Castle Rock State Park
Christine, Roger and I headed up to Castle Rock State Park for a bit of hiking today.
We did a 3.2 mile loop with quite a bit of ups and downs. Great hike.
After the typical 4 months of hot dry weather that the Santa Cruz mountains sees prior to mid August, there is very little in bloom. If it weren’t for the mosses that survive on the evening fog, it would look like a desert.
It seems like only yellow flowers bloom in this season. At least, that were the only blooms we saw.
Until we found this one purple flower along the trail. It is in a section that is usually loaded with flowers of several different colors.
I have no idea what it is, but it sure is striking in this season of mostly brown with a few greens.
There was also a species of butterfly flitting about throughout the hike that I hadn’t seen before. One finally landed long enough to take a few shots.
Again, no idea what species this is. Was certainly quite beautiful and many of the creatures were curious — flying around our heads for a bit before heading off to parts unknown.