Every year seems to be different lately; I'm not sure I remember what a typical rainfall year is like any more. Here in San Diego County believe it or not: the manzanita has already bloomed and fruit is set, the ceanothus (lilaic) is just starting to bloom, and a fair amount of stuff is in bloom including the sticky monkey flower. My favorite royal penstemon is growing like gang busters (this massive wild specimen gets over 4 ft tall when in bloom). And on the more interesting side for me, the chocolate lilies are going to start blooming in about 1 week. I figured out last year that the deer eat these things like candy, but I wasn't sure if they ate the bulbs as well. Apparently not. An area I thought the deer decimated last year is coming back strong this year so I'm assuming the deer will be back to feed as well.

If all looks well, tomorrow I will head in from the San Felipe Valley Wilderness area and head up into the back side of Julian. A little worried about Tica, I've heard that there are large family groups of javelina up there now. If there is anything cool I will post later.