Back on 11 October 2013, I had the privilege of being able to check out some Darlingtonia growing in situ with fellow carnie-bro, Mike Wang. (By the way – if you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to stop by the Sarracenia forum and take a look Mike’s amazing photos in his Darlingtonia posts!) As I mentioned in my last post, this would be the first time I ever saw carnivorous plants growing in their natural habitat. Hey, better late than never right? It was a phenomenal experience. Now I have an even deeper appreciation for these magnificent plants. I can’t say enough about what I saw and experienced during this trip. The overstimulation of seeing these majestic plants growing at all the various sites was pure botanical overload. And yes, I savored every second of it. We only had a few short hours of sunlight to explore by on our first day up there. By the time we arrived it was already late afternoon. We tried to see as much as we could and make the most of the fading light. It turned out to be great timing – the lighting at this time of day hit the plants in such a way to give them an otherworldly glow. Here’s a video and a few photos capturing moments from day one of this fantastic Darlingtonia excursion. Stay tuned – video and photos from day 2 to follow!
Click here for the full screen slideshow.
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Road trip cuisine at it’s finest.
Making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on the road.
Oh joy, oh rapture! The first clump of Darlingtonia I saw growing in situ!
Darlingtonia californica – Del Norte Co., CA
Darlingtonia californica – Del Norte Co., CA
Shooting Darlingtonia – Forest marsh site – Del Norte Co., CA
Darlingtonia californica – Forest marsh site, Del Norte Co., CA
Darlingtonia californica – Forest marsh site, Del Norte Co., CA
Mike admires the scenery.
Forest marsh site – Del Norte Co., CA
Darlingtonia californica – Forest marsh site, Del Norte Co., CA
Mike and I at the forest marsh site, Del Norte Co., CA
Alpine Farms site – Del Norte Co., CA
Mike doin’ his thing.
Alpine Farms site – Del Norte Co., CA
Alpine Farms site – Del Norte Co., CA
Alpine Farms site – Del Norte Co., CA
Alpine Farms site – Del Norte Co., CA
Roadside site – Del Norte Co., CA
We were in the Alpine Farms area a little bit after sundown and stopped for a few mins. I took the opportunity to do some light painting using the flashlight on my iPhone.
