Nature has begun to execute the events that must transpire before this forest will return to its previous state and stature, and the final story of this area will not be written for a century or two when the restoration will be complete. However, the preface has already been written and is on display right now at the top of Thompson Peak:
Montana Outdoors 
Gorgeous. Love the last shot. Another member of the sunflower family?
LikeLike
Comment by Candace — August 17, 2010 @ 8:39 pm
Yes, Sunflower family for sure. I take it to be a Subalpine Daisy.
LikeLike
Comment by montucky — August 17, 2010 @ 8:58 pm
What a wonderful scenery. I love all the little flowers!
LikeLike
Comment by Camilla — August 18, 2010 @ 3:30 am
The display of small flowers is fairly common right on the tops of most of the peaks in late summer. Makes it very pleasant up there!
LikeLike
Comment by montucky — August 18, 2010 @ 6:42 pm
Very nice, very nice in it’s current state, too! WoW!
LikeLike
Comment by Tricia — August 18, 2010 @ 2:11 pm
THe flowers are the first to be re-established and they have otten a good start already.
LikeLike
Comment by montucky — August 18, 2010 @ 6:43 pm
Plenty of wild flowers here.
LikeLike
Comment by knightofswords — August 18, 2010 @ 2:43 pm
I suspect that they have very hardy or fire-resistant seeds.
LikeLike
Comment by montucky — August 18, 2010 @ 6:43 pm
Wonderfully deep in colors and the wildflowers are so lovely among the rocks!
LikeLike
Comment by Anna — August 18, 2010 @ 3:02 pm
I love wildflowers anyway and the ones up high are even more special.
LikeLike
Comment by montucky — August 18, 2010 @ 6:44 pm
lovely cheerful pictures
LikeLike
Comment by silken — August 18, 2010 @ 3:26 pm
Yes, I view them as cheerful too. They are a mood-changer!
LikeLike
Comment by montucky — August 18, 2010 @ 6:45 pm
Wow, the last fling of summer for the little flowers? Do you have any idea what the tiny white ones are?
I know now why people climb mountains.
LikeLike
Comment by sandy — August 18, 2010 @ 3:36 pm
I think the tiny white ones are Fescue Sandworts, Eremogone capillaris. It’s mid-summer for them. The cycle is much shorter at the higher elevations and starts much later than in the valleys.
LikeLike
Comment by montucky — August 18, 2010 @ 6:47 pm
Great shots of all of those pretty wildflowers. The ones that are Daisies or Aster-like are beautiful. Nice shots of the beautiful area.
LikeLike
Comment by wildlifewatcher — August 18, 2010 @ 10:14 pm
We have both daisies and asters in bloom now. Seems like the purple ones wait until late summer. THe small purple asters are just getting thick in places.
LikeLike
Comment by montucky — August 18, 2010 @ 11:05 pm
Those wildflower photos are gorgeous, especially the last one.
LikeLike
Comment by sartenada — August 19, 2010 @ 11:39 pm
Yes, I love the wildflowers there too. I think they do well there because it’s much cooler at that elevation.
LikeLike
Comment by montucky — August 20, 2010 @ 8:35 pm
I really enjoyed how you focused on the grass and flowers, placing the mountains in the background.
LikeLike
Comment by Preston — August 22, 2010 @ 6:16 am
Thanks Preston!
LikeLike
Comment by montucky — August 22, 2010 @ 1:12 pm
Nature bounds back. Well, nature never stops really. Just because we can’t see stuff happening doesn’t mean it’s not. I sometimes wonder what part of nature we actually fit into, as human beings. We’re often so out of touch with anything round us. You’re one of the rare ones who’s in touch, I think.
Lovely photos. So glad.
🙂
LikeLike
Comment by Val Erde — August 22, 2010 @ 9:00 am
Our species has very much gotten out of touch with the natural world, and that’s not a good thing. We arrogantly think we can “manage” parts of it without realizing how very little about it we actually do understand. Spending lots of time in wild natural areas gives one an intuitive sense of how the whole thing works (and poses a whole list of unanswered questions). When I see that people claim to “manage” the wilderness or even the wild animals that live there, I think they are akin to one of the old court jesters claiming to run the whole kingdom. They are appropriately know as “fools”.
LikeLike
Comment by montucky — August 22, 2010 @ 1:18 pm