Scarlet Bugler? Bridges' Penstemon?

Those are the possible names for this enchanting red flagged wildflower which was growing everywhere we looked. It seems without closer inspection one can't tell the difference. The first is common in dry places, California coastal to Baja. The second shares the range. Eaton's Firecracker is another, but usually occurs further south, toward San Bernadino. In this picture you can also see some round purple flower clusters which I'll also try to identify. The (for want of real knowledge) Scarlet Bugler seemed always to occur in tandom with the large burned-out bushes left over from the devastating Day Fire a few years ago.

I actually saw the beginning of the Day Fire from the air. I was flying back from my friends' the Gists on Memorial Day (from which it gets its name). Two remarkable sights from that flight are still visible in my mind's eye. The first was a huge collection of thunder clouds over Las Vegas, with magnificent lightening bolts, all the more beautiful because it was night. The second, as we flew over the wilderness, was too large to be a campfire, illuminating a mountainside with furious flames. I remember worrying about it, especially since it had all night to spread before the borate bombers could hit it. The following day we began hearing reports of the Day Fire.

Most of the area through which we rode had been burned over by the Day Fire. You could see areas of trees that had black branches and new growth; and areas of trees that were more robustly green. It's all recovering, but the house at Willet Hot Springs is no more. A few ramshackle outbuildings survive, and are used infrequently by backpackers and the Forest Service. Chris Smith, whose "Big Wakoo" organization runs these horseback adventures, has used Willet Hot Springs as a camp for many years, and remembers visiting the former ranchers as a teenager. So now this blog will ride on, crossing Sespe Creek a few more times, and settle in for the windy night at Willet Hot Springs.