Local Lemon Lily Festival and a Hike too!

I had been pondering what of the myriad festivities I would participate in for our town’s Lemon Lily Festival.  This was the first hopefully annual event to bring awareness to the presence of this wild yellow flower in our mountains and its absence from the creeks running through town where it was evidently once prolific.  Should I take a garden tour, join in the ho-down (woot!), or sip some strawberry-lemonade presented in posh champagne glasses?

The coveted prize

Then Kathy, my hiking buddy, suggested we postpone our ambitious hike we had planned for Sunday and instead join a group being guided by a naturalist up our favorite trail (Devil’s Slide) to the high mountain meadows that are home to this lovely lily.  My response was a resounding YES! I love postponing grueling hikes – haha 😉  We were thinking we’d be the fittest of the bunch, having been training a bit for our assault (more like a tentative, “Please sir Mt. Whitney, would you please allow us to ascend?”) of Mt. Whitney in a couple of weeks.

We donned our heavy packs and were told by Mike that it would be a leisurely pace. Leisurely my…WORD! I found myself huffing and puffing in 90+ degree sun behind an uber fit guy with calves like pistons. I guess leisurely is a relative term – ahem. But this energetic guide took us straight to the mother lode of lilies…smack dab in the middle of our normal hiking trails, where we had yet to see any, for timing reasons and for not even thinking to look for grand, glorious blossoms that look and smell heavenly.  No wonder the bulbs were poached over a hundred years ago from the more accessible areas lower down in town.

Painted Lady?

While we had his expertise and enthusiasm at our disposal, we gleaned more information and labels from him about the other flora we would admire on our treks.  I was chuckling inwardly when he would stop in full glaring sun and I would be reaching for my cool water bottle while he identified a delicate blossom and then off we’d climb again at his comfortable pace and I had once again missed an opportunity to hydrate. I know I know! I need a camel pack thingy. Sheesh.  I’ll share some of the pictures I snapped and try to remember the proper names of these wild and wonderful blooms.  Feel free to correct me, but be gentle! 😉 This is a family site, after all.

Mariposa Lily. Can you count the wee creatures?

We stopped for lunch at Reeds meadow, and Kathy and I sipped organic old-fashioned lemonade in honor of the day’s quest.  We snacked and chatted comfortably with a gregarious and dynamic group of people who shared the common goal of enjoying this short-seasoned bloom.  The weather was warm but in the shade of mature pines, was a perfect compliment to the mountain air and azure skies.

The real treat were the Lemon Lilies.  When we found the largest “colony” of them, I kept inhaling their fragrant heady scent and marveled that these bold and gorgeous flowers found a way to grace us with their glory in spite of the temptations of humans gathering them and the threat of squirrels chomping on them.  So, I found yet another reason to be happy I am an avid hiker.  A wondrous natural world is revealed to you.  You just need to know where to look – and be willing to exert a little effort.

Indian Paintbrush

All photos by G. Stark, except the one of me 🙂