More Crested Butte
After a somewhat wet Day One, we retired for the evening along the shore of Blue Mesa Reservoir and listened to the waves caress the shoreline throughout the night. For Day Two, we headed back up toward Crested Butte via Ohio Creek and Ohio Creek Pass.
When we arrived at the base of the pass, the Anthracite Mountains were still enshrouded in overnight mystique.
The flower-bathed meadow at the Swampy Trailhead was awash in yellow.
Remember, a flowery hill slope is a happy hill slope.
Goldeneye
Heliomeris multiflora
Aster family
Yellow Paintbrush
Castilleja sulphurea
Figwort family
This species can have a while color variation.
The actual flower is hidden within the colored bracts.
Coral Root
Corallorhiza maculate
Orchid family
This is a very shy orchid.
Orange Sneezeweed
Dugaldia hoopesii
Aster family
Sticky Geranium
Geranium viscosissimum
Geranium family
The above two pics are of backcountry and livestock staging area corrals at the Swampy Trailhead. I think the bent upper rails are to ease in throwing heavy bales of hay into the corrals. If the corrals are full, it would be easy to get squished while feeding from the inside.
I had a unique bonding experience with these corrals on that day. I was filming the fields of flowers with my video camera, just moseying through the grass and flowers. The plant life was waist- to chest-high and I couldn't see my feet very well. Slowly moving, concentrating on keeping the camera still, I faintly noticed the tail of a snake in front of me. No big deal. Without looking, I conveniently stepped up onto a small log to go around the stealthy reptile. Well, as I stepped onto the log, I jumped clean out of my skin and exited as fast as I could! The log was covered with serpents sunning themselves! As soon as they felt the log tip, they began writhing hypnotically and slithering around! The rest was all reflex and a few colorful words! Snowcatcher caught the moment on film, too, and it's hilarious. My camera was still recording as well. I think the trailhead should be renamed Serpents' Lair. What do you think?
Adios
Oh, my!!! The flowers don't get any better than this, but I guess it will be quite a while before we walk through deep grass again!!!
ReplyDeleteDang, I was hoping to hear the colourful words....
ReplyDeleteSpectacular flowers, and thanks for identifying them. (Otherwise you know I would have been asking what they were.)
So glad the snakes didn't bite anyone.