Monday, March 25, 2019

Corona Lake, Temescal Wash, Concordia Ranch Road (Riverside County, CA): 3/14/19

Aaaaaaggggghhhhh, nooooooooooo, say it ain't sooooooooo!!!! I thought this place was kinda sorta "secret" from the hordes that have been flocking of late to nearby, literally adjacent, Wilson Canyon Road in Lake Elsinore. Well, apparently not, as we saw a long line of cars parked along Concordia Ranch Road and lots of people ascending the poppy-adorned hillsides this afternoon. Sigh. Lake Elsinore officials finally decided to close the Lake Street exit off I-15 after several weeks of horrendous traffic jams due to the unprecedented onslaught of enthusiastic wildflower enthusiasts. As of last weekend and until the blooms are finally spent, you'll have to park your car at the Elsinore Outlets off Nichols Road and fork out $10 a head to catch a shuttle to see the poppies on Wilson Canyon Road. But if you've got Waze or Google Maps and a noggin, you'll soon figure out that there's another somewhat less-traversed way to access this bloomapalooza. And I thought I was so clever to be one of a select few to have plotted out this route to bypass the crowds! So much for hubris...

Well, thankfully, we did manage to avert the multitudes on this particular day when we detoured off the freeway to Temescal Canyon Road after work and took these photos from my trusty iPhone. Our best cool find along the way were Coulter's Matilija Poppies in Temescal Wash just south of Corona Lake. Unlike our annual California poppies, these S0Cal/Baja endemics (aka "fried egg poppies) are perennial, rhizomatous and shrub-like up to 7' tall, with large, yellow-centered flowers. They're not yet in bloom but should be in a few more weeks. 


Trail off Concordia Ranch Road

 Temescal Canyon Road


Terramor, a new 55+ gated community off Temescal Canyon Road in Corona


Terramor 


 Poppies off Temescal Canyon Road between Terramor and Corona Lake


California poppies (Eschscholzia Californica) and California Bluebells (Phacelia minor), 
Temescal Canyon Road between Terramor and Corona Lake


Corona Lake 


View from Corona Lake 


 Corona Lake


Corona Lake 


Corona Lake 


Corona Lake 


 Just south of Corona Lake on Temescal Canyon Rd.

Construction company off Temescal Canyon Road across from Temescal Wash 
(just south of Corona Lake)


Temescal Wash off Temescal Canyon Road just south of Corona Lake 


 Temescal Wash off Temescal Canyon Road just south of Corona Lake

Cane Cholla ( Cylindropuntia californica var. parkeri), Temescal Wash

Matilija Poppy (Romneya coulteri), Temescal Wash


 Matilija Poppy (Romneya coulteri), Temescal Wash


 Cane Cholla ( Cylindropuntia californica var. parkeri), Temescal Wash

 Matilija Poppy (Romneya coulteri), Temescal Wash 


Chaparral Yucca (Hesperoyucca whipplei), Temescal Wash 


Southern Suncups (Camissoniopsis bistorta), Temescal Wash 


Temescal Wash

 Temescal Wash


 Matilija Poppy (Romneya coulteri), Temescal Wash

 Chaparral Yucca (Hesperoyucca whipplei), Temescal Wash 

 Matilija Poppy (Romneya coulteri), Temescal Wash 


 Painted Lady butterfly, Temescal Wash

Greenish rocks (serpentine?) off Concordia Ranch Road 


 Greenish rocks (serpentine?) off Concordia Ranch Road 

 California poppies and California Bluebells (Phacelia minor), Concordia Ranch Rd.




 Concordia Ranch Road


 Concordia Ranch Road

 Concordia Ranch Road

Trail off  Concordia Ranch Road

 Trail off  Concordia Ranch Road

 Miniature Lupine (Lupinus bicolor), 
Trail off  Concordia Ranch Road 


  Collar Lupine (Lupinus truncatus), 
Trail off  Concordia Ranch Road


Painted Lady butterfly, 
Trail off  Concordia Ranch Road

 Trail off  Concordia Ranch Road

 Trail off  Concordia Ranch Road

 Trail off  Concordia Ranch Road


 Trail off  Concordia Ranch Road


 Trail off  Concordia Ranch Road


 Trail off  Concordia Ranch Road


 Trail off  Concordia Ranch Road


 Trail off  Concordia Ranch Road


Trail off  Concordia Ranch Road

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