Visiting the California desert in spring has always been on my
to-do list.
Visiting the California desert in spring has always been on my to-do list. Traveling through the desert in summer, car windows sealed tight, air-conditioner on full blast, leaves one with the very real impression that the Mojave Desert is a hostile, unfriendly environment. Oppressive heat and lack of water make survival there a dicey prospect. Add to this the visual barrenness; scrawny shrubs widely spaced on bare sandy soil, rocky crags, few if any trees or underlying grasses “all this extending as far as the eye can see” and the Maui Hyatt Regency starts looking pretty good.
But stories of spring blooms in the desert are legendary, especially in good years with plentiful rain. I have not polled the experts, but as a casual observer of such things, I would view this year as above average, though not great. Late rains in April and May helped sustain, if not augment, this year’s wildflower show.
Regardless, this is the year that my friend, Owen Melroy, and I managed to synchronize our calendars for a four-day road-trip through a portion of that country. Though our beer bellies and reading glasses give away our vintage, we travel like college kids: sleeping bags, toothbrushes, a cooler full of food and libation in the back of the car and we’re rolling south on I-5, creating an itinerary as we go. When we get there, wherever that is, we’ll roll out our sleeping bags for the night.
First stop, Gorman. Not much more than a truck stop on the north side of the Grapevine on Interstate 5, Gorman is well known for its gaudy wildflower displays. We were not disappointed. Only a chip shot away from the highway was a display of color the likes of which I have only seen in calendars. Poppies, lupine, blue phacelia and DYCs (Damned Yellow Composites, an acronym given by frustrated amateur botanists to the myriad of similar-looking dandelion-like flowers), blanketed the hills outside Gorman in a truly dazzling display.
As we were packing up the car after a short walk and a photo session, we met another wildflower admirer, a gentle elderly woman from LA. Sensing our genuine interest, she divulged some special spots off the beaten track between Gorman and our next destination, the Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve near Lancaster. We said thanks and headed east.
Highway 138 connects Gorman and Lancaster, south of the Tehachapi Mountains and north of the San Gabriel Mountains. We had now left the classic rolling grassy California hills and entered true desert. We took the suggestion of our wildflower friend and turned north toward the Tehachapis on one of the numbered streets that cross Highway 138. We were alone on a grid of dirt roads crisscrossing the desert. All around us was a very different, but equally impressive wildflower show to the one we saw in Gorman. Delicate evening primrose, poppies galore, gilia and more DYCs were prospering in this seemingly forsaken sandy plain.
A couple more photos, then we were back on Highway 138 heading east toward the Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve. This 1,800 acre state park, located 15 miles west of Lancaster, was established to protect spectacular poppy displays reminiscent of scenery that was widespread in California prior to development. Buoyed by our good luck so far, I had visions of the unbroken fields of poppies I had heard about and seen pictures of. We were even teased by dense clusters of poppies we saw in the folds of the hills as we neared the preserve. Ironically, we were too late and missed, according to the ranger, an excellent year.
Put these locations on your to-do list for a springtime getaway. The wetter the winter, the better the show will be. Information on the Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve is available at www.calparksmojave.com and during the spring season, you can call the Wildflower Hotline at (661) 724-1180 for updates.
From Antelope Valley, our route headed north on Highway 14, toward the Owens Valley and the dramatic escarpment of the eastern Sierra. In addition to wildflowers, the attractions there are dramatic topography and scenery. I’ll tell you about it next week.
