June Gloom

 It was a June gloom hike this morning, and it was wonderful! If you're not familiar with the "June gloom" term, it just refers to the cloudy, gloomy weather typical of this time of year. Most of Orange County gets it, but as you go further inland (especially into the desert regions), it disappears. 

 

I'm a big fan. June gloom is actually the marine layer pushing inland from the ocean, and it keeps the mornings cool. I can deal with summer heat when the mornings are cool, and when temperatures cool off overnight. As summer progresses, June gloom is just a memory, and the sun is out full blast first thing in the morning. When temperatures stay hot overnight, you know your in the worst part of summer, and you just cross your fingers and hope it doesn't last too long. The only thing I don't like about June gloom are the skies. They tend to be grey and boring, so not great for Skywatch Friday.

A typical June gloom sky in Orange County, CA.

 

Here's an example of June gloom in action. When I started my hike this morning at 9am (in Orange County), the temperature was 62 and cloudy. By the time I finished my hike (11am), it was 65 and still cloudy. Perfect hiking weather! The high is predicted to eventually reach 80.

 

Had I been out in the desert, the temperature today at 9am was 74 and sunny. Not a cloud in sight. By 11am, it was 82, and heading for a high of 94. Uncomfortably hot for a hike. What a difference!

 

There wasn't much in the way of bright, showy flowers. Too late in the season for that. Even so, there were a LOT of flowers. If you enjoy muted earth tones, you would have enjoyed this hike. I'm not sure what kind of plant this is in the foreground, but its whitish flowers were everywhere. It, along with California buckwheat, were by far the dominant flowering plants.

 

A batch of sticky monkey flowers in the center of the photo (above), and close up of the same flower (below). It was seen in widely scattered patches, and the flowers are a little past their prime.

 

Flowers, flowers everywhere! I think that's California Buckwheat in the foreground. Behind it is the mystery flowering plant I haven't been able to identify. These two plants probably account for at least 60% of the blooms I saw during the hike.

Update: I got some help from a friend about the plant ID, and he thinks it's something called "Pearly everlasting."

 

Pearly everlasting?

 

Most of the prickly pear cactus is done blooming. This one still has some closed flowers, and interestingly, both yellow and red flowers on the same plant. I wonder how the flower color is determined?
 

Hiking trail through a carpet of buckwheat flowers!

 

An impressively large buckwheat flowerhead.

 

Tree tobacco

 

California brittlebush. Didn't see mamy of these, and most was well past its prime.

 

So here's my very unscientific flowering plant survey from today's hike:

• 30% California buckwheat
• 30% unidentified white flowering mystery plant
• 10% elderberry tree flowers (no photos)
• 5% sticky monkey flower
• 25% all other/unidentified

I'll be heading out to the desert again for my next post.

Thanks for stopping by!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

The Mystery of the Red Doors

 While heading east out into wide open desert spaces recently, I spotted an area with a lot of flowers in bloom. Chasing flowers wasn't my primary goal, but I had some free time and my camera at the ready, so what the heck! A quick stop wouldn't hurt anything.

Beaver tail cactus (taken from my yard)

 

Looking straight down at a barrel cactus covered in yellow fruit.

 

Close-up of Chia. The seeds inside these spiky seedpods are edible and have a pleasant minty flavor. They have been called a "superfood" because of their nutritional properties. They were an important foodsource for Native Americans.

Desert Sand Verbena

 

Evening primrose

 

 

The elusive Desert Lily. For whatever reason, they seem to be getting harder to find. I've been told that at one time, they were much more common. They grow from bulbs, and with enough rainfall, they flower in the same area year after year. I wasn't expecting to see so many wildflowers, and the Desert Lilies were icing on the cake! OK, time to leave the flowers and continue on the journey.

 

Here's the desert mystery part of my post. On this same drive, I came across these strange red doors. I was zipping along the highway and spotted them out of the corner of my eye. Had I just seen what I thought I had seen?? A quick U-turn for a photo was in order! What are they for and why are they here? Your guess is as good as mine. 

 

And yet another desert mystery. Not far from the red doors, but on the opposite side of the highway, is this old fuselage. Very odd.

 

Ocotillo blooms under a feather boa cloud.

 

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoyed the mystery of the red doors!

Linking with Skwyatch Friday.