On the Wounded Knee Trail in the Lundbom Grasslands
The Lundbom Grasslands area is one of our favorite hiking destinations, particularly in spring. We parked near Lundbom Lake and hiked west toward Hamilton Lake and Sugarloaf Mountain.
On the open hillsides sticky geranium (g. viscosissimum) was in bloom. The leaves have a sticky feel to the, and the plant is covered in small “hairs.”
A few small-flowered woodland stars (lithophragma parviliflorum) were still in bloom in protected areas. White and white-pink terminal flowers bloom in clusters on purplish, hairy stems.
Wildflowers accompanied us for the 13 km hike. We spotted many varieties, including locoweed, vetch, chocolate lily, stork’s bill, shooting stars, balsamroot, desert parsley, larkspur, violet, buckwheat, peavine, arnica, groundsel, hawkweed, fleabane, salsify, pussytoes, thistle, wild roses, chickweed, lemonweed, alfalfa, yarrow, and many more, a few of which are shared below. Click an image for a caption.
A few older ponderosa pines stood on open hillsides in the rolling terrain of the Lundbom Commonage.
Shrubby penstemon (p. frutcosus) was flowering in rocky, exposed areas throughout the area.
A few red paintbrush (castilleja miniata) were flowering with some variations in color in patches
There were patches of thread-leaved sandwort (arenaria capillaris) in the grasses on open slopes.
And, on all of the hillsides, lupines were abundant.
