I heard that there are wildflowers in the Alabama hills- and it's true! Mostly it's the desert bloom- that is teeny tiny flowers largely dispersed. Beautiful and really fun to see, especially how small they are. But photographically obnoxious- unless you want to be documenting flowers like in a flower book, they're not really photogenic, except those few…..
There are a number of cactus, mostly beavertail that are blooming- they're wonderful. Today I discovered a swath of color in a wash as I drove towards Whitney Portal, then again near a hill of rocks- I had to return to these, but first, Whitney Portal! That is such a fantastic hike. I had hoped to reach Lone Pine Lake, which we visited in 2024 and it was frozen over. No luck today, even though the weather was awesome, the snowfields overtook the trail maybe a half mile from the lake. I didn't want to get lost or hurt, so I enjoyed the sun, and headed back down. The sounds of Mountain Grouse were causing a bit of concern- they have a weird sound (and Merlin couldn't ID it??) My mind turned the sounds into bears coming out to enjoy the sunshine- and a snack! A lone hummingbird was divebombing a tree snag along the way back. There must be another trail or something, as people were parked every which way and circling around. I didn't see that many people!
I stopped at a pullout coming down that grade to admire the view, and take advantage of cell service.
So what about those colors? When I returned to that place, I had to work my way down a steep embankment from the road into the wash. There were vast numbers of lupine growing thru the wash, some as tall as me! It was really fun to walk around these giants- so much for desert flowers being teeny tiny. Those near the hill were nearly as tall, with a different backdrop.
The spur road toward the hill got really rough, so I walked it, and came across a couple trying to dig their pickup out of the sand. I went back to get the shovel and recovery boards to help them out. It's the first time that I've used the recovery boards for that kind of stuck- and they worked! It's good to test your gear on others. The shovel was worth a lot as well.
Yesterday I rode my bike on the trails around camp, it's excellent and very challenging. Between the sand traps, and rock formations, I really had to pay attention. But you get away from all the campers and see the formations and even flowers up close.
Camping in the Alabama hills-( not my van, but a brilliant example)
