03/23/08-Camping in the Clouds at Fremont Peak State Park

A funny thing happened on the way to our March destination of Montaña de Oro State Park near San Luis Obispo, California (210 miles to the south). It was Sunday, March 23 and we left after Church at 1:30 p.m.; at 2:30, we were about 50 miles south on US 101, when Jean said, “We haven’t been to Fremont Peak State Park for a long time, why don’t we stop early and continue on to San Luis Obispo tomorrow?” Always ready to stop, I obliged and we wound up the road to the campground near the observatory at the top. Totals from home: 90 minutes and 70 miles.

Fremont Peak has an elevation of 3,169 feet.

Worms-eye view of a Chaparral Current, Ribes malvacium.

The Mini-Stonecrop, Parvisedium pumilum, brightens the path.

The Death Camas (to sheep), Zygadenus paniculatus,
puts on a springtime show.

The Indian Warriors, Pedicularis densiflora,
line themselves up for a skirmish.

The Buttercup fills the meadow with sunshine,
Ranunculus californicus.

This colorful little Wild Pea brightened the trail side,
Lathyrus vestitus.

The ubiquitous Blue-Eyed Grass
shows off a heavenly blue, Sisyrinchium bellum.

The Baby Blue Eyes provides
another spot of sky blue along the trail,
Nemophila menziesii.

The Shooting Star accents the stream side.

Shooting Star: the common name says it all
(it has another less poetic common name: Mosquito Bill),
Dodecatheon hendersonnii.

As you can see, Jean found a very colorful springtime on Fremont Peak—but wait (’till the next blog) to see what we did with the rest of the week!