painted mountain

[jim currie]

here is a photo sent to me by a friend that works for the USFS several years ago when it was a wet winter , the location in near Barstow Ca.

[Ralph]

Gorgeous! Hard to believe its real! Nice photo Jim!
Ralph

[LynnB]

Wow very colorful.

[Spitfire]

Wow, that's a stunning photo! Now, just imagine if you painted a backdrop like that how many people would say "that's not what mountains really look like".

Val

[Sumpter250]

"that's not what mountains really look like"

........except once in a very long while. Considering that is the Mojave Desert, that's amazing!, and yes, it had to be a wet winter.

[ezdays]

I'm hoping we will see something close to this in a few months. As Jim knows, our wet winter this past year should bring out the desert wildflower in abundance. Still, I don't think we've ever had anything quite like this. BTW, here in Arizona, picking wildflowers is a punishable offense and they will give you a ticket for doing just that, and you can wind up in jail for picking a cactus from the desert, or even moving one without a state issued tag on it.

[jim currie]

I'm hoping we will see something close to this in a few months. As Jim knows, our wet winter this past year should bring out the desert wildflower in abundance. Still, I don't think we've ever had anything quite like this. BTW, here in Arizona, picking wildflowers is a punishable offense and they will give you a ticket for doing just that, and you can wind up in jail for picking a cactus from the desert, or even moving one without a state issued tag on it.

Don the sand verbena's are in full swing here as you can see, and the ocotillo are going to be out soon .
jim

[ezdays]

Jim, we don't have much here in Surprise since most everything either has a house on it or is paved over. We'd have to go out to our old house in Wickenburg to see all the flowers. Glad to see you're getting some out your way.

[nachoman]

ohh the allergies!

[MountainMan]

They're everywhere!

[eightyeightfan1]

Spring comes early out west...Huh?

[Russ Bellinis]

Spring comes early out west...Huh?

Actually it depends on location. The mountains out here around LA are still snow covered. In fact if you watched the Nascar race in Fontana on Sunday they showed back ground shots of our mountains during the race and I would estimate that the snow level was down to about 3,000 feet. On the other hand, the desert is different. My wife's mother was originally from New Foundland. I often joke with her that New Foundland's four seasons are spring=June, summer=July, and fall =August, the rest of the year is winter. Winter in the desert probably consists of a week in December or January a really bad winter might last 2 weeks. The car club I'm in did a cruise in the middle of January to the Anza-Borego Desert. The temperature at Borego Springs on Jan 18 was mid 80's

[MountainMan]

I was surprised - Pike's Peak is surprisingly barren, but elsewhere Spring brings an explosion of wildflowers

[ezdays]

Less than two weeks ago we could see snow up on some of the hills north and east of the Valley and the temps were in the 60's here. Yesterday it was super-clear and the temps were in the mid 80's. Tucson hit a record high of 90, so yes, spring has come a bit early here in the desert southwest. We have a backyard full of African Dasies that have been in full bloom for a while now.

[nachoman]

Less than two weeks ago we could see snow up on some of the hills north and east of the Valley and the temps were in the 60's here. Yesterday it was super-clear and the temps were in the mid 80's. Tucson hit a record high of 90, so yes, spring has come a bit early here in the desert southwest. We have a backyard full of African Dasies that have been in full bloom for a while now.

My deciduous ash tree already has a full compliment of leaves. It lost it's leaves for all of one week this year. My bulbs are already up and blooming, and i have tomatoes in the garden. And it ain't even March 1st!