San Rafael Wilderness — March 2025

March 26, 2025 · San Rafael Wilderness, Santa Barbara County, CA

Day 1 · March 26

Approx. distance: about 14 miles.

Observed: Conophorus, narrowleaf goldenbush, chick lupine, Miniature Lupine, Big Berry Manzanita, hollyleaf redberry, Golden Yarrow, California scrub oak, stork's-bill chytrid, Redstem Stork's-bill, Thick-leaved Yerba Santa, Buckbrush, silver rock-lettuce, bluewitch nightshade, Brassiceae, charlock, Tall Psathyrella, California Peony, hollyleaf cherry, white sage, Pacific poison oak, Small Cats, Bush Poppy, Northern Flicker, California Ash, Zigzag Larkspur, Pacific Sanicle, miner's lettuce, California asterella, Mining Bees, western sycamore, Elegant Clarkia, goldback fern, Cumberland Rock Shield, bushmallows, oaks, Coffee Fern, Chilicothe, Variable Checkerspot, southern bush monkeyflower, California cudweed, Common Fiddleneck, Canyon liveforever, yerba santa, blue dicks, Pale Swallowtail, deerweed, chamise, California Dogface, Beaked Twig Gall Wasp, Birchleaf Mountain Mahogany, strigose lotus, variable linanthus, Rusty Popcornflower, Prickly Phlox, Fiesta Flower, Agaricineae, Mulch Maids, Western Velvety Tree Ant, California mugwort, True Bugs, Stinging Lupine, Chalk Dudleya, Cobwebby Thistle, branching phacelia, Italian thistle, lanceleaf liveforever, Irbisia, Bigelow's Spikemoss, California bay, Eucrypta, Pipestem Clematis, Thin-legged Wolf Spiders, Bombyliini, Nemognatha, Painted Meadow Grasshopper, Common Side-blotched Lizard, Western Wallflower, Pacific pea, California juniper, Paintbrushes, Arroyo Willow, Coulter pine, Gopher Snake, Mountain Lion, Pacific Velvet Ant, Ojai bushmallow.

Day 2 · March 27

Approx. distance: about 22 miles.

Observed: Western Minnows, Naked Buckwheat, Tall Psathyrella, California Buckwheat, Oats, Man-roots, Green Ephedra, hollyleaf redberry, mule fat, Chia, Pacific Coast Tick, blue elder, Western Honey Bee, California Quail, blue oak, North American Deer Mice, Silver Bush Lupine, North American Jerusalem Crickets, Two-striped Garter Snake, Sara Orangetip, Habropoda depressa, Gopher Snake, Frémont Cottonwood, grasses, sedges, cattails, and allies, white fiesta flower, Padre's Shooting Star, Wishbone Bush, Western Pond Turtles, White Sweetclover, prickly sowthistle, coast live oak, American Black Bear, California poppy, chaparral yucca, Sierra False Bindweed, Western Toad, California Polypody, California cudweed, Abedus indentatus, American Kestrel, grasses, Fuchsiaflower Gooseberry.

Day 3 · March 28

Approx. distance: about 7.5 miles.

Observed: Vestal Tiger Moth, coast live oak, Wild Turkey, California Golden Violet, Hummingbird Sage, western jack-o'-lantern, Ungulates, Carnivorans, and Allies, spearmint, Cypresses, Cedars, Junipers, and Allies, hairy vetch.