June fourth

It is becoming more difficult to keep up with posting when there is so much exploring going on! There have been two short trips so far this week.

Monday, on a brief fishing trip to one of my favorite streams, I took a few wildflower photos, got a shot of a butterfly, made a few casts and was rained out. Usually, rain doesn’t bother me, but along with it this time were lightning bolts that came straight down and some pretty strong wind gusts, as so often happens in that area.

Here’s what a short section of the stream looks like. It’s full of small Brook Trout and they can be a lot of fun to catch with surface flies!

In a marshy area next to the water I found these guys, who apparently think it’s a black and white world.

This is, I think, a cluster of Western Groundsel:

I would guess this is a bouquet of Forget-me-nots.

For me, bringing back the following photo of a Cinquefoil made this trip worthwhile.

Wildflowers of Munson Creek, higher elevations

In the higher elevations along Munson Creek I expected to see different types of flowers, and did see some, but many varieties seem to be able to adapt to many different conditions.

It was a little surprising to see the Calypso Orchid above 4,000 feet. I had thought it to grow only in the lower elevations. It was in a rather dense area along the creek however, where it had more protection from the elements.

Calypso Orchid

The paint brushes were blooming and quite plentiful all the way to the top.

Indian Paint Brush

Beginning at about the 6,000 foot level Bear Grass began to appear. Their blossoms were just beginning to open, starting at the bottom of the flower.

Bear Grass

Bear Grass

At the top, the 6,900 foot level, it was still early spring and the early flowers were in bloom: Shooting Star, Glacier Lily, Bluebells, Arrowleaf, Oregon Grape, Serviceberry, and many others that I photographed in early May.

Incidentally, this is what the country above 6,000 feet looks like. The peak itself is out of view to the right of this photo. The nearest road at this point is about 6 miles and a thousand years away. All is at peace up here.

As I descended from the peak, along the trail was a flower I completely missed during the ascent. In seemingly the most unlikely place, a sunny, open stretch of hillside, was the Waterleaf, which I recognized after seeing a beautiful photo of it on aullori’s site. I was both surprised and delighted!

Waterleaf

Waterleaf

Note: These were photographed on May 29, 2007 at Munson Creek in the Teepee-Spring Creek roadless area, Cabinet Mountains, Western Montana.