Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve
We left the yellows and purples of the Carrizo Plain area today and drove 75 miles to the Lancaster area where the poppies on the hillsides were so bright it almost hurt our eyes. We have been to the Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve before, but the wildflowers were never this good. We approached from the west, so we didn't see the flowers until we made the final turn approaching the entrance. From the highway, the hillsides were solid orange.
We planned to arrive at the poppy preserve relatively early before the breeze became an issue for photographing. When we reached the entrance, cars were already lined up halfway out to the road. The good news that there were still parking places in the main lot for us, and we wouldn't have to hike in from the highway.
Carol and I hiked up to a viewpoint overlooking the valley for a 360-degree panoramic view of the area. We had clouds streaming across the sky, but it was a huge improvement over yesterday's weather. We hiked a huge loop as we followed the ridge line to explore the other areas of the reserve. There were a lot of people hiking the reserve, but we were so spread out that it wasn't too bad. I'm sure it will be A LOT worse tomorrow. Saturday when the poppies are at prime bloom must be a nightmare.
In addition to photographing the poppies, we enjoyed watching all the people. People from all age groups and ethnicities were scattered around the hills of the reserve. There were people from all over Southern California. Thankfully, nearly all the people were considerate about protecting the wildflowers. We saw very few people straying off the trails, so the poppies were healthy and thick right up to the edge of the trails.
As we were hiking back down the hill toward the Visitor Center, we watched a group lined up to take the same photograph of the poppies stretching up the hill in front of them. Then, we noticed a cell phone sitting on a rock. We decided to hang out and keep an eye on the phone. About 10 minutes later, a woman came hustling up the trail with a frantic look on her face. She didn't need to tell us it was her phone. We walked down the hill with her and compared notes on wildflower areas.
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Visiting Ian and Family
We ate lunch in the parking lot before driving to Palmdale to see Carol's nephew Ian and his family. It had been at least five years since I'd seen Ian, Donna, and Ronan, so it wasn't a huge surprise how much Ronan had grown. Ian gave us a tour of their new home, and then we had a great dinner at Jake's Place. It's too bad we don't get to see them more, but Lancaster is somewhat isolated and isn't near any place that we go.
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