Four days later

Today I returned to the trail that was in snow four days ago. I hiked only the first mile of it though because most of it looked like this, with several dozen blow-downs over the trail in just a mile:

and it was cold (the wind chill made it feel like about 15ºF), but it got me high enough for a few views to the south.

Spring day in Montana

In the last few days…

Many, many years ago, someone driving along Highway 200 tossed out the core of a pear and the seeds took root. The little tree was too close to the highway and the highway crews cut it down year after year. And each year at least a little part remained on the side furthest from the road. This year there is a branch that has formed what may be a new trunk, far enough from the roadway that it might survive. It has grown to about 8 feet high and is just covered with the most beautiful blossoms.

Pear blossoms

More species of wildflowers have also begun to bloom, some very early, I think, but surely very welcome!

Meadow death-camas ~ Zigadenus venenosus

Field Chickweed ~ Cerastium arvense

Slender Hawksbeard ~ Crepis atrabarba

Peak Saxifrage – Micranthes nidifica

Field Pussytoes ~ Antennaria neglecta

Upland Larkspur ~ Delphinium nuttallianum

Clear, and cold, and… vital!

Spring ride

Does Spring ever feel good this year! A perfect day for a very pleasant ride a few miles up into the hills!

Western Springbeauty, Lanceleaf Springbeauty ~ Claytonia lanceolata

A little of the Munson Creek trail (USFS Tr 372)

Today I hiked the first couple of miles of the Munson Creek trail (from about 2,400 ft elevation to about 3,400 ft elevation) to see how the winter treated it. It was in very good condition, with a sprinkling of wildflowers all along, but only of some of the early blooming species were blooming. It is a steep and rather rough trail that is well worth hiking later in the summer when the valley is hot and the trail is cool and when there are dozens of species of wildflowers in bloom (and I will return later to see them). Here are a few photos of the trail and the flower species now in bloom along that stretch.

Arrowleaf Balsamroot ~ Balsamorhiza sagittata

Oblongleaf Bluebells, Sagebrush Bluebells ~ Mertensia oblongifolia

Hooker’s Fairy Bells ~ Disporum hookeri

Blue Clematis ~ Clematis occidentalis

Yellow Glacier Lily, Erythronium grandiflorum

Western White Trillium ~ Trillium Ovatum