Our Own Private Paradise

Rufous-sided Towhee

Our morning hike on the Grand View Trail just before we left the high country for the lower desert was perfect.  We spent 1 1/2 hours trekking along a trail where flowers were blooming and perfuming.  Best of all we had the entire trail to ourselves.  We ran into no other hikers, and the only creatures we saw--besides birds and insects--were the horses pictured below.

Wild Roses were blooming all along the trail

Wild Rose (aka Mountain Rose)

Cliff Fendlerbush

Bouquet of yellow flowers

Yucca blossoms

Yucca flowers

Dr. K scolding a Yucca (actually taking a photo with her phone)

Indian Paintbrush

Heading through the cut on the Grand View Trail

Ramada at the midway point

Four Turkey Vultures were eyeing us

Aerial acrobatics

Hillside along the trail

Yucca (left) and Sotol (Packrat sandwiched between)

"Redhead" the start of a flower stalk

Another "Redhead" just opening up

Claret Cup Hedgehog just blooming in the high country

Wild Rose and Creeping Barberry (yellow bush)

The Roses

Everything's in bloom in the Sacramento Mountains

Fragrant Ash (really is quite fragrant)

Horses grazing in mountain meadows

Where the Lone Ranger left Silver

White Sands

Parked at the upper trailhead (Grand View Trail)

Vinca Minor

On a scale of 1 to 10 this is what Dr. K, Becca and I rated this hike