It was a beautiful day, not too warm and with a nice breeze, and there were lots of flowers, but it is a hike which feels much, much longer than the 5 miles from Juniper Camp to Devil's Elbow via Bald Ridge and Prospector's Gap. Thank goodness Karoline and Shirley were there to shuttle Susan, Elaine and Phred back to Juniper Camp. We were all more than a little tired.
It was especially interesting for me to compare the flowers Ulla and I had seen the day before when we hiked Donner Canyon. Of course there was some overlap, but, for example, the Ericameria was in full, extravagant bloom on Wednesday's hike and almost completely gone to seed on Tuesday's. Same with the Clematis. Tuesday the display of silvery seed heads was eye catching; Wednesday there were a few fading flowers, but the seedheads had not really formed. Tuesday we saw Fairy Lanterns enough to light the whole kingdom; Wednesday we only saw a few buds. But Wednesday we saw the Fritillaria affinis in flower, whereas Tuesday all we saw were fat seeds. And so it went.
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