4/24/2023 0 Comments Cactus drawingMid-April turned out to be too early, but I did see buds on the cacti and suspected they would be blooming toward the end of the month. I made a mental note to return, hoping to photograph a bloom I hadn’t yet seen. The trail was new to me, and I noticed hundreds of large-paddled prickly pear cactus lining the path on the hillside and dotting the desert floor below. In March, I hiked the SMYC Trail in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Last spring, I added prizes to my cactus-bloom list when for the first time I saw and photographed the flowers of six cacti: pancake prickly pear, desert spinystar, Whipple cholla, cushion foxtail, desert pincushion and pencil cholla. If there’s a springtime song in the air, it must be the flowers calling. I’ve been waiting months for this return to the cactus-bloom wilderness. ![]() My checklist this spring includes catching subtle blooms in a teddy bear cholla forest, spotting the cheerful pink blossoms of a fishhook cactus and getting my timing right to witness a wide expanse of fuchsia-blooming beavertail cactus near Lake Mead. Some cacti, including the Mojave prickly pear and Mojave mound, also bloom at lower pinyon-juniper elevations of the Mount Charleston area. Flower power is also found along less-traveled paths in spots like Wee Thump Joshua Tree Wilderness Area near Searchlight and in the hills near the community of Mountain Springs. The magic of Mojave springtime is apparent along the well-worn trails of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and at Lake Mead National Recreation Area. In the heat of June, I’ll see bright yellow barrel cactus blossoms nesting in protective spines. I’ll return in May to see Christmas-red blossoms atop Mojave mound cactus and burnt orange buckhorn cholla flowers. ![]() ![]() Soon I’ll trek into the Mojave Desert, once again chasing cactus colors: strawberry hedgehog cactus on spiky gray columns, pale yellow pencil cholla flowers at sunset.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |