Monday on a trip to see if the snow had cleared off the road enough to get to the trailhead leading into the Cherry Peak roadless area (it has!), I was surprised to see the Indian Paintbrushes blooming already, especially at that altitude.
The full rich color of these particular flowers is because they have blossomed during a fairly long cloudy spell, which has kept the sun’s radiation which is especially strong at that relatively high elevation from fading them.
Indian Paintbrush, Castilleja miniata.
