Posted by John De Bord on June 3, 2010 at 10:31 AM
Heading out tomorrow and was wondering if anyone has any idea on the wildflower conditions in either locale. Was thinking about hitting Boreas/Shrine but can find nothing about conditions, thanks all!
John
Bushducks is a great resource for 4WD pass info. You can look at current and previous years for opening dates and conditions.
Boreas pass may be open this weekend, but I doubt Shrine pass will be. I'd think it would be a bit early for wildflowers up high on either, but it might be good at the lower elevations. Let us know what you find!
It seems to me that I've been over Boreas a few times in this time of year, but I don't know for certain that its open. You definitely wont see any flowers up top, and likely wont see any green either. I also don't think Shrine would be open right now, but I could be wrong.
You may see some flowers down in the valleys. I may be a little ahead, but I would expect some Missouri iris in the ditches in South Park. If you specifically want to chase mountain flowers now, I would recommend checking out the Hayman Burn, though I would expect it to peak in 2-3 weeks there could be some color showing now. You'll see lots of Rocky Mountain Penstemon in there and its should be another good year.
I was just down in Queen's Canyon this weekend and there was lots of variety blooming down in there including wax currant, bluebells, wild clematis and a few other plants. The wild roses aren't blooming yet, but should start soon. The plains would probably be blooming well now, but the area where my family lives in SE CO did not receive much moisture this year to date and was not greening up much when we were out on the 21st. I'll be out there tonight to take care of a few things for them, so I'll have an update. I think they've seen a bit more rain up by Calhan, so the Paint Mines could be better.
Yea, it's probably early for flowers at either Shrine or Boreas. Mel's Hayman burn area suggestion is good, if you can wait a couple of weeks. I stopped by that location last year and was definitely not disappointed.
I visited the Paint Mines on Tuesday (post coming soon). While the flowers were not "out-of-this-world" there were definitely some nice pockets of blooms, especially golden banner, to shoot. If you're looking for good conditions to photograph right now the trip there would be worth it.
Discussion
5 repliesJohn
Boreas pass may be open this weekend, but I doubt Shrine pass will be. I'd think it would be a bit early for wildflowers up high on either, but it might be good at the lower elevations. Let us know what you find!
You may see some flowers down in the valleys. I may be a little ahead, but I would expect some Missouri iris in the ditches in South Park. If you specifically want to chase mountain flowers now, I would recommend checking out the Hayman Burn, though I would expect it to peak in 2-3 weeks there could be some color showing now. You'll see lots of Rocky Mountain Penstemon in there and its should be another good year.
I was just down in Queen's Canyon this weekend and there was lots of variety blooming down in there including wax currant, bluebells, wild clematis and a few other plants. The wild roses aren't blooming yet, but should start soon. The plains would probably be blooming well now, but the area where my family lives in SE CO did not receive much moisture this year to date and was not greening up much when we were out on the 21st. I'll be out there tonight to take care of a few things for them, so I'll have an update. I think they've seen a bit more rain up by Calhan, so the Paint Mines could be better.
Mel-
I visited the Paint Mines on Tuesday (post coming soon). While the flowers were not "out-of-this-world" there were definitely some nice pockets of blooms, especially golden banner, to shoot. If you're looking for good conditions to photograph right now the trip there would be worth it.