the Trail (2)

Wildflower in the Trail (3)

Buds from a Bush

But just seeing the green-ness from the sprouting bushes makes me hopeful that maybe in 2 or 3 weeks there will be more colors in this trail.

At the end of our hike, we relaxed at the lake, and I was lucky enough to spot this white pelican.

White Pelican

I do not see a lot of white pelicans in San Diego, what I see mostly are the California brown pelicans. So, I get happy whenever I get to see a new one. And at the top of the tree where we were resting, a small bird kept on singing to us, and here s/he is.

Singing Bird

Today was really a beautiful hike. I am anticipating for a beautiful spring here at Lake Poway, and the uphill hike to Mt Woodson is always rewarding for me even without the flowers.