We hiked a longer route up over Opax Mountain and out to the bluffs overlooking Tranquille Canyon, then down a south-facing ridge to the bottom of Hanging Valley, then back uo to Lac du Bois, a 16+ km route on a warm day.    There were some wildflowers in bloom along the way, a few of which are shared here.

Starting at Lac du Bois, we hiked around the lake and down Hanging Valley.   We spotted sticky geranium (Geranium vicsosissimum), red-osier dogwood (Cornus stolonifera), Canada violet (Viola canadensis), false solomon’s seal (Smilacena racemosa) , and Melissa blue butterflies (Plebejus melissa) on an alfalfa stalk.

All photos by the author.   Click an image for a lightbox view and a caption/ID.

sticky geranium

red ossier dogwood

Canada violet

false solonon's seal

northern blue butterflies

On the open hilltops and ridges we spotted paintbrush (Castilleja), Oregon woodsia (Woodsia oregana) , hillside arnica (Arnica sp.), alumroot (Heuchera cylindrica), and Okanogan fameflower (Talinum sediforme sp.).

paintbrush

Oregon woodsia

hillside arnica

Okanogan fameflower

alumroot

A few of the moments of hiking this route are captured in a YouTube video: