spring is coming.
The hills are alive with the colors of Poppies. Photo taken by the talented Angie :)
Yes, I have been catching up on Game of Thrones before the final season begins. That being said, I may throw more GOT references into my writing, please be warned :).
2019, you sure knew how to get us out of a drought. I can’t remember the last time our sunny so-cal climate saw so much rain and “real” winter weather. I mean the week after Valentine’s day it FREAKING SNOWED. And it remained overnight in some areas of our town. But all of that rain, brought some extreme beauty the hills surrounding the valley of the inland empire. Which means… adventure time!
I promise you, no Poppies were harmed for the sake of a photo.
Last weekend the roomie and I got up early. On a Saturday, friends. Even though we wanted to sleep-in after a long week of work. Because, poppy fields. YUP. COMMITMENT!And it was so worth it.
It was magical. Crowded, sure. Perhaps we should have gone to disneyland that day instead because all of the people decided to go to the Walker Canyon trail, but can you look at these photos and then blame them?
We southern Californians are FREAKING OUT over here. The hills are literally orange and green. Plus this month has brought so many migrating monarch butterflies.
Angie and I thought we were getting up and at ‘em so early, so when we arrived in Lake Elsinore at 8 AM on a Saturday morning, we were slightly stunned to see the crowds of people parking and walking toward the trail.
As we hiked up, we tried to go as far as we could, in hopes that the amount of people would slowly drop as hikers found places to stop and take their photos. We looped around the trail searching for an appropriate -not harmful to nature-place to photograph all this spring goodness. Each time we turned a corner, I felt more surprised and excited to discover a new poppy-covered hill. I mean it basically looked like the hills were covered in kraft mac n’ cheese.
It was like a scene from a movie (minus the crowds) with the butterflies fluttering around us, the morning sunlight peaking over green hills, and the poppies opening as the light touched their petals. How’s that for a brightly painted picture? But don’t take my word for it, keep scrolling to see more!
I was all too excited over the butterflies. Photo by the one and only Angie.
It took us a little while to find a spot to capture all these things on my Sony-a6500 (aka Marc and my little camera BEAST). By spot, I mean somewhere that was still along a trail. We were successful and no plants were touched, trampled, or harmed.
That being said, if you’re planning to visit the wildflowers this season, be kind to them. Unfortunately, while we hiked, Angie and I witnessed a few instances of foul-play among the flowers. I mean I was overjoyed to see all of the people who found nature this exciting and wanted to showcase it, because it’s important to celebrate. It’s beautiful and I’m glad to see humans out in the world, appreciating it. But it’s not worth harming a patch of poppies all for the gram… or running ahead of hikers to get “the best” spot to photograph. Take your time people, I have a feeling they’ll last a little while longer. Okay rant over.
We found patches of dirt along the designated trails to use when we wanted to get closer shots. It wasn’t hard to do, I promise.
The sweetest soul among the sweet flowers. I think Angie was made for the sunshine. See more photos @thanksmorris on the IG.
I don’t think I realized how much I adore the spring time until this year. I’ve been trying to seize every moment to #optoutside that I can, despite my heightened allergies. This spring, in particular, has been so full of colors throughout southern California and I am so grateful.
The sun is finally out and looks like it might stay a little while. Allergies or no allergies, my serotonin levels are up. Thank you, nature and thank you, spring. I love you so.
What are your favorite spring-time festivities? Are you as excited as I am that the sun is out? Please comment below with your thoughts, questions, or wonderments. What would you like to read about next?
xo,
Morris
