At the end of May, the day’s destination was the viewpoint on the lava cliffs to the northeast of Lac le Jeune, sometimes called the Lac le Jeune Lookout.   A route on cross country ski trails, unmarked routes, and snowshoe trails provides for a loop route to the open lookout and back through forested trails.   The top of the lava cliffs is a south-facing open plateau with excellent views in three directions,  and at the same time is a wildflower meadow.

Along the way were many seasonal wildflowers and flowering shrubs.    It was a windy day so photographing flowering plants was more challenging (esp. for long-stemmed flowers), but some turned out well and some went to the recycle bin.    Shared here are photos of alumroot (Heuchera cylindrica), silky lupines (Lupinus sericeus), baneberry (Actaea rubra), thread-leaved sandwort (Arenia capillaris), western groundsel (Senecio intergerrimus), desert parsley (Lomatium triternatum), stonecrop (Sedum lanceolatum), shrubby penstemon (Penstemon fruticosus), parsnip-flowered buckwheat (Eriogonum heracleoides), black twinberry (Lonerica involucrata), false solomon’s-seal (Maianthemum racemosa), early blue violet (Viola adunca), fairyslipper (Calypso bulbosa), and one of the cinquefoils (Potentilla sp.).

Provided here is a Google Photos slideshow of these photos:

The album can be found at this link (with captions).

A few nature hikes are repeated each year, but I try to vary the dates so that each time there are variations in what I see along the way.   I hope to do a different route for this hike again this year.