One of the most beautiful places on this earth, let alone this community starts on a lovely irrigation lake with timberline just up the (steep) hill with a narrow trail. The diversity of flower in bloom is enough to start a discussion of "what's that."
More than that, on the "stairsteps" and above the views on this Wednesday were exquisite. We were entertained by the young elk who had to stop every so often to rest. The colors of the rocks are varying from reddish to nearly black, with many in between. Even the Columbines offer variations in shades. And there's always one of those red flowers that brighten the view, if not the mind.
I hope that next week on Wednesday we'll find another clear day in another place on the Continental Divide. The place is near the top of Elwood Pass. Flowers will be abundant; we will be wary of lightning, but the colors even close to the cars are gorgeous at this time of year. If you wish you can take it easy while others hike for 2-3 miles out and back. This is another of our primo sites, popular with people from Pagosa Springs, Washington, DC, and the San Luis Valley. The non-hikers miss out a lot, but still find colors and vistas all around.
I expect that we won't go to the lake, to keep it safe from the storm clouds.
Thanks to Dennis for his pictures. As you'll see here we both appreciated the numerous photogenic, plants which kept surprising us as we brushed past them. If you have never gone part way or all the way up the Stair Steps, you owe yourself one of the finest displays of flora and rocks in our neighborhood--introduced at the beautiful lake.
— Doug Knudson
Timber!
Hunter's Lake
Death Camas
rosy paintbrush
timberline paintbrush
Meadow 4 young elk
Dennis' dragon
Stair-step Columbines
Columbine
Dusky beardtongue (Penstemon
Pretty purple Larkspur?
No comments:
Post a Comment