Montana de Oro
When I first came to California in 2015, I fell in love with Montana de Oro State Park. I was living in Apple Valley at the time and had a job that gave me a 3-day weekend twice a month, which I took full advantage of.
Now that I live much closer, I feel fortunate to live so near to the most beautiful part of the California coast.
There are several easy trails in the park, and the one my friend and I took was a little ways before the campground. It seemed popular with surfers, who were also out early at the end of May during this Time of COVID.
We are both into wildflowers and birds, in addition to beautiful landscapes, so our journey from the parking lot to the beach took a little time.
Douglas iris 
Hummingbird sage 
Cardinal catchfly, Silene laciniata 
Cobwebby thistle, Cirsium occidentale 
Common sun rose 
Deerweed, Acmispon glaber 
Deerweed closeup 
Desert Christmas Tree 
Sea lettuce, Dudleya caespitosa 
Sand verbena & deerweed 
Sand verbena 
Seaside woolly sunflower 
Sea lettuce dudleya
We did see several other kinds of birds, though.
Spotted towhee 
Anna’s hummingbird 
Bushtit with bugs 
Bushtit with bugs 
Male California quail 
Pigeon guillemot 
Pigeon guillemot 
Spotted towhee 
Wrentit 
Western gull on cliff nest 
White-crowned sparrow
The overcast light helped tremendously by not filling our subjects with hot spots and deep shadows.
Roundleaf leatherroot 
Western fence lizard 
Sticky monkeyflower 
Rattlesnake
The Bluff Trail is everyone’s favorite, I think. It’s easy and it takes you to some marvelous overlooks.
This is why it’s known as the Mountain of Gold
The Point Bouchon Trail wasn’t open. As with most things COVID-19, we were lucky we had open spaces to wander safely, to help us keep our sanity.
Despite the bright overcast all morning, we both added some color to our skin from the relaxing and beautiful outing.
Photos and text copyrighted by Cindy McIntyre
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Website: CindyMcIntyre.com
Online gallery: Smugmug and Fine Art America
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Eastern Sierras- Day 3
There are many places in the wide open Inyo County forest lands to camp out, and whenever possible I look for free dispersed camping since I just park my car and sleep in it.
The sun had just disappeared from that lone juniper when I was able to stop for a picture, and I had to wait, and wait, and wait for its return. The lead photo is the result. Much more interesting, right?
I was also briefly intrigued by a very lonesome landscape around the corner.
Some people love to be surrounded by forests. But they make me feel claustrophobic. I need to see the sky, as much of it as I can, to feel comfortable. This is my kind of landscape, bordered by rugged mountains.
Clouds with character are pretty infrequent in Paso Robles, where I live. There have been months and months of summer skies with barely a cloud in them here, but mountains draw clouds, even create them. I love the play of shadow and light, even though it can mean waiting for the sun to hit a certain part of the landscape for a more interesting photograph.
My goal on the second night of my mini-road trip was the Hot Creek Geological Site. I’d been here two or three times before, in autumn. But I had seen a very lovely photograph of this scene at dawn on a Facebook group page, and ached to have the same experience.
The above photo was taken in late afternoon.
As the sun set, the backdrop of mountains became my focal point.
Below is the same view of Hot Creek, but at dawn.
People are not allowed in Hot Creek because the water temperature can go from tolerable to deadly with no warning.
However, the deer found it to their liking.
I encountered more deer on the road out.
This was going to be a short day, since I wanted to get home (a more than six hour drive) before dark. So I stopped at Convict Lake, where on my last visit I had seen an American dipper (formerly called the water ouzel, a name I prefer. I like the letter “z”.)
None of the restrooms were open here, which was extremely irritating and really unnecessary since it was frequented by fishermen and walkers. Fortunately the lodge was open, and so was its restroom. It also had a charming gift shop and I found a few cute things for my two grandbabies there. And yes, everyone in the store wore a mask.
The water sprinklers went on overnight, but since temps were below freezing there were icicles on the new leaves.
I walked the short paved trail partway around the lake, looking for the dipper. I never saw one, but I did see several house wrens singing.
And to wrap up my trip, some wildflowers.
Tarantula hawk on prince’s plume
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Eastern Sierras-part 2
Day Two of my short road trip to the Eastern Sierras started with the waning full moon setting behind the mountains at sunrise. Hardly anyone else was up, so I had the view pretty much to myself.
After I had more than enough stills, I decided to video the moon setting behind the mountains. It took 85 seconds, but in processing I sped it up so it takes 8 seconds here.
I explored the south side of the Whitney Portal Road which held more rock formations and the main campground.
As it was the afternoon before, the air was incredibly crystalline.
I was captivated by the chartreuse cottonwoods in an otherwise brown and gray landscape.
Knowing the Alabama Hills was the site of many movies over the decades, it makes me want to watch those movies just to see how the landscape was part of the story.
Then I drove north to explore McGee Creek area. The campground there was closed but the trail was open. I just explored the creek area and about 100 yards into the meadow looking for wildflowers.
Paintbrush and vetch 
Vetch seedpods 
Vetch 
Indian paintbrush
Variable checkerspot (Euphydryas chalcedona) 
Variable checkerspot
Next stop was the scenic road to Benton Hot Springs. I didn’t see the wild horses I hoped were there, and when I got to the little tiny town (population 13-1/2) I saw a shack backdropped by a mountain vista. Unfortunately a huge bank of clouds kept it in its shadow, so I waited a half hour for the sun to return.
I thought a town with a whimsical “13-1/2” population would be a fun place to explore. But, nearly every building or site in this town had a “No Trespassing” or “Posted” sign. It definitely did not make me feel welcome. There was a somewhat attractive B&B there, but I’m not sure where the hot springs actually were, nor did I want to find out.
I took the “back way” to Hwy 395, with one particular scene on my bucket list – a dawn view of the Eastern Sierras with Hot Creek in the foreground.
I visited the little settlement to the south for gas, and the general store had hot pizza slices, focaccia, and a blueberry scone! Though I had brought some MRE’s (my emergency supply) I much preferred freshly made “real” food. Heavenly! The employees and some of the customers wore masks, thankfully, and of course I made sure to sanitize back in the car.
Check out Part 3 for the rest of the journey.
Photos and text copyrighted by Cindy McIntyre
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Website: CindyMcIntyre.com
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Eastern Sierras-Alabama Hills
After more than six months of being “cooped up” due to a deteriorated hip joint, surgery to fix it, and COVID-19, my desire for a road trip was strong. I tried to convince my friend Marilyn, who had been with me since my surgery, to tag along enroute to her former job in Colorado (former because of the pandemic, sadly), but she opted to see the sequoias on the west side of the Sierras instead. So I was solo, and enjoying it immensely.
First stop was Fossil Falls just north of Ridgecrest. This was where I spent the night when the Falcon rocket blasted off in Sept. 2018 and filled the sky with light. I had no idea it would be visible from that far away, but it put on a stunning show, and I could even see the return of the reusable engine.
It was super windy the whole day, and I was anxious to explore new territory. I had read about the Cerro Gordo ghost town, but wasn’t sure I wanted to continue on the road once it got narrow and rutted at the viewpoint of Owens Lake, so I turned back. Unfortunately, the American Hotel there burned down two weeks later, and I wish I had continued to the road’s end.
I had also read about the Alabama Hills at Lone Pine, but I really didn’t know just how beautiful the site was until I saw for myself. The area was named by its discoverer for a Confederate ship named the Alabama, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be a target for renaming!
The backdrop of Mt. Whitney and the Eastern Sierras was stunning, but it was the foreground that enchanted me. The pillow-shaped rocks were very similar to those at one of my favorite areas of Joshua Tree National Park.
I was also fortunate to arrive in late afternoon when the light was at its most stunning.
I was shocked that the Arch trailhead parking lot was pretty empty, since there were RVs and campers at nearly every nook and cranny up against the hills. I’m not sure if that’s the norm, or if it was because the campgrounds were still closed due to the pandemic. But if you’ll notice above, there is a heart-shaped hole in the rock.
Here’s a zoomed view from the parking lot. The trail was an easy one, and I was in love!
This wasn’t the famed arch, however. That was found toward the end of the trail (or toward the beginning if one went the opposite direction from the parking lot.)
You could get right up to it. I couldn’t believe there was nobody else clamoring for a turn to look through the window.
There weren’t a lot of birds or wildflowers in the areas I visited, but this black-throated sparrow didn’t mind telling everyone about his chosen territory.
After the hike I drove up Whitney Portal Road. There were several viewpoints looking down in to the valley I had just come from.
Two days ago, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake occurred several miles from Lone Pine, centered in Owens Lake. There were rockfalls, including a huge rock that crashed into the campground below. Whitney Portal is now closed to climbers/hikers. I’m wondering if the balanced rock at Alabama Hills is still in place.
Inyo County required everyone to wear masks in public, and many did, especially indoors. I limited my public contact, wore a mask, and washed or sanitized my hands when I had to use a public restroom. There was a lovely little park right in Lone Pine where I ate take-out meals.
By dusk I had found an unoccupied and quite lovely spot to camp out. My style of camping is just to park my car, eat my “dinner” and cover myself with a sleeping bag, push the seat back, and go to sleep. I woke up around 2 a.m. to light from the full moon washing over the landscape.
Of course I had to get out the camera and tripod. Unfortunately I guessed at the focus and missed a little, but it’s still a stunning image of the big dipper behind an unusual rock.
It was a magical end to a wonderful first day of my Eastern Sierras roadtrip.
Photos and text copyrighted by Cindy McIntyre
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Website: CindyMcIntyre.com
Online gallery: Smugmug and Fine Art America
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