Sorry for the delay in posting, not sure if anyone reads these.
I went out to Calaveras Big Trees State Park early last month, and found so much pretty I couldn't fit it all in my camera.
This is a Snow Plant, which grows from the roots of nearby trees. They don't have chlorophyl and are basically parasites.
They also indicate a place to come back and find Morel mushrooms once the snow melts!
This tree had these great mushrooms growing on it (tree is dead now). I think this species glows in the dark.
A nice little creek on the way to the South Grove of Giant Sequoias
I'm not sure what kind of plant this is, but the red really caught my eye.
The Dogwood trees, which I love in the spring for their creamy white blooms, were in late fruiting and the colors were changing (which was the reason for this trip).
As you can see, the trees ranged from still green to deep red (there was even purple, but those pics didn't turn out too well).
The maples were also changing, you can even see how the green was getting sucked out of this leaf before it fell.
There was also a wide variety of lichen, which are moss and fungus living together (never noticed these in my many prior trips).
On the way home, I always stop at the Red Apple, where they have all kinds of wonderful apple creations, from cider to pies to doughnuts and all pastry in between. They have preserves and of course fresh apples when in season. These daisies greeted me.
Clearly, it was the peak of the season, with like 15 different varieties.
I'll post more soon...
