2019 Poppies & Wildflowers

[Wrightwood]

From Facebook post: Riverside
Thousands of cars parked on the freeway to look at poppies

[baseballfan]

[tcaarabians]

The poppies are closed:

https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-super-bloom-poppy-fields-lake-elsinore-20190317-story.html

..begs a few questions doesn't it?

[Elk]

The poppies are closed:

..begs a few questions doesn't it?

Okay Cheryl, I'll bite!...
Like why is it that CHP and Caltrans will close off ramps leading to overcrowded areas in Lake Elsinore?
How can local government afford to place public works crews as traffic control?
How is it that local LE can close off roads in overly congested neighborhoods?
Who was providing and paying the "shuttles" to take people from remote parking areas to the overcrowded areas?

That's just off the top of my head. I'm sure others can come up with additional questions.

[lwt42]

According to KNX, more than 1000 cars were parked illegally on the freeway.

How many officers and tow trucks does it take to cite and tow 1000 cars?

If I'm not mistaken, isn't there a sign at every onramp that says parking on the freeway is unlawful?

[ForestGal]

My sister drove up here Friday afternoon from her home in Encinitas, arriving here about 4pm.  She said the view from her perspective on the 15 was spectacular, but the traffic through that area was horrendous  It took her about 1-1/2 hours longer than usual to get here.  Friday afternoon traffic on the 15 isn't a whole lot of fun anyway, but she said it wasn't bad yet except through that section.  I love flowers, but geez........

[lwt42]

This really isn't any different than the snowplayers, except for the lack of broken plastic snow toys.

For some reason, people see nature do something different and beautiful, and suddenly, the rules are all off.  There are no boundaries.

[tcaarabians]

The City of Lake Elsinore is in Riverside County. That is one big difference. It is also an incorporated city. It contracts with Riverside County for fire and sheriff services.
Population is around 60,000.

What is different, from my view, is the pro-active response by local government - city and county. We're talking about a response within a few days of the poppies popping.
There was no mention of violations of private property or residential streets being blocked. So, I don't know if that was in the mix. The problems caused were all over the news last night. There was as much if not more coverage of the problems as there was of the poppies.

Hope you guys can ask the folks you've been dealing with in LE - "if they can do it .. why can't we?" 

[tcaarabians]

Here is an update:

https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-lake-elsinore-super-bloom-reopen-20190318-story.html

[Wrightwood]

DigitalGlobe
?Mar 20

Perfect for the #firstdayofspring. WorldView-2 satellite image of the #SuperBloom in Walker Canyon, #California, taken March 19, 2019.

[Domingo]

Does anyone know if the flowers just outside of Lancaster are blooming?  I remember years ago I went there with my grandpa and there were so many blooms for miles and miles without the out-of-control #s of Walker Canyon.  Just a thought for those who don't want to battle the crowds.

[Cheapskate]

Thanks for asking, I was wondering the same thing. There is a state park on the the 138 between Lancaster and Gorman called the CA Poppy Preserve or somesuch, does anyone know if the flowers there are good this weekend?

[Nolena]

And Transition Habitat Land Conservancy is working on buying up more land in the area to preserve it from development, and preserve it for us and future generations. Lots of wildflowers on that land, also.

[SpeedRacer]

https://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-super-bloom-antelope-valley-poppy-reserve-20190322-story.html

[lynnc]

They haven't hit their peak yet. Check out the website for the Poppy Reserve
https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=627

[tcaarabians]

We went to the Lancaster preserve a few years ago. Lots of photo opportunities on the hills leading to the preserve and there. You don't have to step on a poppy to get a great shot. We went during the week. There was little traffic. The Joshua's here are starting to bloom. There's going to be a lot of them this year.