Purple lupine on the shore at Peninsula Campground

Most of the photographers hoping to capture the lupine at Folsom Lake right now seem to make a beeline for Beeks Bight, accessible through the Granite Bay entrance on the north fork. Very much like last spring, when we had a genuine superbloom, the social media posts have popped up and the news helicopters have been hovering. Visitors have been requested to please avoid walking on or rolling among the blooms so that other people can enjoy the sight as well.

North of Rattlesnake Bar, near Auburn

And once more, I can’t help feeling bemused by the laser-focused obsession with this one particular spot on the lake. You can find lupine blooming in plenty of different places within the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area; Beeks Bight is only one such location. In fact, I tend to enjoy the lupine much, much more when my view is free of crowded parking lots and throngs of people, and when I can hear the sound of honeybees and the lapping of wavelets against the shore.

Barbed weeds like foxtail and filaree (storksbill) also grow among the lupine

Early April bloom of vetch and lupine at New York Creek, south fork