On the Slopes of the Hamilton Corrals Commonage
The slopes of the Hamilton Corrals Commonage are mostly open grasslands with forest pockets on the sheltered and north slopes. On this mid-June day everything was green and fresh with spring growth at 1250 m in elevation.
There were wildflowers and flowering shrubs all over, but only a few are shared here: woodland star, sticky geranium, lupines, tall tumblemustard (Sisymbrium altissimum), locoweed, and old man’s whiskers. Click an image for a caption and a lightbox view. More information can be found on the Wildflowers Page.
Weedy varieties were also abundant: flixweed (Descurainia sophia) and madwort (Asperugo procumbens) side by side on a wet north slope, salsify everywhere, early blue violets, and suncress.
The hike was 12.6 km, but it was a grey day and it rained near the end. Taking good photos requires good light, not much wind, and the extra time to get the exposure and focus just right. While hiking with a small group, most of the images are a quick duck-and-click. In the end, only the images that meet a certain standard are shared in a post.
As a side note, we have spotted Idaho blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium idahoense) there before, but it was a bit early and they are very hard to spot in the tall grasses at the best of times.