Photographers

Today my wife and I went to one of our favorite places--Idyllwild. It's not much gas or time, and (sorry for the blasphemy) its hikes are a lot more wild and scenic than we have here in the western SB mountains. We went on the Ernie Maxwell Scenic Trail, which is a fairly easy four- to five-mile hike. Near the top we were delighted by Strawberry Creek rushing over the path, with water so cold it hurt our hands. Maybe someone can help me identify the first flower, because I'm stumped. Check out the last one--it's my favorite.

http://www.1000wordsphotos.com/idyllwild/

Well, with the help of Robert Reed, our curator of the Heaps Peak Arboretum, who gave me a good lead, I was able to figure out that those beautiful, fragrant white and yellow flower clusters were indeed native--Western Azalea(Rhododendron occidentale). Seeing and taking in the aroma of them is worth the trip and hike.

Very pretty flowers, would love to have them growing all around my house

Margo: Yeah, but watch out--these can grow up to 16 feet high and be 10 feet wide.

And hey, I'm heading up to Seattle for five days, so I'll be traveling on Wednesday and out of touch by computer on that special day for you. Therefore, I didn't want to get away without wishing you an awesome...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Oh my, those are some huge flowers!!

And...Thanks Lee for the B-day wishes I will have a Happy Birthday in spite of having to attend an all day meeting down the hill! Maybe I will just have to find a See's Candy store and buy me a box of dark chocolate, all cream centers candies, yum!

Have a good time in Seattle, sneak away to go shoot

I meant the plants they're on, of course.

Have a good one. I'll manage to sneak off one day for sure!

Lee, I enjoyed your flower photos. My favorite is the Western Azalea. When I look at them, I think of a beautiful wedding bouquet for a Natural Mountain Bride

Happy Birthday Margo!

Oh, you make me laugh Lee. I did figure it is the plants the flowers are on, and not 6' flowers, should have worded it differently , though I would love to see flowers that big!

16' x 10' flowers (not 6'), now that would be AMAZING! Land before Time sorta thing.

Thanks for the Birthday Wishes Lazy My body is trying to tell me I am getting older, but my mind still tries to tell me I am 18, I am going to mind my mind and the heck with what my body says!

Thanks LazyHiker. They would make a great wedding bouquet. The fragrance is hard to explain, but it's very pleasing. We knew we were about to see one about a minute before we did along that hike.

Have a great birthday, Margo. Go with the youthful thing. It works. I already knew you were a person after my own heart with the things you enjoy, but the dark chocolate thing has now really convinced me.