Review: Billingham Hadley Digital camera bag
I’d originally had other plans last Sunday, but various circumstances found Sarah & I heading north toward our favorite stomping grounds of Mt. Tamalpais in nearby Marin County. We had a few hours, and decided to hike the Cataract Trail, high on Mt. Tam’s shoulder.
Rock Springs Trailhead
We started down the Cataract Trail, which follows Cataract Creek as it empties into the Marin watershed. Since it hadn’t rained recently, the creek was a gentle burble as it tumbled down the rocks.
Ferns
After admiring the many blooming Milkmaids, Sarah’s sharp eyes found first one, then a great many blooming Calypso Orchids.
Milkmaids
Calypso Orchid
Calypso Orchids are quite possibly my favorite among the many beautiful native California wildflowers, and we were stoked to see many hundreds of them along the trail on this hike! As I scanned the hillside for more orchids, I spotted a few gone-to-seed Striped Coralroot Orchids, a very early bloomer that we arrived several weeks too late to enjoy.
After a mile and a half or so of downhill hiking, we arrived at Laurel Dell, a nice picnic area set next to a meadow, and turned right on the Laurel Dell Fireroad.
Baby Blue Eyes
Along the meadow a patch of lovely Baby Blue Eyes was in bloom, the only flower in bloom in the grasses. The usual grassland flower denizens are a few weeks still.
Fetid Adder’s Tongue
On a hillside next to the trail we saw many leaves of Fetid Adder’s Tongue, a very early bloomer in these parts, and some inspection turned up exactly one, perfectly formed, bloom.
View from our lunch spot
Western Scrub-Jay eyeing our lunch
A bit of uphill hiking on the Laurel Dell Fireroad brought us to a lovely vista, and we declared a lunch break. Two sandwiches, two miniature bottles of wine, and a bag of chips later, we continued on our merry way after leaving some crumbs for a nearby hopeful Western Scrub-Jay.
Indian Warrior
We soon came to the junction with the Ben Stein Trail, which we took to complete our little loop. This trail climbed up through medium-density chapparal, with some Indian Warrior peeking crimson through the underbrush.
Shooting Stars
Although we’d seen some small patches of Shooting Stars earlier, I finally found a nice specimen. This wonderful flower is delicate and gets damaged at the first hint of a storm. I also find it to be a difficult flower to photograph due to its habitat (boggy shady grassy areas), stature (short), and shape (elongated).
Madrone bark
Some lovely madrone trees distracted me with their textured and colorful bark, and we soon made our way down back toward the trailhead.
Serpentine, California’s state rock
Back at the car we deposited some extraneous clothing, then headed out towards Dad O’Rourke’s Bench, one of Sarah & my favorite places. A large vein of serpentine cut a blue-green swath across our path as we hiked the quarter mile or so to the bench, which surprisingly, was not occupied, although several groups of people were nearby enjoying the great views.
Words to live by!
Dad O’Rourke’s Bench is cut into a rock outcrop with a phenomenal view south to San Francisco and the greater bay area, and west to the open Pacific Ocean. On this clear day we could see the Farallone Islands, 30 miles to our west, as if they were just a couple of miles out.
View from Dad O’Rourke’s Bench (note distant downtown SF on the left)
It was somewhat hazy to the south, and our SF views were limited, but the sheer breadth of the vista never fails to take my breath away. The purpose for this side-trip was to scatter the ashes of our recently-departed kitty Jasper, who had advanced FIP disease and had to be put down a few weeks ago.
Ciao, Jasper
Our goodbyes said, we retraced our steps back to the car and headed homeward. This was a lovely hike, with the earlier spring wildflowers in full bloom. We didn’t see very many birds, but at midday, we didn’t expect to.
Hike Stats:
Distance: 4.8 miles
Moving time: 2h 8m
Stopped time: 1h 5m
Elevation gain: 980 feet
| Birds seen: | Wildflowers seen: |
|---|---|
| – Acorn Woodpecker (heard) – Chestnut-backed Chickadee (heard) – Cooper’s Hawk – Dark-eyed Junco – Turkey Vulture – Western Scrub-Jay – Winter Wren (heard) |
– Aster sp. – Baby Blue Eyes – Bluedicks – Calypso Orchid – Fetid Adder’s Tongue – Lupine sp. – Milkmaids – Shooting Stars – Striped Coralroot Orchid |
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Great photos, Adam! The flowers were exceptional and have made me so anxious to see them again here. It will be May before our Clypsos and Shooting Stars bloom. By then I’ll be foaming at the mouth! Really nice stuff!
Beautiful pictures. I wish I was able to see spring…we have about 6 inches of snow on the ground!
Stunning photos and the orchid is my fav, no the Addlers Tongue, no the jay, awww I love them all!
Wow. Beautiful closeups of stuff… AND beautiful landscapes. Lovely walk you took us on!
First, I’m sorry to hear about Jasper he is very handsome (and I love the shot you took of him – his eyes are so bright!) Second, wow, to be so gifted to recognize the call of a chestnut backed chickadee? Are you even human? (just teasing!) I love the milkmaids – the composition is just lovely. And I really like the shot of the Madrone bark – the hues are so rich and dark. I am amazed you have shooting stars already. How cool is that? Your Fetid Adder’s Tongue; I think that is a really wicked shot. I’ve never seen one before – that is a really wild looking flower. I’m also quite sure I’ve never seen an Indian Warrior either. Thanks to this I’ll recognize them if I do spy one now. Great post Adam and once again brilliant work and photographs. Again I’m sorry about Jasper.
Montucky: Thanks – interesting that you have Calypso Orchids in your area too!
J: Well maybe the snow will make you appreciate spring all the more when it arrives!
Monarch: Thank you!
Winterwoman: Glad you enjoyed it – this’ll be the last one for a while, as I’m going on vacation for a few weeks starting this weekend, but that’ll yield many more tales to tell and photos to share!
Lori: Thanks – I confess I assume it was a CBCH, as any other Chickadee would be quite, quite rare here! Fetid Adder’s Tongue is definitely a cool flower (it’s in the Lily family if you were wondering, although the flower, and especially the spotted basal leaves are much more orchid-like), and quite undeserving of its unflattering name. Indian Warrior is a parasite that grows mostly on Oak roots – it’s a Figwort, and related to Indian Paintbrush, which I’m sure you have up there.
I absolutely love the picture of the Madrone bark. A number of really great flower pictures as well. I just came across your blog and I love it. I am very sorry to hear about your cat Jasper. It always seems like they leave us to soon.
Hi Adam – what a beautiful photo of Jasper; I’m so sorry for your loss. But he’s in a “better place.” I’m amazed at the beautiful wildflower photos; sounds like you had to hunt for some exceptional bloomers, but well worth it. We certainly are blessed to live in such a beautiful part of this country. Thanks for sharing, and have a great vacation.
Azazel: Thanks for visiting, and for the kind words.
Mary: I agree – I always make an effort to not take the natural beauty here for granted, especially since I’ve never lived anywhere else, so I can fall into the “ho hum” trap!
Great shots Adam, I especially like the Calypso Orchid, well done !!
Beautiful pics!
The orchid is so pretty!
Bernie: Thanks! It´s always a treat to see this little beauty
Mel: Thank you, and welcome
First visited Dad O’Rourke’s bench on Feb. 25, 1967, with my high school Art Club. Since it was a Saturday, it took us awhile to realize that it was 50 years from the celebration referenced on the plaque. Loved the view, love even more the beautiful quote. Over the years, I’ve made the trek up to Mt. Tam and Dad’s bench, the view never ceases to take my breath away! Haven’t been in awhile so maybe it’s time for a trip! Be well and thank you for sharing!
Thanks for commenting, Kevin. Dad O’Rourke’s Bench is one of my favorite places on earth, and I make sure to get up there at least once a year.