Sutherland Trail wonderland

dateline 17 March 2015

Six set out to view the wildflower wonderland that is the Sutherland Trail (Catalina State Park) in mid-March.  We were not disappointed.  It was hard to edit down the photos as there were so many beautiful flowers and views. It’s already getting warm so we were happy to see the clouds drifting west to provide a bit of shade on the return journey.

California suncup, now Eulobus but formerly Camissonia, in the Evening Primrose family.

Goodbye saguaro forest – until next time!

It’s a bellyflower, cuz you need to be on your belly to see it! Nama or purple mat.

Poppies and lupines and tackstem, oh my!

Eriastrum, in the Phlox family.

I love owlclover.

I don’t know butterflies, but I do know spectacular!

Another view of the exuberant Anisacanthus – desert honeysuckle.

Anemones are also known as windflowers – it’s not often you will see a field of Anemones in the desert.

Up close with lupine.

It’s a darling yellow composite – but which one?

The many hues of lupine.

Layer cake, uh, rock in the stream.

Not your typical desert sky above the saguaros.

The view downstream – lovely creek!

We walked as far as this stream crossing.

Fruit of the wild cucumber, Marah gilensis.

I’m going with Aster family, common name fleabane (Erigeron).

The mid-day sky overhead.

Cryptantha, another friend from the Forget-Me-Not family, also known as pick-me-not because it is bristly.

Toadflax (was Linaria, now Nuttallanthus).

Owlclover with a gneiss background.

Ah, the lovely Delphiniums (blue).

Poppies: “The gold that banks not in the town, / But singing, laughing, freely spills / Its hoard far up the happy hills” ~from Joaquin Miller in “California’s Cup of Gold”

Shades of yellow.

A first glimpse of the poppy fields on the Sutherland Trail.

The fairy duster (Calliandra eriophylla) catches the light.

Tackstem (Calycoseris wrightii).

Traces of those who have gone before.

Brittlebush (Encelia farinosa) and saguaros on the skyline.

Vivid desert honeysuckle (Anisacanthus).

Curling yellow (Amsinckia) and blue (Phacelia) in the sunlight.

The Phacelias (also known as wild heliotrope) like the shade of rocks and shrubs.

Bark and leaves of Arizona ash.

“Walking Song:” Along the road that leads the way we travel as it will …. Hurrah! for the Open Road!

Sparrow captured in mid-song.

Oenothera primiveris or sundrop. All gone by 9AM!

Lush grass at the start of the Sutherland Trail.

Cedar waxwings.

Amsinckia or common fiddle neck (Borage or Forget-Me-Not family)

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