jimsteamer's Identifications

2003 was a spectacular year for the hills around Gorman, CA (I5, the main highway connecting northern & southern CA, goes right thru this pass). This mix contains at least 5 species in bloom: the tall blue flowers are Valley Lupine (Lupinus microcarpus), the little round light blue ones are Bluehead Gilia (Gilia capitata), the yellow daisy-like ones are Coreopsis, the little yellow coils are Fiddleneck (Amsinckia menziesii), & the orange is CA Poppy (Eschscholzia californica).

This is one of my favorite shots from Sequoia, & I almost didn't get it. My boyfriend was tired of my shutterbugging by this point & wanted to just hike & enjoy the forest, so I was a good girl & put away the camera. But passing up this one was just eating at me! Fortunately it was a narrow U-shaped loop trail & the return path took us back within ~50 m of this tree, so I cut across & got the shot.