I'm sorry for not posting this under the wildflower reports thread but I wanted to make sure it didn't get missed. Here are my observations thus far:
Stony Pass: Paintbrush, snow buttercup, bistort looking good. Some parry primrose and a few random columbines. Two or three small areas looking very good.
American Basin: Columbines EVERYWHERE and looking very healthy. Parry primrose, paintbrush, kings crown, yarrow, bluebells and marsh marigold blooming nicely. I always thought American Basin was a sunrise location. Sunset was far better, IMHO.
Clear Lake: Quite a few healthy columbine, a few parry primrose at the tarn below the lake, marsh marigold, snow buttercup.
California Gulch: Patches of spectacular wildflower gardens. Columbine, sky pilot, yarrow, paintbrush, marsh marigold, geyer onion and more blooming along the "road" at mid-level elevations.
Carson Gulch: More lupine than I've seen anywhere else. The aspen stands are filled with 'em. Some bluebells but not much else. I don't know if this is new or not, but the aspens are a mess! Tons of downed trees making for very messy compositions.
Cinnamon Pass: Can't remember seeing much that impressed me in the way of wildflowers.
Highland Mary Lakes: Some decent wildflower gardens along the trail but nothing spectacular yet. Creek is flowing heavy, water at the creek crossing just before the trailhead about 24" deep.
The roads and trails are in good condition and almost completely free of snow. Poughkeepsie Gulch has a large snowbank (impassable) at the intersection with California Pass road though it can be bypassed from above.
We're heading to Yankee Boy Basin tomorrow, Porphyry Basin and Ice Lakes Basin on Wednesday and somewhere else on Thursday before coming home. Wish I could post some photos for ya'll but I can't process photos on my laptop.
Hope this helps. I'll be back here at the end of the month too, and hope to find some more wildflower bliss!
You named a lot of places I planned to visit in 2 weeks time. I would be interested in your opinion of whether these spots will still look good in 2 weeks. I am just looking for your best guess. Thanks in advance.
Phil: If I had to take a wild guess I'd say all of the spots I've visited thus far will look at least as good as they do now. I've seen quite a few buds yet to bloom and even the columbines, though quite profuse in areas, still have lots of buds. I'd say the marsh marigold and parry primrose have lots of room for improvement.
I'll be back in about two weeks and am hoping to visit a few areas I won't get around to on this trip, i.e. Maggie, Picayne and Placer Gulches as well as a few others.
Bret, sounds awesome out there! Derek, we need to do some four wheelin' and pronto amigo! Got brand new rubber under the Pathfinder and need to break em in! John
Thanks for the report Bret, I will be up there the 15-20, and plan on American Basin, Clear Lake, Picayne and Placer Gulches, Yankee Boy Basin, Porphyry Basin and Ice Lakes Basin. So hopefully they will be nice when I arrive, along with the weather. Also, thanks for the tip on sunset on American Basin, I thought that would be a good loca, for sunrise.
Thanks for the report Brett. I live here in Ridgway, and don't have any idea about this stuff! I've been getting out a lot, but mostly high tundra backpacking so I've haven't seen all those wildflower spots yet. I'd love to hear your reports from the remaining places you're heading to.
Discussion
12 repliesStony Pass: Paintbrush, snow buttercup, bistort looking good. Some parry primrose and a few random columbines. Two or three small areas looking very good.
American Basin: Columbines EVERYWHERE and looking very healthy. Parry primrose, paintbrush, kings crown, yarrow, bluebells and marsh marigold blooming nicely. I always thought American Basin was a sunrise location. Sunset was far better, IMHO.
Clear Lake: Quite a few healthy columbine, a few parry primrose at the tarn below the lake, marsh marigold, snow buttercup.
California Gulch: Patches of spectacular wildflower gardens. Columbine, sky pilot, yarrow, paintbrush, marsh marigold, geyer onion and more blooming along the "road" at mid-level elevations.
Carson Gulch: More lupine than I've seen anywhere else. The aspen stands are filled with 'em. Some bluebells but not much else. I don't know if this is new or not, but the aspens are a mess! Tons of downed trees making for very messy compositions.
Cinnamon Pass: Can't remember seeing much that impressed me in the way of wildflowers.
Highland Mary Lakes: Some decent wildflower gardens along the trail but nothing spectacular yet. Creek is flowing heavy, water at the creek crossing just before the trailhead about 24" deep.
The roads and trails are in good condition and almost completely free of snow. Poughkeepsie Gulch has a large snowbank (impassable) at the intersection with California Pass road though it can be bypassed from above.
We're heading to Yankee Boy Basin tomorrow, Porphyry Basin and Ice Lakes Basin on Wednesday and somewhere else on Thursday before coming home. Wish I could post some photos for ya'll but I can't process photos on my laptop.
Hope this helps. I'll be back here at the end of the month too, and hope to find some more wildflower bliss!
I'll be back in about two weeks and am hoping to visit a few areas I won't get around to on this trip, i.e. Maggie, Picayne and Placer Gulches as well as a few others.
I'm stoked! Enjoy the rest of your trip!
Muchas Gracias Senor.
- Derek
Thanks man!