There doesn't seem to be a wilflower thread going this year, so here's a start.
Snowy Range last weekend. Most of the roads off of WY 130 were still not plowed, lots of snow on the Lakes trail, but rapidly melting. The first of the columbines were blooming as well as the last of the pasque flowers. Lots of avalanche lilies, moss campion, alpine forget-me-nots, etc. Smoke from the Beaver Creek fire to the south was pretty impressive a bit west of Lake Marie.
Beautiful image, Monika! I hiked the trail from Milner Pass to Mt. Ida yesterday. It was a day off with my wife and daughter, so no photos, but I certainly noticed that the alpine sunflowers are exceptionally abundant this year, and most seemed to be right at their peak. The bloom also looked very good along Trail Ridge Road.
Hiked up to Blue Lake today. Trail was mostly dry. Places where later will be filled with alpine bluebells & columbines by the cascades were still under snow. Down low, Parry's primrose, alpine bluebells & marsh marigolds were plentiful though not at peak yet. A scattering of columbines up higher, but another week or so will be much better.
Posted by Monika Chace on July 12, 2016 at 6:52 PM
Crested Butte: arrived on Sunday. Roads & trails look drier than last year. Rustler Gulch was good: plentiful columbines, paintbrush, penstemon, sunflowers, corydalis up higher, no snow on the trail yesterday. Driving in on Sunday, not much on the roadsides on Gothic Rd, but looking pretty good driving out Tuesday mid morning. Still far short of last year, at this time, but it may be a bit behind. Behind Lake Irwin in Robinson Basin, not much going on Sunday. Above the waterfalls, avalanche lilies became numerous but small. Down lower there were scattered wildflowers with some good bunches. Slate River Rd/Oh Be Joyful this morning was crispy.
Of note: big sign on Gothic Rd saying camping only at Gothic Campground.
Posted by Monika Chace on August 9, 2016 at 7:56 PM
Aspen/Maroon Bells is usually dense with waist to shoulder-high wildflowers at this time of year. This year: near zilch.
San Juans: Clear Lake & Ice Lake
Neither are near what they've been in previous years, but for somebody who has never been there, it'll still be impressive. And for those who have, there are still very dense meadows or patches that should provide adequate entertainment. Clear Lake has lots of primroses (yellow, pink to scarlet) in certain meadows. The hillside to the right (north?) of the lake is abundantly covered with them, plus bunches of columbines and a good number of sunnies/senecio. When I first arrived 8/7, after 2 days of flash flood warnings, the sunnies were looking stressed & past peak, but after a day of sun & rain, they were looking pretty rejuvenated. Lots of Kings Crown & Alpine bluebells. Delphiniums are shorter than in previous years and mostly in one spot about 1/2 way around the lake.
Ice Lake trail has a little more variety than Clear Lake (being lower), with paintbrush and fireweed being present. Again, not nearly the density of previous years e.g. almost no delphiniums where it used to be chest high. The flowers don't start getting dense until nearly at Upper Ice Lake. Then lots of primroses (same as at Clear Lake), blue bells, little elephant heads, etc. The sunnies looked more stressed than at Clear (I guess they didn't get rejuvenated). While it's not a banner year, that cirque is so beautiful, it'd be hard to ever say not to bother. That said, I elected to do it as a day hike with 1 lens instead of an overnight because the afternoon before, at Clear Lake (the next basin over), it started raining & hailing at 12:30 & was pretty much non-stop until 4:30. I was able to squeeze into the upper parking area at 8am on a Tuesday, and somebody else parked 1/2 mile further up the road.
I ran into a fellow at Clear Lake who had intended to camp around Red Mountain, but found numerous (20+) bear scat at his intended site. Also, something was gnawing at the undercarriage of my truck aggressively enough that it rocked it & woke me up (I was sleeping in the back) where I was camped just below Clear on a spur road at the edge of a wildflower meadow. The 2nd time (only lasted a minute or so), I got out to open the hood, look for damage & put a battery powered light under the front end. Something ran out, my dog gave chase and in the morning she had 2 porcupine quills hanging off of her nose. I seem to have brakes, lights, antifreeze & fuel but will get it checked out after I get back home.
Posted by Doug Koepsel on August 27, 2016 at 10:29 AM
Monica, my trip to Clear lake the last week of July reflects your observations. I had a porcupine visitor under my truck one night last summer at Ophir pass. I had to run him off several times. Gotta watch out for those marmots too.
Posted by Doug Koepsel on August 27, 2016 at 10:32 AM
For those interested in northern Arizona, the sunflowers on the hills northeast of Flagstaff are in good shape right now with many buds also. They are not as thick as past years, probably because out July rains were very limited.
Discussion
6 repliesSnowy Range last weekend. Most of the roads off of WY 130 were still not plowed, lots of snow on the Lakes trail, but rapidly melting. The first of the columbines were blooming as well as the last of the pasque flowers. Lots of avalanche lilies, moss campion, alpine forget-me-nots, etc. Smoke from the Beaver Creek fire to the south was pretty impressive a bit west of Lake Marie.
Of note: big sign on Gothic Rd saying camping only at Gothic Campground.
San Juans: Clear Lake & Ice Lake
Neither are near what they've been in previous years, but for somebody who has never been there, it'll still be impressive. And for those who have, there are still very dense meadows or patches that should provide adequate entertainment. Clear Lake has lots of primroses (yellow, pink to scarlet) in certain meadows. The hillside to the right (north?) of the lake is abundantly covered with them, plus bunches of columbines and a good number of sunnies/senecio. When I first arrived 8/7, after 2 days of flash flood warnings, the sunnies were looking stressed & past peak, but after a day of sun & rain, they were looking pretty rejuvenated. Lots of Kings Crown & Alpine bluebells. Delphiniums are shorter than in previous years and mostly in one spot about 1/2 way around the lake.
Ice Lake trail has a little more variety than Clear Lake (being lower), with paintbrush and fireweed being present. Again, not nearly the density of previous years e.g. almost no delphiniums where it used to be chest high. The flowers don't start getting dense until nearly at Upper Ice Lake. Then lots of primroses (same as at Clear Lake), blue bells, little elephant heads, etc. The sunnies looked more stressed than at Clear (I guess they didn't get rejuvenated). While it's not a banner year, that cirque is so beautiful, it'd be hard to ever say not to bother. That said, I elected to do it as a day hike with 1 lens instead of an overnight because the afternoon before, at Clear Lake (the next basin over), it started raining & hailing at 12:30 & was pretty much non-stop until 4:30. I was able to squeeze into the upper parking area at 8am on a Tuesday, and somebody else parked 1/2 mile further up the road.
I ran into a fellow at Clear Lake who had intended to camp around Red Mountain, but found numerous (20+) bear scat at his intended site. Also, something was gnawing at the undercarriage of my truck aggressively enough that it rocked it & woke me up (I was sleeping in the back) where I was camped just below Clear on a spur road at the edge of a wildflower meadow. The 2nd time (only lasted a minute or so), I got out to open the hood, look for damage & put a battery powered light under the front end. Something ran out, my dog gave chase and in the morning she had 2 porcupine quills hanging off of her nose. I seem to have brakes, lights, antifreeze & fuel but will get it checked out after I get back home.