Finally I got to rejoin you all (figured it may easily have been 2 months!!! what with one thing and another) - for a fantastic 6+ mile hike down to the Yuba and back again. Sixteen of us (Grace, Laurie, both Marilyns, both Barbaras, Kim, Karen, Tammy, Maureen, Tiana, Jo, Selma, Cyndi, John and Elly) were rewarded with singing grosbeaks, towhees, and other unidentifiable birds plus lots of Spring wildflowers and perfect hiking temperatures in the upper forties to very low sixties. A lovely grotto of cascading water and cool blue pools was visitable with a very short side trip on our way down the trail. Huge, multiply-trunked black oak trees (?) hung precariously over the river gorge looking like a feather could push them over.
Let me know if I have omitted or mis-identified any of the following wildflowers:
purple and harlequin lupine
indian pinks and paintbrush
yellow cats ears
frying pan poppies
stickseed (pointed leaves, ultramarine petal with white circle)
canyon dudleya (succulent)
blue dicks
buttercups
Marilyn S. adds these flowers:
pink carnations
monkey flowers (red and yellow)
ceanothus (blue and white) shrub
There was a large dead bird on the trail that appears to have been a turkey. I wonder if it met its end by becoming entangled in some kind of human detritis that appears tangled in its wing and neck.
We ate lunch at a dramatic spot where the river makes an almost 180 degree turn around Long Point. We all found niches to settle in to enjoy the swift green river surrounded by beautiful, large, iron-coated rocks. Dogwood and Redbud were among the trees making their rooted entries in cracks betweeb the vertical cliff across the river.
Four of us extended the hike a bit at the end by going down the old toll road to Illinois Crossing which has a beautifull stretch of what looks like prime fly fishing water. There are picnic tables on a bench above the river and a primitive camping area.
I'm not sure if there was discussion of where to go next week. Does anyone have an idea?
No comments:
Post a Comment