May means wildflowers around Mammoth (waterfalls, too)

IF WILDFLOWERS COULD WRITE, and a lupine found sprouting on a slope above Lee Vining had a desert goldfield as a pen pal, there probably would be a lot of letters detailing timing. For while both the lupine and goldfield are flowers that are admired at various locations around California, they are associated, in many minds, with different points of the calendar. You might come across goldfields in January in Anzo-Borrego Desert State Park but if you're going to talk about the blossoms that pop in the foothills of the biggest peaks, you'll want to circle May on your calendar. That's when wildflowers do wow around Mammoth Mountain, with all sorts of colorful specimens providing fabulous foreground effect to (usually) snowy summits in the distance.

MONO COUNTY... has rounded up some of the primo spots for petal-seeking flower fans, including Walker, Coleville, and the Bridgeport Valley. The valley is known for its wild iris show, and lovely lupine flowers, too, but go further afield and you might come across wild mustard, balsamroot, and other bewitching blooms. But the wildflowers must make room for another showy spring favorite in the region, a splashy sight that sometimes brings the occasional mistbow: waterfalls. June Lake Loop is known for its wonderful water features, as is the Sonora Pass. This 2024 round-up has tips for seekers of both or either, or should we call it the Double W: wildflowers and waterfalls. Are you a devoted Double-W-ist when May arrives? So many of us are; let's celebrate nature's ethereal magic around Mammoth, Mono County, and the whole of the Eastern Sierra.

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