Black Mountain

Black Mountain track link


We have lived under the shadow of Black Mountain for over 30 years and have never been to the top. When we heard our local hiking group was planning a trip, we set aside the day.

And what a day it was – the weather was perfect (not too hot, not too cold, and not too windy). A goldilocks day. To top it off, there were flowers. Several different species were blooming including mariposa lily. Calochortus kennedyi is a North American species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common name desert mariposa lily. It is native to the deserts of the Southwestern United States, and northern Mexico.

The "Every Day Hikers" group. Photo by Brian Veit

The marker at the top

Lunch time. Photo by Brian Veit

The Sierra Crest across the valley

A view from the top

Another view from the top

Our bird list was rather sparse, but that was expected on a lava hill with no water.  We did see ten species most numerous were rock wren, black-throated sparrow, and horned lark.  All of which will be breeding in the area.

This is an old mining area, so we walked a bit on old mine roads.

We also found several ancient native shelter rings.

On our drive out this friendly little rattlesnake was on the road.

It was lovely.  And to top off our day, Brian brought amazing homemade key lime pie ice cream for a light snack after the hike.  Life doesn’t get any better than this. 

Brian, the ice cream man extraordinaire!

And did I mention there were mariposa lilies.

Bob and Susan posing with the lilies. Photo by Brian Veit