Saturday, July 3, 2010

Seeing green was a real treat...

for my eyes today as I hiked trails on the south flank of Mount Spokane with friend RT. The lush forest stood in stark contrast to the red rock canyon country I had been visiting for the past 3.5 months. Retinas rejoice!
One of my subalpine favorites was pushing out the first blooms of the early summer. That's bear grass (Xerophyllum tenax), which really isn't a grass at all as it is closely related to lilies (click to enlarge):

In all, a fabulous day. Surprisingly few people for a holiday weekend. Perfect weather. Terrific company.
Posted by J.P. Buchanan at 7:11 PM
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2 comments:

  1. CandyJuly 3, 2010 at 11:03 PM

    Wonderful! Which trail is this?

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  2. J.P. BuchananJuly 4, 2010 at 8:48 AM

    Hi Candy! We hiked the '110' trail, starting low at the first trailhead just beyond the Park HQ, up to the saddle then on to the summit of Mt. Kit Carson. About 2,000 ft elevation gain/loss over 8 mi (total). The bear grass is just getting started, but no huckleberries at all.

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