Serenity - Scenery

[mtngal]

For some people a serene scene is admiring wildflowers blooming in spring:



Especially during a year when wildflowers are hard to find (photo taken today, Angeles National Forest).

For other people, serenity would be contemplating mountain vistas along with some history.



The winding road in the distance is the original Ridge Route, which connected the northern and southern parts of California for the first time. It originally took a day or more to drive it across the mountains. There were gas stations and places to stay along the way - all gone now.

Or you could combine the two in one drive, like I did today. A fun, refreshing way to spend Easter.

[Walter C]

I was thinking of going out and shooting some wildflowers myself. Nice.

[mtngal]

Wildflowers are hard to find, at least in my area. The Gorman Hills are a bust - a few clumps of poppies here and there, a smattering of the yellow flowers that sometimes can blanket the hills are visible, but the majority of flowers (and that's not much) is lupine, so there's a bit of blue tinge. Quite boring, really.

Antelope Valley isn't a complete bust, but there's no orange blanketed fields. There are poppy clumps along the side of the road in some spots along Lancaster Road (I drove it from the 138 east to the Poppy Reserve and back). Stopped briefly at the Arthur Ripley State Desert Reserve (or whatever it's name is), looking for Joshua Trees that might be in bloom. Not unexpectedly, since it's been a mild winter, there were only a few in bloom.

The place where I did find quite a nice display of wild flowers was along Lieber Mountain Road, where I took both of these pictures. It was very satisfying to finally find a pretty good profusion of flowers. I also had a great time driving it as its a dirt road and hasn't been graded this spring. High clearance is a must and I was grateful for 4x4 in a couple of spots as the road has been eroded in a couple of spots. Of all the usual spots around the Grapevine/western Antelope Valley this one was the best that I've found.

[Walter C]

Thanks for the tips!!

[vsch1]

The only wildflowers we have blooming right now are dandylions.

[mtngal]

But dandelions are such great fun to photograph!

[wave01]

thanks for sharing i will note this place and added it to my retirement trip

[saly]

Very nice, mtngal. I was hoping this is going to be a good year for wildflowers because last year was such a bust.......but it does not sound that way.

[mtngal]

Last year was quite reasonable compared to this year, except for Lieber Mountain, which was really nice. Maybe it will be pretty higher up when spring finally arrives (too early - we had SNOW this morning! There may be more later this week, too).