We took a trip to the cabin back in late June and I’m just now getting around to posting the pictures. The wildflowers were more outrageous than I’ve ever seen in twelve years of going there!
This is the front yard of the cabin blooming with lots of lupines and more. You can see our meadow and the aspen grove beyond.
Blanket flower (Gaillardia) blooming on the ranch. Despite having taken dozens of photos of these flowers, I have a tough time resisting every chance I get! They just seem to handle the sun better than any other wildflower around.
I had only seen Phacelia linearis growing in front of our cabin before, but I found another patch of them on the ranch on one of my hikes.
I’m sad that Buckwheats have such a bland name. They are spectacular wildflowers and were really making a show on the ranch when we were there. I’m not sure which one this is.
Growth habit of buckwheat.
This picture is from a hike I took with Bodhi. So beautiful!
Another view of the same mountain.
Deer Indian Paint Brush–Castilleja cervina. These grow along Bench Creek road a short distance from the cabin.
The habit of growth of the Deer Indian Paint Brush.
Another field with wildflowers.
My best hiking buddy, Bodhi, covered in thick mud from some adventurous exploring we did.
He’s filthy but happy!
This is one of the old-growth larches left on the ranch. I love the surreal, misty look of this photo, but the truth is that a car just drove by on the very dusty road!
Another view…
And another view…
This was an amazing find. On one of our hikes, we went up a road to a vacant space that used to have people living there, probably just before we got our place twelve years ago. They had tried to garden in old tires. This is what was left–with no care for twelve years, this poor little rhubarb was still trying to make it! I plan to dig it up in the fall and bring it to Seattle so it can get cared for!
There were dozens of Columbia Ground Squirrels around the ranch. Some years there are very few, so it was nice to see so many this year.
Here is a youngster that was naive enough to let me get within about six feet and take his picture.
Bodhi on the road again.
Pups enjoying the meadow view.
Another ground squirrel keeping watch in the high grass.
Wild clematis I stumbled on while lost on a hike. I suspect this is Clematis occidentalis.
Interesting fungus on the dry ground, forming huge “fairy rings” in some areas that are probably decades old.
I believe these are Penstemon pruinosus–startlingly blue and very beautiful.
Another view…
I haven’t ID’d this wildflower yet, but will keep looking.
Penstemon fruticosus in bright sun.
Veronica in a wet spot off the side of one of the forest service roads.
Geranium viscosissimum on a hillside near the cabin.
Geranium viscosissimum flower.
Western tanager–not a great photo, but he definitely was there! It is always a delight to see these vibrant birds.
Chipmunks were common on this trip, too, so I took more photos of them, too!
I’m not sure of the ID of this pea relative.
Another view of this mystery vetch.
Another view.
Among the thousands of blue-eyed grass flowers in the various meadows around the property, this white clone stood out.
I could smell this rose from a distance–and it was gorgeous to boot!
More ground squirrels keeping a lookout for dangerous Lhasa Apso pups.
Leon with his best buddy…
Cows in the meadow…
Closer view of the wildflowers…
I realized the Say’s Phoebes were nesting on one of the logs under the eaves…and when I looked, I saw this little guy…
And this little one…
Ended up there were four babies and they fledged (partly to avoid the paparazzi). I was worried about them, but later in the day, one of them landed on my glasses while I had them on my face while I was sleeping in the hammock on the porch. I was able to get Leon to look over and see it, too, so it wasn’t just a dream!
Another view of the wildflowers and the meadow in the background.
Another chippie pic–he thought he was hiding, but my zoom lens found him.
The opposite lens, the macro, caught this hover fly on a wildflower-possibly Arnica.
Another chippie with sage in the background.
Another view.
Gorgeous yellow daisies amid the summer grasses.
Close-up.
A beetle on the flower.
Flower and bug–my idea of heaven.
More wildflowers.
More daisies.
Scarlet gilliflowers in the vivid sunshine.
I’ll have to investigate this little guy…no idea…
Another view of the gilliflower.
Looking up in the flowers, you see that they aren’t a solid scarlet–there are spots and stripes.
I believe this is salsify…the flowers have a delicate beauty and they eventually turn into giant dandelion-like puffy seed heads.
A very different kind of yellow wildflower–maybe a hawkweed.
Love this light on the aspens…
And this light….I guess I love every light on the meadow!
I had to take a picture of this Ipomopsis–it was so bushy and full of flowers–very unlike most of them that are just one or two narrow stalks.
Rose flower…slightly out of focus.
More rose blossoms near the cabin. All the wild roses have a wonderful sweet smell.
Another rose–I can’t resist them.
More roses…
And yet one more.
The wild delphiniums were blooming everywhere around the ranch–many more than I’ve ever seen before.
You can see more of the delphiniums here.
It was hotter at the cabin than it has ever been, surpassing 90 degrees on a few days, but because the summer was just starting, everything was still very green.
The cows came around while we were there–always fun to see. Bodhi took off down the meadow to bark at them, but they luckily turned and ran without kicking him.
One of the better pictures of a delphinium amid the high grass.
Another view showing light through the blue-purple flowers.
Another view.
Silly calf wasn’t sure what we were up to.
Prairie Smoke, a native geum, going to seed near the cabin.
A ground squirrel on one of the giant felled logs in the meadow.
View of the cabin looking back over a giant felled log.
Looking back over the seasonal stream.
Blue eyed grass near the stream.
Gorgeous little butterfly on a sage plant in front of the cabin. This may be a Boisduval Blue.