Today's hike blew hot and cold, literally. Jackets and sweaters were donned as we did our usual "pre-hike" chat in the Deer Park School parking lot before hitting the trail, and the temperature remained pretty cool as we strolled up Deer Park (fire) Road and paused to check out a couple of Duskyfooted Woodrat abodes. Things started heating up a bit as we climbed our way up to the Six Points intersection, although the abundant shade along this trail provided a good place for iris to grow.Most of us stopped to peel off layers of outwear at Six Points before continuing on toward Phoenix Lake on the Yolanda Trail. Ample sunshine here brought out Sticky Monkey Flowers, Buckeye, and Broom. Breezes blowing from the northwest and over the hills above the lake kept us from overheating, but weren't strong enough to chill us down.
Despite many "Plant Check" stops along the way, we reached the lake in time to take our lunch break (early for a change!) almost right at high noon. Redwing Blackbirds serenaded us at lunch just below the Phoenix Log Cabin (which the Martins say was built in 1893 for the foreman of the Porteous Ranch).
We found more iris and ferns along the Shaver Grade trail leading us up from the lake to Five Points junction. Hardier (or more foolish) souls could have opted to crawl up the seemingly vertical Hidden Meadow Trail which heads east towards Six Points, but we smarter folk simply lolly-gagged our way downhill to Boy Scout Junction, traversed the hill on the Junction Trail back down to the point where we had turned left off Deer Park Road to Six Points earlier in the day.Here's a map of the general area where we hiked. Use the "down arrow" on the map to move south towards Phoenix Lake. (Click on "View Larger Map" just below this map to access and zoom in and out, left and right, on the on-line Google map. Better yet, download a free copy of the "Google Earth" software which will let you "tilt" and rotate the area around Fairfax and view it from all angles).
View Larger Map
No comments:
Post a Comment