There's a trail that goes around the eastern side of the lake, starting out through some rocky upland meadows:
where we saw zillions of Yellow Bells (Fritillaria pudica), which start off a bright yellow and gracefully age to a beautiful orange,
as well as Grass Widows (Sisyrinchium sp.).
and Nuttall's violet (Viola nuttallii) (possibly).
The path continues through a wet meadow with lots more Grass Widows, as well as Wallowa Paintbrush (Castilleja chrysantha),
Dwarf Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum capitatum),
and the occasional Sagebrush Bluebell and Jeffrey's Shooting Star, but those pictures came out blurry (though I did post pictures of them last year).
This is one of the wettest areas on the trail, with a boardwalk over the squish, and the rocky area behind Emma is thick with flowers.
After the wet meadow, the trail continues through a stand of pines
where the ground was again carpeted with flowers, this time mostly Yellow Glacier Lily (Erythronium grandiflorum).
We also found a very fancy beetle, that looked like it had been painted with a fine-tip brush and lacquered. Its head is to the right.
My prize for the day was this:
Sugarbowls (Clematis hirsutissisima), a lovely little beauty. The outside is dusty lavender and hairy, and the inside (seen on the turned up tips of the petals) is that perfect, deep, clear, rich purple that makes my heart sing. Gorgeous.
On our way back down the road, we saw that the Arrow-leaved Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata) is just starting to bloom.
I stopped halfway down the hill to take a shot of the Grande Ronde Valley through the trees.
Such a pretty day.
2 comments:
Thank you for taking us along with you on such a pretty day! I enjoyed the wildflower photos and your explanations, nice~ I will have to visit again!
Love your flower pictures - getting out and exploring is so much fun!
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