It's Official: Wildflower Season is Here
Plus, Winter Adventures from Readers (that's you!), the Best Web Cam Ever, a Campground in Disney World, and the Secret to a Good Night's Sleep
howdy
Well, that winter storm sure was a doozy, huh? Plus, we all got to learn what graupel is.
Here in Portland, weather forecasters said we would maybe get 0.2” of snow if we were lucky. Instead, we got nearly 11 inches of the white stuff – the second largest snowfall since the city started keeping records.
One of the things about northwest cities that’s either frustrating or a nice forced-free-time perk depending on how you look at it is that they’re not really built to deal with snow. Places like Seattle and Portland tend to not get snow frequently enough to warrant having a fleet of plows on hand, and the snow they do get tends to be wet, which freezes over almost immediately and turns into a sheet of ice. So you kind of just have to hunker down and wait for the warmer rain to return.
But in the meantime, hearty and/or sporty residents will take to the streets in snowshoes, cross-country (and sometimes downhill) skis, and sleds. And believe me, after living in L.A. for almost 20 years, there is something pretty magical about watching people ski down your street. At the very least, it’s a welcome change of pace from the usual relentless gray.
So my husband and I threw on our winter gear, grabbed a sled, and walked a few blocks to our local park, which just so happens to have some very excellent hilly sections. And I was very happy to see some cross country and downhill skiers already taking advantage of the conditions.
And of course, we found a great sledding spot.
I asked readers to share some stories and photos of how they were dealing with the full west coast winter storm, and I got some great responses.
Annie from Mar Vista shared an exquisitely peaceful video of her lovely backyard garden enjoying the rain soak … as well as this rainbow that showed up between some of the stormy sections:
Sharon and some friends drove up to Mount Lukens – the highest point inside Los Angeles city limits – and saw that mountain in a way that I certainly have never experienced. She wrote:
Some friends and I took advantage of the break between storms to get out and enjoy the epic snow. The original plan was to snowshoe to Josephine Peak from Clear Creek Junction, but Angeles Crest was closed just above La Cañada. Our backup plan was to hike to Mt Lukens. We started out in boots but carried our snowshoes. There was so much snow we actually snowshoed up the road until it got so deep we knew we wouldn’t be able to summit and get back down before dark.
Good on this crew for knowing when to adjust their plans – and you can see some more of the unbelievable scenery on their Flickr album, too.
Michael sent in a very moody photo of the Hollywood Sign via the Substack Chat …
And Cass also chimed in on the chat to share the view from Snow Summit ski area:
A huge huge thank you to everyone who emailed their winter experiences or joined us in the chat (FYI – grab the free Substack app to get alerted to new live chats – and paid subscribers can even start their own threads with the rest of the Modern Hiker Newsletter readers, too!).
And … OK, let’s just see a few more posts because THIS KIND OF STORM DOESN’T HAPPEN ALL THE TIME, Y’ALL!
The Big Story
Something to talk about
The OFFICIAL Start of Wildflower Season
With something as ephemeral as wildflower season, and especially when we’re talking about a large geographic area or one with dozens of varied microclimates, it’s hard to nail down a specific start date. But I have my own marker for the official beginning of wildflower season, and that date is tomorrow – Friday, March 3rd. Because that’s when the Theodore Payne Foundation’s Wild Flower Hotline kicks off its 2023 run.
This legendary service is now in its 40th year (!), and in terms of quality, knowledge, and consistency it’s really tough to beat. Each Friday from March through May, the Foundation posts free updates on wild flower conditions throughout California – and yes, there is still an actual telephone hotline that you can call to hear the reports narrated by Emmy Award-winning actor Joe Spano (dial 818-768-1802 ex. 7).
If you are looking for other great bloom info, be sure to check out our comprehensive list of the best wildflower resources in California … and if you’ve got good resources we should know about in other states, well, then let me know about ‘em!
The Theodore Payne Foundation experienced some significant damage to its gardens and infrastructure during the last round of heavy rainstorms. If you can, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help them get back on their feet.
Modern Hiking
Good stuff from the Modern Hiker site
We had two great new posts on the Modern Hiker site this week – and the theme is “Trails You’ve Probably Overlooked.”
First up, Cleo Egnal took us to some of her favorite trails around Los Angeles, and while they’re not especially secret, per se, they are definitely trails that don’t always have that huge spotlight draw. You might have seen these in a guidebook and flipped past the description, but they’re worth a second look.
Now, I’m a guy who knows his way around a topo map, and I consider myself solidly “above average” in my knowledge of the San Gabriel Mountains, but when Andrew Shults pitched a hike to Hoyt Mountain to me, I had to look up where it was. Turns out, I’ve driven past it probably hundreds of times – and I’m betting you have, too. Maybe it’s time to take a trip on foot instead?
Your Parks
Your Places
The Happiest Campground on Earth?
Look, I think Disney stuff is FINE. Have a I had a fun time at Disney parks as an adult? Yes. Did I have fun taking my niece and nephews there on a family trip? Yes. Did those children enjoy me pointing out all the California native landscaping while we waited for the Cars ride? Jury’s still out on that one.
But if you are a Disney person and you had an eye on visiting Disney World in Florida, you may be interested to know that there is a campground just a few minutes away from the Magic Kingdom. Rates for a site start at $69 a night, which is very expensive for a campground but very cheap for Disney World. Plus, it sounds like there are some fun outdoor activities nearby … and a sit-down restaurant that makes skillet cornbread, which honestly sounds amazing.
Via The Points Guy.
Tech Talk
Gadgets, Technology, and Hype
The Only Live-Streamers I’ll Watch Online
I had no idea how calming it could be to watch a bald eagle sleeping atop a nest of eggs in the middle of a snowstorm, but here we are.
A web camera pointed at a bald eagle nest in the San Bernardino Mountains has been quite a hit over the past week, broadcasting live footage of a pair of nesting eagles named Jackie and Shadow.
One particular highlight? A seemingly empty nest covered in snow … until Jackie shook off the white stuff and appeared underneath. Apparently Jackie prefers to just hunker down and sleep through bad weather. Same, Jackie. Same.
The camera is set up by the Friends of Big Bear Valley. Watch the live camera here and check the sidebar / related videos for recent highlights. Learn more about the history of bald eagles in the area here, too.
One More Thing
Oh yeah, before I go …
Anyone who knows me knows I genuinely love boring things. I’m the one who reads the rule book a few days before board game night so we get it right and makes the car pull over for historical plaques on road trips. I think it’s especially moreso on the internet, where so many people are clamoring for attention in desperate ways, and every video you click on has an image like this:
So when I came across a New York Times article talking about how great the compilations of British maritime forecasts were for falling asleep, you know I was going to be all over that like … um … epaulets on Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson?
The reports used to air on BBC Radio 4’s “The Shipping Forecast” program (sorry, programme), and a YouTube user has compiled 5 hours of archival recordings into a single link … which has over a million views. So next time you’re having trouble sleeping, this will probably do the trick. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go pretend I’m navigating south through the Hebrides. I’ve got to meet some folks in Islay for a dram.
Until next time, Happy Trails.
… plus, a song for this week’s newsletter, just ‘cause now I’m in a “Scottish seaside village” kind of mood.