Goodyear, Arizona.

As predicted, the plentiful rains this fall and winter led to an abundance of wildflowers. This stand of golden poppies and lupine is a testament to the abundant moisture received this season… even though the photo is “fake news.” Time for me to fess up… Due to travel schedules and two hikes in February rain cancelled, I didn’t set foot on a trail in February. I saw the wealth of wildflowers in photos captured by my friends on Facebook who did happen to get some hikes in. Indeed, there are still wildflowers out and about and I hope to capture some on this week’s trip to South Mountain. But I digress, what’s fake news about this photo? It was captured in Estrella Park in Goodyear, that’s true. It’s of spring wildflowers. True as well… However it was captured during the last great wildflower season in February 2016. That day we hiked a loop of Toothaker Trail to Butterfield Trail and back to Toothaker.

About the photo: This image was captured on my Samsung S6 cellphone on one of our Thursday hikes in Estrella Mountain Regional Park. It was never previously published and it was processed via Lightroom and Luminar 2018. In most browsers, you can click on the image to enlarge it for a better view.

John Steiner