At the start of May I traveled south to Merritt, then up to the Lundbom Lake area.    The hike was up Sugarloaf Mountain (open grasslands with south-facing slopes), then back into the hills to hike grasslands hills and mixed forest gullies in a 4 hour loop route.    As I hiked I stopped to enjoy wildflowers, flowering shrubs, and various trees and plants leafing out.   There were a number of birds active and the pollinators were busy.

The images shared here include the following:

• redstem stork’s-bill – Erodium cicutarium
• woollypod milkvetch – Astralagus purshii
• small-flowered blue-eyed Mary – Collinisia parviflora
• crossflower – Chorispora tenella
• silky lupine – Lupinus sericeus
• corn gromwell – Bulossoides arvensis
• bigseed biscuitroot – Lomatium ambiguum
• wax currant – Ribes cereum
• lemonweed – Lithospermum ruderale
• beetle – Eleodes sp. 
• arrow-leaved balsamroot – Balsamorhiza sagittatus
• rockcress – Boechera sp.
• Scouler’s willow – Carex scoulerii
• valley violet – Viola vallicola
• slender phlox – Microsteris gracilis

Even though it was a strenuous hike, I saw it as a nature hike, stopping to spot various species, and taking a number of photos, a few of which are shared here as a Google Photos slideshow (link):

Hiking the Lundbom grasslands is an annual event, but I hope to return for another hike in summer or fall.   See Kamloops Trails for more on this route.