Photo Friday: Wildflowers, Alpine Edition

A month or so back I did a wildflower post focused on desert wildflowers, and promised to get to the alpine flowers in another post. Then I got distracted... so here is a collection of alpine flowers from the Washington Cascades and a few from the Sierra Nevada mountains of California.


These first 2 are more sub-alpine flowers, found in the forests.

I'm not actually sure what this is.

This is a saprophyte--it gets nutrients from the soil, not photosynthesis.

 

 

This one grows in wet places, both above and below tree line, and in both mountain ranges.

Shooting star.

In fact, most of these flowers grow in both the Cascades and the Sierra, though some show variations between. This one, I think, is Cascades only. At least, I don't think I've seen it in the Sierra. Pasque flower.

The gone-to-seed stage.

 Believe it or not, this is the same flower, in bloom. I wish I had a picture of the in-between stage, because it looks totally different again. Sadly, none of those shots came out.

Assorted lilies and columbines can be found in both ranges. Columbine, despite looking fragile, mostly seems to grow in the shade of rocks on otherwise bare alpine slopes.

Either a tiger lily or a leopard lily. They grow below tree line.

Cascade columbines. The ones in the Sierra seem to be mostly a light, almost cream color. In the Rockies they are more apt to be 2-toned blue flowers.

Some kind of daisy (aster). These seemed to hang out right about treeline on last summer's Glacier Peak trip.

Lupine grow everywhere. Mountains, deserts, seashore. They also come in every size, from tiny things to giant bushes (to really giant flowers in Peru). These were modest, except in their profusion.

Lupine with Glacier Peak

Lupine up close. The leaves are a giveaway, though the flowers tell you it's in the pea family.

Sometimes an alpine meadow is a flower garden with a stunning backdrop.

Daisies, bistort, white and blue lupine, maybe some heather, and a photographer.

Indian paintbrush is another flower that grows everywhere, and in a number of colors, though most are shades of red.

This paintbrush has a penstemon growing with it, each probably offering shade to the other.

Alpine heather I see more in the Sierra, though I think it's everywhere.

The next couple really seem to grow only in the alpine, and in the less promising spots, at that.

Pussytoes sprout up where the granite is only barely turning to soil.

Phlox grows in small, low mats in similarly inhospitable spots. This one is covered with the morning dew still.

The Sierra isn't noted for flowers the way the Rocky Mountains are, but you can still get some amazing displays there. You just have to put yourself out there at the right time--and maybe get a bit lucky, too.

Hope you've enjoyed the eye candy!

©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2018
As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated!

Photo Friday: Bring me (to) flowers

In honor of Valentine's Day this week, I'll share some of the many flowers that my husband, rather than bringing to me, and gone with me to see. I like it better that way. (I don't promise I haven't shared any of these photos before).

First the desert. Most of these are from Death Valley or Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in southern California.

Brittlebush, the old reliable. There's usually some in even the driest years.

Brown-eyed primrose

Sand verbena

Phacelia

Beavertail cactus.

Into the heart of the beavertail

Prickly poppy in the Panamint Dunes, Death Valley NP

Desert primrose, Eureka Dunes, East Mojave Natural Preserve.

On second thoughts, I think I'll let the mountains wait until another time! Have a great weekend, and my the flowers in your life be as nice as these.

©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2018
As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated!

Photo Friday: Learning my new camera, around Ashland, Oregon

Today's Photo Friday post is photos taken on a recent visit to Ashland, Oregon (mostly on a dayhike at Grizzly Peak). Mostly, though, they were me learning to use a new camera, the Lumix DMC-ZS100. The change of camera cost me a bit with regard to the macro, but the test was to see if the additional clarity (it has a much larger sensor than my previous Lumix) would compensate. It looks like it does, though it requires a little more work in post-processing.

Note: this isn't a camera review. For that, check out the assessment by a pro at Photoseek.com.

We were visiting a friend, and in training for a pack trip, so instead of spending a lot of time in town, we went for a hike (we did go wander around downtown afterwards, but I didn't take photos). We drove about 20 minutes out of town and did a very popular 5.5-mile loop on Grizzly Peak.

Wildflowers were still blooming with enthusiasm. The meadow made this feel a lot higher than it is.

Mt. Ashland is just visible behind the trees.

A closer look at the wildflowers.

Insects liked them too. Especially the butterflies.

A big part of what I had to figure out was how to get the macro shots. I had to learn to back away, and count on cropping. All of this is made more challenging by the fact that I have to use the viewfinder, since I can't see the LED screen without my reading glasses.

I improved over the next couple of weeks, but it's clear that the camera can do a lot.

I took about a dozen photos of these giant seed balls. They were easy to see to test if I was getting a clear macro, plus they are really cool.

More flowers as we head over the top.

From the top of Grizzly Peak you can see into California, to Mt. Shasta. This was mid-day, so not very good light for the view.

The next morning we did a hike in the watershed, and stumbled on some cool art in the forest.

And another:

This guy wasn't in Ashland. He was at the Klamath River rest stop on I5 while we were on our way to Oregon. I'm a little worried about him, because he just sat there and let us take photos, etc. But a beautiful fox, anyway.

This was taken just by the light of our pathetic headlights, with the camera braced on the car door. It is a little grainy, but amazingly clear for the conditions and the camera, and way better than the old camera could have done.

So that's the first test, and I'm pretty pleased with the results. We went on to spend a week backpacking near Glacier Peak (Washington State), and I'll have more photos in the weeks to come as I get on with editing them.

Meanwhile, hopefully by next Friday I'll be back in the groove and get a bit of flash fiction up. Right now I'm working on a longer short story, for submission.

©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2017
As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated!

Photo Friday: Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

It's been a long time since I did a photo special, but I have some good shots to share from a late-March visit to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, in southern California. The area got some hype this year about a super-bloom, and while it was maybe a bit exaggerated, we certainly found good flowers, and far more than we've seen in recent years.

The drive down from San Francisco is a long one, but it was nice to see the hills covered in green (and a fair number of California poppies).

We began our trip with something new (for us): a 60-mile bike ride that took us up into the hills to the west, to have lunch in the town of Julian before a glorious descent back to the park (and the heat).

Pre-sunrise breakfast before starting to ride. We needed an early start to beat the heat and the traffic.

Started right off with the looooong climb out of the valley. This was just the beginning.

After the first  dozen miles, we got a respite in Ranchita. Where they seem to revere Bigfoot (more on him later).

After the ride, and the ice cream, we headed out to check out the main areas with thick flowers.

A field of desert gold (a sort of sunflower, or DYC). There were primroses mixed in, but this was pretty much a monoculture.

The primroses, with desert gold reaching for the sky, and some verbena making a purple splash

Lily. Not a flower we've seen often. It must insist on good conditions.

On out to Font's Point for sunset over the badlands.

Ocatillo

Sunset on the badlands.

After a sunset (and a night's sleep), you get a sunrise, and an hour or two of good light. This morning, we had clouds that kept it from getting hot, and made for some good photos as we explored the area near our camp.

Mesquite (I think) and wave clouds.

Brittlebush blossoms, and cholla cactus against a cloudy sky.

I did promise you more Bigfoot sightings. I caught a glimpse of this one--I think it's female--in among the brittlebush. Or it might have been an Ewok.

Actually, that's a dead cholla.

Our final activity was an overnight hike into Borrego Palm Canyon (you need a permit, and you must be willing to scramble some, as there is no trail up the canyon beyond the first palm grove). In 2004 a flash flood scrubbed the canyon and the alluvial fan (and wiped out parts of the campground) pretty well, though the groves were not destroyed. It was encouraging to see how well the groves are recovering, and there are many, many young palms in the canyon. I'm not sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if floods help the seeds germinate.

The alluvial fan on the approach to the canyon was a garden, heavy on brittlebush but not limited to it.

The main, and lowest, grove. There is a decent trail to this point.

Palm fronds.

One last mini flower garden before we moved on to see what was blooming in Joshua Tree National Park (quite a lot, as it turned out).

Desert dandilion, and the blue is phacilia, but I'm not sure about the white flowers.

Hope you enjoyed the trip!

©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2017
As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated!