A green Garden Valley

When I left the house yesterday, I was thinking about going for a hike near Canyon Lake. The more I thought about it, though, the more I wanted to get further away from crowds of people. I decided it would be a good time to see what Garden Valley looks like after some rain. The last couple of times I had seen it, it looked pretty desolate.

I thought that it would probably be a quicker hike than when I'd been out there before because I knew the way now (I was taking the "back trail" and because I had already taken pictures along that route. Silly me. I found plenty more to take pictures of.

Spring breakers?

Saguaros blew over out here, too.

There were lots of flowers to photograph.

I only saw 4 other hikers on the way out there. As I walked along the trail, I imagined what I might find in Garden Valley. Maybe it would be carpeted in Mexican Gold Poppies. Or maybe it would look like a Texas hillside, blanketed with blue lupines. It was covered with flowers, but not any that I had imagined.

Garden Valley is green. It is also covered with millions of flowers. Very tiny yellow flowers and almost invisible white flowers.

Garden Valley flowers.

Back-lit flowers, showing the spines that you do not want to get in your shirt this June.

It was getting late so I didn't stay there long. The hike back to the truck was pretty with the low sun, though it started to get a little cool. I still had to stop and take a few pictures.

It got dark enough that I could use a flash to make the blue lupines stand out.

The last few times I've taken pictures of flowing water, I thought that I should have a neutral density filter so I could blur the flowing water. But then I'd have to carry a tripod around. It got dark enough on the way back that I didn't need the filter. I sat on rocks and put my elbows on my knees so I could hold the camera still for half a second. The pictures turned out OK.

Half second exposure.

Click below to see all of the pictures.

2010_03_20