Jeanne's birthday party and Mt Diablo 5/21

Not only did we enjoy Jeanne's marvelous birthday spread, we also got to see some of the amazing, once in a life time (hopefully), fire followers.

The Muir Picnic Area (on the left as you go UP the mountain, just below the Devil's Elbow trailhead) is an easy access point to view some of these rare flowers, especially the Whispering Bells and Golden Ear Drops. There are more bulbs blooming on the mountain than any of us can remember...the fairy lanterns are dense along the shaded stretch of the Moses Rock fire road; the Mariposa lilys are scattered in the grass just about everywhere.

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Mt Diablo - Perkins Canyon 5/7

What a great outing! We didn't hike very far, only about 2.5 miles, but what wonderful flowers! It has to be a good day when the Mt Diablo fairy lanterns are as common as Ranunculus usually are and we got tired of even commenting on them.

I'm so glad my batteries died last week...I only took 105 pictures, bet Phred took more :-)

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Edgewood Park & Filoli

We survived the hottest day of the year and had a great time! The hikers split into two groups with Karoline leading a shorter, flatter walk along the Clarkia Trail (about 2 miles), while Lee took the rest of us up the Sylvan Loop Tr to the Serpentine Loop Trail (a bit over 3 miles).

After the hike we drove the short way to Filoli where we had lunch and enjoyed the botanical drawing exhibit. As always, Lee is very good at explaining the techniques that go in to the marvelous drawings/paintings.

Unfortunately my camera batteries died part way into the hike and I couldn't find the replacements I thought I had in my pack. So only a few pictures from me.

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