Regensburger Photography

Category: California

  • Northern California 2024

    Northern California 2024

    Northern California has gotten another round of epic rainfall this winter. As a result, the area is brimming with greenery this spring. I visited Point Reyes, Mt. Diablo, Napa Valley, and some waterfalls near Auburn, CA. All in all, it was fun and rewarding spring break trip.

  • California Wildflowers 2023

    California Wildflowers 2023

    I did a quick trip out to California to check out the remnants of the 2023 wildflower season. I was not disappointed. Both Carrizo Plain National Monument and Mt. Figueroa has tremendous displays of flowers. The poppies were as thick as I have ever seen them at Mt. Figueroa. All that rain earlier this season really proceeded a stunning display of flowers.

    The Carrizo Plain is located near Bakersfield, CA on one end and about 1.5 hrs from San Luis Obispo on the other. I drove the 45 mile dirt road from end to end. The best displays were air the northern part from Soda Lake northward. The tidy tips and hillside daisy were blooming in profusion at the southern end of Soda Lake. Large fields of owl’s clover could also be seen nearby.

    At Mt. Figueroa near Los Olives, the poppies were the star. I have never seen such thick carpets of poppies there. Grass mountain had a good display going near the top but the best spot was right at the entrance station. The fields there were radiant orange. Lupine and bush lupine were also mixed in giving the area an orange and purple glow. What an amazing sight to see.

  • Carrizo Plain Wildflowers

    I drove out to the Carrizo Plain National Monument on a recent trip to California in hopes of seeing the superbloom there.  Other than fickle weather, I was not disappointed.  The flowers were everywhere.  The most abundant places to see wildflowers in Carrizo Plain were near Soda Lake and up in the foothills of the Temblor Range, along the Elkhorn Road, just past the Wallace Creek marker. The south side of Soda Lake had some of the densest patches of flowers I’ve seen.  I drove along the Simmler raid to the ELkhorn Road and this seemed to have the densest flowers.  The park rangers had said people had gotten stuck on the Simmler Road but this would be quite difficult.  It was a little sandy in a couple of spots but otherwise was drivable in a car.  Unfortunately, the wind was howling the day I was there so it was hard to capture the wildflowers’ beauty without a little motion blur.  

    I camped in dispersed camping along the south end of the Elkhart Road.  I froze overnight in my tent in the park.  It got down to 34 degrees and I was only prepared to camp in the much warmer desert areas.  

    If you’re planning to visit Carrizo Plain National Monument, it is about a 45 minute drive from San Luis Obispo or a two hour drive from Gorman, near the Antelope Poppy Reserve.  I drove in 5to the park from the south on highway 58.  It was a beautiful drive as even the hills along the road were filled with flowers.      

  • Ricardo Breceda sculpture in Borrego Springs

    One of the very cool cool features of Anza Borrego Desert Park in Borrego Springs, CA is the sculpture of Ricardo Breceda.  The town of Borrego Springs contains about 20 of his sculptures scattered through town.  Breceda’s creations include several elephants, horses, a scorpion and grasshopper squaring off, and even a serpent.  As you drive the backroads through Borrego Springs, you will discover more and more sculptures.  I really liked the scorpion and grasshopper as well as the serpent which looks like something out of a Chinese New Year’s celebration.  I also stopped at his studio show lot in Aguanga, located just off Highway 79.  A stagecoach and several dinosaurs were featured here as well.  The sculptures are made out of heavy gauge sheet metal and have a rusted finish to them.  They are a fantastic addition to the desert.  I especially had fun taking photos of Breceda’s sculptures at night.  They make for some really cool foregrounds at night.  You can drive up off the road and get right up to the sculptures so there is no issue with access.  I used a flashlight with a warming gel to light the sculptures at night.

     

  • Wildflowers Anza Borrego Desert Park

    I spent spring break in California photographing wildflowers at Anza Borrego Desert Park, Joshua Tree National Park,  and Walker Canyon near Lake Elsinore.  The flowers were spectacular in spots this year.  All that winter rain paid off.  After years of drought, caterpillar plagues, and weed infestations, the flowers finally had their turn this year.  Anza Borrego was particularly pretty as fields of flowers were blooming.  Interestingly, Joshua Tree just to the north was not nearly as vivid although the Palm Springs area had plenty of flowers.  

    Anza Borrego Desert Park

    The crown jewel of my trip was Anza Borrego Desert Park, about a two-hour drive from San Diego.  I had been wanting to come here for a decade to see wildflowers but haven’t had the chance to make it out.  I picked the right year to come.  The flowers were exploding in color and size this year.  Huge fields of desert sunflowers, sand verbena, and desert primrose graced the area around Borrego Springs this year.  Other parts of the park were;t as vivid but were still pretty, too.  I spent most of my time between Arroyo Solado campground and Borrego Palm Canyon.  This area in the northern part of the park seemed to have the biggest concentration of wildflowers.  I drove up the Coyote Canyon road and saw several fields of flowers as well.  Palm Canyon was also a nice respite.  I even saw a herd of desert bighorn on a hike to the palm grove.  

    Lake Elsinore

    I hiked a trail off the Walker Canyon had, which is just north of Lake Elsinore, about 65 miles southeast of L.A.  This area had fields of poppies growing all over the hillsides.  About a mile down the trial was particularly beautiful as people had not damaged the fields like they had closer to the road.  I had fun getting low in the fields and pointing the camera up.  This made for some cool shots with poppies framed against the blue sky.

    Joshua Tree National Park

    Joshua Tree National Park had one area of good wildflowers right at the park entrance on the Cottonwood entrance to the south.  The Cholla garden looked like it had almost been completely killed by drought and was just starting to recover this year.  The Joshua trees and mojave yuccas were blooming as well higher up in the park.  I also found the largest beavertail cactus I have ever seen which must’ve had over 100 buds on it.  I wish I could go back in a week and get a picture of it fully in bloom.  

    Art Smith Trail

    I hiked the Art Smith trail near Palm Desert.  This trail was full of wildflowers such as brittlebush, lupine, and beavertail cactus.  It was a steep but rewarding hike.  Great views of Indian Wells open up below you as you climb higher.   

  • Santa Barbara Courthouse and Hearst Castle

    Sometimes the photo gods do not smile on you like when I traveled to California recently.  I attended a wedding in Santa Barbara and then headed up the coast to Monterey to do some awesome nature photography–or not.  A forest fire had enveloped the coastal areas in a smoky haze and forced closures of most of the area attractions.  Old Post Road?  Garrapata State Park?  Pfeiffer Burns State Park?  No, no, and no.  So I was left with visiting the aquarium and some other places on my trip.  I did enjoy the architecture of the Santa Barbara Courthouse.  The mosaic tiles, murals, and view from the tower were exceptional.  I also visited Hearst Castle near San Simeon.  The Neptune Pool was under construction but the rest of the house was amazing.  It was a beautiful day for a tour of the 1920’s era mansion.

    I also saw some wildlife on the trip.  The elephant seal overlook near San Simeon had plenty of seals on the beach and of course tide pools had little crabs and the like to take in.  The coolest sighting were sea otters at one of the overlooks on the 17 Mile Drive in Pebble Beach.  So while I didn’t come home with any amazing seascapes like I had planned, I still had an enjoyable time doing photography.

  • Death Valley and Alabama Hills

    I spent spring break this year in California focusing mainly on Death Valley and the Alabama Hills.  I also took a detour due to weather to Mt. Figueroa in southern California near Santa Barbara to check out the wildflower bloom.

    Mt. Figueroa

    With the biggest El Nino on record having formed in the Pacific, it figured to be a great wildflower year in the desert southwest.  Unfortunately, the moisture stayed farther north unlike 2005 when an unprecedented wildflower bloom occurred in the desert.  It was not an exceptional year across California for wildflowers, but Mt. Figueroa did not disappoint.  In partocular, the bush lupine were exploding with color.  I also found one field exploding with poppies and small lupine.  The wind and cool temperatures kept the poppies closed, however, during my visit.  It was quite a steep hike down but worth the effort,

    Alabama Hills

    The Alabama Hills is located at the base of the Mt. Whitney Portal near Lone Pine, CA.  Mainly known as a place where many westerns were filmed, the hills are now a prime spot for nature photography due to the presence of several small arches throughout the rocky outcroppings. I had long planned to get the classic shot of Mt Whitney being lit by the rising sun through one of the arches. I was beginning to wonder if the weather would cooperate, however, as clouds obscured the peaks upon my arrival.  Luckily, skies cleared overnight and I was treated to beautiful alpine glow on the Sierras at sunrise the next morning.

    Three arches, Lathe, Heart, and Mobius are located off a loop trail, accessed from one of the main parking lots.  Lathe was my favorite.  It is a small scale version of Mesa Arch in Canyonlands.  After leaving the arch loop trail, I had trouble locating the other ones in the area, however.  I had bought a guide book but all the directions were in GPS coordinates.  No physical directions were given.  Next time I will come prepared with a GPS to find the other arches.

    Death Valley

    I spent two days in Death Valley.  I took the one-way drive down Titus Canyon.  I enjoyed the drive despite the bumpy dirt road (definitely requires high clearance).  Near the summit, I hiked a steep trail to an overlook of the area. I then shot a few photos in the narrows of the canyon.

    I spent the rest of my time around the Artist Drive and Zabriskie Point.  I even got in a few shots along the Devil’s Golf Course.  I got sunset just in time at Zabriskie Point and then went up there again for sunrise.

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