Lupine in full bloom by the trail. Photo Nancy Beverly.
Led by Jennifer Dooley and Mary Pickert
by Nancy Beverly
Three Points to Cloudburst Summit has become one of my fav hikes — thank you, Jen for leading it again, and thank you, Mary, for sweeping.
It turned out to be quite a warm day, could’ve used more breeze and more shade this go ’round. The majority of our twelve hikers had never done this hike before, so it was lovely to hear how much they enjoyed it. We even had a puppy dog — Baby was her name — come along, sometimes in Mom’s carry-on and sometimes hiking on the trail.
Got to see several “through hikers” on our trail since it’s the Pacific Crest Trail (aka PCT) as they’re making their way up to Canada. And we saw the usual spring wildflowers like Lupin (aka Lupine) and Wallflower… as well as the dreaded Poodle-Dog Bush. Luckily we could easily avoid touching THAT puppy.
The notorious poodle dog bush, not blooming at the moment. Tiny spikes on the plant stick into your skin and can be extremely irritating. Since it’s one of the first plants to spring up following a fire, there’s been a lot of it in the San Gabriels in recent years. Photo Nancy Beverly.
Western wallflower growing in pine needles on a wooded section of the trail. Photo Nancy Beverly.
Lupine growing in bare gravelly soil on an open section of the trail. Photo Nancy Beverly.
Passing the point on the Pacific Crest Trail that’s 400 miles from the Mexican border. Photo Nancy Beverly.
GLS hikers almost back at the trailhead at the end of the hike. Photo Nancy Beverly.
