Boronda and Coast Ridge Lupine

Last year was a prolific bloom on the Big Sur coast that I called the mother of lupine blooms since it occurred around Mother’s Day. Locals told me then that the last time the hillsides were covered with such density of lupine was back 1999, fifteen years prior. Last year was truly remarkable and I was spoiled. While I wanted more lupine this spring, I was anticipating that an event like last year would not repeat itself so soon. It didn’t. This year the lupine bloom peaked a full a month earlier and was much more patchy with only a few select spots approaching the level of density from last year. However, if you picked the spots correctly it was still lovely to experience the lupine combined with stupendous coastal vistas characteristic of the Big Sur Coast. GPS route here. I’ve found that the lupine are highly susceptible to weather including rainfall amounts, when the rain falls, temperatures, etc. Last year it was virtually bone dry until late February and then there were some decent late season storms in March and April that allowed the lupine to pop prolifically. This year was the opposite with most of the rain falling in an atmospheric river event in December followed by abnormally warm and dry conditions for the remainder of winter. My theory is that the soil simply became too dry to support a major bloom and the warm late winter and early spring produced a remarkably early bloom. While last year the immense lupine fields were on the lower slopes of the ridges generally below 2,500 ft, this year the best lupine patches were higher up, generally above 2,500 ft.  For this lupine tour I returned to Boronda ridge and also ran along Coastal Ridge to Marble Peak. I found some nice lupine patches on Boronda Ridges and also along Coast Ridge Road above Grimes Canyon (north of Timber Top). I also found an excellent lupine patch in the meadows below Marble Peak, aka Marble Meadows. Finally I found some more beautiful lupine patches during explorations of an aesthetic grassy ridge descending from Point 3,956 toward the headwaters of the North Fork Hot Springs Canyon Creek. This grassy ridge had lovely views down Hot Springs Canyon, Rock Slide Peak, Cone Pea and Junipero Serra. On the way back I tagged Marble Peak which is always a treat to visit with its superb 360 degree vista.