The Bodfish-Caliente Road is a fabulous back road adventure. The
road runs from Lake Isabella
in the north to Bealville/Caliente (west of Tehachapi)
in the south. Narrow and winding, this road
takes you through classic "foothill
woodland" and drier Sierran "chaparral" communities: gray
("Digger") pine, blue oak
and valley oak, California buckeye, interior live oak, juniper, flannel
bush and scrub
oak are just some of the species you will find along the way. Pockets of grass
savannah grow green in spring, abundant with wildflowers. This photographic sequence
starts
from the south and heads north toward Lake Isabella.
California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) blooms in
profusion in Walker Basin (about the
halfway point to Lake Isabella).
California Buckeye (Aesculus californica) found growing
along the
bottom of a local drainage (above). The flamboyant bloom is stellar in good years (these
blooms easily topping 6 inches in length). Large, pear-shaped seed pods appear in late
summer on the bare (drought deciduous) branches of this archetypal California native.
Seeds from the previous year were readily starting in the moist sands of the drainage.
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A field of California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) in
Walker Basin.
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California Poppy, side view of the close-up shown above.
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The final destination: Lake Isabella
Taken during flood, this shot looks toward the south shore and Squirrel Valley. The
Fremont
Cottonwoods (Populus fremontii) pictured here grow on the boundary between
the South Fork
Wildlife Area and the Kern River Preserve on the east side of the lake.
Homepage
Revised: January 4, 2003
This site ©2003 Ann Dittmer.
