I know there is a thread here, and Carol Leigh's website to track wildflowers, but there is no comment yet about this area and I want to visit it this month and must clear my calender now to make time. Has anybody been to this area recently? Anything happening here yet? Best guesses for when it will pop this year? Thanks!!
Posted by Derek Sedillo on March 3, 2010 at 11:49 AM
Tony,
I was just wondering the same thing. But I would expand this question to the entire Antelope Valley area as well as the Carrizo Plain. All are within decent driving distance from each other.
I have been combing the the various photography forums and park websites and so far there is very little info on the new bloom season. The best I have seen so far has been a location 'somewhere' in SoCal with no specifics as to the area: http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/872912.
So hopefully one of our SoCal members will have more info once they venture out in the next couple of weeks. I'm sure more photos and updates will be coming in soon.
Whoo hoo!!! I'd realy like to know how it's going down there. I have the week of the 15th off unexpectedly riding my motorcycle and shooting the more south I get the better. Look forward to your report Roland
Posted by Steve Sieren on March 4, 2010 at 2:20 PM
Hey Roland get rolling! Thanks! Bet you the place is up there around Bear Mountain is greener then green.
Posted by Steve Sieren on March 5, 2010 at 1:22 AM
Just spoke to a guy out there in Arvin and he said the mountains are about to be covered with flowers. There are a few out right now, but in about a week, the entire land will look like a rainbow. I hope he is right but that is exactly when it was blooming last year.
Posted by David Senesac on March 5, 2010 at 11:12 PM
The really big rains were at the end of Janurary. That set off the clock for much of what will be the main peak of blooms in Southern California areas. Predictably four weeks afterwards some real flowers began showing as I gleaned from reports and now five week hence there ought to be some nice patches growing. However it will be next weekend of March 13/14 that things will really start popping and suddenly there will be reports from all over.
Although Arvin is an impressive area, it is also a frustrating situation. Several years ago some huge LA real estate developers bought the immense Tejon Ranch and since then have been at odd with conservationists. Their original plans were for thousands of homes for the rich and even a whole new city at the north end. In fact the former owners used to provide a couple weeks of controlled public entry into the northwest Antelope Valley area with some of the most awesome wildflowers in that zone. That ended with a loud thud with the ownership change as they do not want people to see flowers or anything else worth preserving.
For years the Tejon Ranch security truck has been rousting people and lets them know they are trespassing. Something I've watched in the past and has been ongoing back into the 90s. The whole fence line for miles is prominently signed as NO TRESPASSING with threats. Some spring weekends they are busy elsewhere that has lead some folks to think that area is always free to trespass into. Security is also quite aware that as soon as flowers start showing, so will trespassers. And note since a couple years ago the California trespassing law for any areas that are grazing lands like that Arvin area, became more serious and easier for land owners to cite trespassers. Not sure what they will do this year because conservation organizations made a deal with them on land use. One conservation organzation has a planned guided tour into part of the Arvin area on one weekend this spring that immediately filled up a couple months or so ago. I would ask Spencer Westbrook for his opinion on what to expect this year with security. He has been going over those barbed wires for years and at times had to deal with them.
Just to second what David said about Tejon Ranch actively and vigilantly enforcing their property rights. Bear Mountain can host a wonderful bloom but it is a very frustrating roadside shoot for the compliant photography. And for the non-compliant photographer, ranch personnel pass frequently and they will eject trespassers, even those only a couple of feet inside the fence. I have had this happen to yours truly (once no more than 2 minutes after crossing over) and have witnessed it happen with other people.
Tony, no, but they own all of the lowlands and lower foothills on the west slope of Bear Mountain, which is where the best blooms are, and which includes the entire Route 223 frontage (the only access to that land). See a map of the Tejon Ranch here: http://tejonranchconservancy.org/science/ (BTW as that Web site shows, Tejon Ranch has created a conservancy for management of their conservation-easement lands, after the deal a year or two ago which placed most of the ranch into conservation status while opening up some of it to huge development -- a Faustian bargain.)
Discussion
11 repliesI was just wondering the same thing. But I would expand this question to the entire Antelope Valley area as well as the Carrizo Plain. All are within decent driving distance from each other.
I have been combing the the various photography forums and park websites and so far there is very little info on the new bloom season. The best I have seen so far has been a location 'somewhere' in SoCal with no specifics as to the area: http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/872912.
So hopefully one of our SoCal members will have more info once they venture out in the next couple of weeks. I'm sure more photos and updates will be coming in soon.
Derek
I live about 30 minutes from Arvin. I will be going there later this week and give you all an update.
Roland
Although Arvin is an impressive area, it is also a frustrating situation. Several years ago some huge LA real estate developers bought the immense Tejon Ranch and since then have been at odd with conservationists. Their original plans were for thousands of homes for the rich and even a whole new city at the north end. In fact the former owners used to provide a couple weeks of controlled public entry into the northwest Antelope Valley area with some of the most awesome wildflowers in that zone. That ended with a loud thud with the ownership change as they do not want people to see flowers or anything else worth preserving.
For years the Tejon Ranch security truck has been rousting people and lets them know they are trespassing. Something I've watched in the past and has been ongoing back into the 90s. The whole fence line for miles is prominently signed as NO TRESPASSING with threats. Some spring weekends they are busy elsewhere that has lead some folks to think that area is always free to trespass into. Security is also quite aware that as soon as flowers start showing, so will trespassers. And note since a couple years ago the California trespassing law for any areas that are grazing lands like that Arvin area, became more serious and easier for land owners to cite trespassers. Not sure what they will do this year because conservation organizations made a deal with them on land use. One conservation organzation has a planned guided tour into part of the Arvin area on one weekend this spring that immediately filled up a couple months or so ago. I would ask Spencer Westbrook for his opinion on what to expect this year with security. He has been going over those barbed wires for years and at times had to deal with them.
One more reason to treasure our public lands.