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Author Archive for Bruce Watts

Outside Idyllwild: The Earth Fair cometh …

Share/Bookmark The 24th annual Idyllwild Earth Fair is 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 18. I would use the term “comes to town” but that is more in tune with a traveling circus than a homegrown event like the Idyllwild Earth Fair. No event could be more grassroots than our very own celebration of [...]

County Park employee holds Sully, a baby ground squirrel. Photos by Bruce Watts

Outside Idyllwild: Flora and Sully …

Share/BookmarkIt is Monday morning as I write this column and the sounds of rain are all around me. The unmistakable sounds of cars driving on the wet pavement were a happy wake-up call. I feel like a farmer whose crops of wildflowers are now safe from drought. Southern California is now safe from wildfires, at [...]

A shining white lilac.                Photos by Bruce Watts

Outside Idyllwild: April stories …

Share/BookmarkApril was a good month for outdoor adventures. I would have liked to have seen more rain, which would benefit the wildflower season. Of course, when it comes to weather, you take what you get. It does not look like we will have a similar profusion of wildflowers as we had last year. But late [...]

Outside Idyllwild: PCT hikers and wildflowers …

Share/BookmarkSpring is the time for wildflowers and Pacific Crest Trail thru hikers to start popping up all over Idyllwild. It starts in March, when a few early bird hikers begin their long trek and the willows start to bloom. A spring snow does not deter either the willows or the PCTers from beginning their spring [...]

Lenticular clouds photographed from Inspiration Point. Lenticular clouds are stationary lens-shaped clouds that form at high altitudes, typically hills and mountains as a result of the way that the air moves. They look quite distinctive, like giant flying saucers or something like lopsided stacks of pancakes. Photos by Bruce Watts

Outside Idyllwild: My three weeks on the DL …

Share/BookmarkIt has been three weeks and a day since I sprained my ankle and I still am not fully recovered. After limping around and using a trekking pole as a cane for a few days, I made the mistake of walking on the ankle which only worsened the situation. Several days after the injury, I [...]

Outside Idyllwild: Joshua Tree photo safari …

Share/BookmarkAt 3 p.m. Saturday, Les and Cheri Walker, along with the pups Koda and Boulder, and yours truly all piled into the FJ Cruiser and headed to Joshua Tree. Our mission was to catch the late afternoon light and, hopefully, some cloud cover during the golden hour shooting. This would be the first time that [...]

Photo by Bruce Watts

Outside Idyllwild: Spring forward …

Share/BookmarkYou can’t cut a foot off one end of a blanket, sew it onto the other end and think you have a longer blanket. But that is what Daylight Saving Time tries to accomplish every spring. Like it or not, you can watch the sunset after you have dinner in the summer months. I remember [...]

At left, a male willow.  Below, a female  willow. Photos by Bruce Wats

Outside Idyllwild: More tidbits …

Share/BookmarkMy original plan for this week’s column was to hike Idyllwild County Park’s Perimeter Trail then cross Highway 243 and continue on Deer Springs Trail. I planned to take my camera and tripod along. I’d shoot some photos and write about the experience. When I encountered snow, I would just turn around and return the [...]

A willow catkins blooms in County Park before last week’s snowfall.          Photo by Bruce Watts

Outside Idyllwild: Tidbits …

Share/BookmarkLast week, I spent almost all my time indoors recovering from the bad flu or cold that has been going around this winter. This was the second time this winter that I came down with this affliction and I don’t ever want to go through this again. On two occasions, I did get out and [...]

Snow-covered picnic tables at Lake Hemet.

Outside Idyllwild: A love letter to Idyllwild — Part 3 …

Share/BookmarkAfter taking pictures at Idyllwild County Park, I had arranged for Les Walker to pick me up there and we drove to Lake Hemet. After a stop at the Lake Hemet Market for beverages, I could not contain myself and started photographing the mountain peaks of the Desert Divide from the parking lot. The long [...]

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