Corral de Tierra - aka Pastures of Heaven
February 13, 2010

On a whim a month ago, we took the Corral de Tierra Road off of Hwy 68 just to check it out. I loved it! I didn't know my husband had run a 10K here years ago called "Pastures of Heaven", a name we laughed about because it seemed so silly; but come to find out it's named such thanks to John Steinbeck's book.

Corral de Tierra Road is a closer and easier drive than Carmel Valley Road for checking out spring wildflowers. We returned today with hopes to see some early blooms. Not much was blooming besides Bermuda buttercups and a yellow mustard (no, not the condiment). We plan to return in another month. Unfortunately, since most of the land is private, there's not much chance that we can hike on foot in the area.

red hot poker
Kniphofia uvaria
Liliaceae

This is the flower that last year I said looked superficially like a locally prevalent blooming aloe, which btw is also blooming profusely right now along the rec trail. I had hoped this torch lily was a native, but no such luck. It's from South Africa.

habitat ~ 02/13/10 ~ Pacific Grove Shoreline Park

Pacific Grove Shoreline Park
February 13, 2010

It's difficult to capture a sense of scale in photos without an obvious reference such as a person or a hand. We had unusually humongous waves this past week (especially considering there hasn't been a storm system in our area for over a week) and it was incredibly noisy at night. In fact, a tourist drowned at nearby Carmel Beach today (which incidentally makes me think twice about volunteering this coming season for grunion greeting... at night with no lights, at high tide, at Carmel Beach with strong rip currents... hmm?). Also, further north at the infamous Maverick Surf Contest in Half Moon Bay, several spectators were severely injured by rogue waves. Gotta have a healthy respect for Mother Nature!