Prior obligations make it impossible for me to get to Crested Butte before the weekend of August 2 this year. Anyone down that way willing to speculate:
1. What the wildflower crop will look like this year? Early? Late? Subpar? Fabulous?
2. Wildflower ops in the mountains north of Taos around July 26?
August 2nd seems like the tail end of tings for CB, but I'd guess you'll still find flowers up high. The snowpack would lead one to believe there will be great flowers. Some rain showers to keep the tundra from frying would certainly help. I'm optimistic.
I think the alpine wildflower show will be delayed by a week this year given the heavy snow pack and the late melt. I'll bet the beginning of August will be pretty good for the sites around Lake City and other high valleys.
I'm with Todd on this one. I believe by early August you'll have missed the peak bloom in much of the CB area. However, the higher valleys should yield results.
Ken
Posted by Adam Schallau on June 24, 2008 at 11:15 PM
Hi William, I'll attempt to answer your second question. July 26th would normally be a bit late for wildflowers here, but with the amount of snow we had this year, they may stick around. I'll be hiking up to Williams Lake this weekend and I'll report what I find. In the past years we've had good displays of Columbines and Marsh Marigolds around the lake.
I may also drive up to Valle Vidal east of the village of Costilla to see how things are looking up there. Valle Vidal tends to have a lot or Iris, but not much else.
Yeah, well, I was afraid that would be late. On the bright side, I'll avoid the crowds.
Thanks for the prognostications fellas. And Adam, I'll look forward to what you learn this weekend. I'd like to rearrange my schedule but I got a kid getting her diploma from ENMU in Roswell the 24th and the wife says if I miss it I may as well build an addition on the doghouse cause that will be my new home for life.
You might consider re-routing your trip to a different part of the state--say Ouray/Telluride. My guess is that YBB will run late this year, and if you miss that, there's always Governor Basin above it.
William, I was unable to make it up to Williams Lake this past weekend due to thunderstorms. They usually don't fire-up until early afternoon but Saturday they were already going strong at 8:00 in the morning. I was planning on heading up to Colorado over the Fourth of July, but I might hang around here and try again. I'll keep you posted.
Discussion
7 replies1. What the wildflower crop will look like this year? Early? Late? Subpar? Fabulous?
2. Wildflower ops in the mountains north of Taos around July 26?
Thanks in advance.
Bill
Ken
I may also drive up to Valle Vidal east of the village of Costilla to see how things are looking up there. Valle Vidal tends to have a lot or Iris, but not much else.
Thanks for the prognostications fellas. And Adam, I'll look forward to what you learn this weekend. I'd like to rearrange my schedule but I got a kid getting her diploma from ENMU in Roswell the 24th and the wife says if I miss it I may as well build an addition on the doghouse cause that will be my new home for life.
FWIW,
-D