Day 2 of the second week of the PNW vacation. A drive south from Port Angeles to visit Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park. An early start got me past construction on the road in the park with minimal slow downs. And after climbing into a cloud/mist bank it turned out that the ridge itself was above the clouds and clear. And the overcast sky itself cleared for a while later in the day.
Given I had a rental car I just stuck to the main visitor center and did not risk any of the secondary sites on steeper roads. And there were sufficient trails anyways for me to do a 7+ mile hike. Said hike, however, was cut short by encountering a place where a thick snow bank cut the trail and I did not have the equipment to cross that. Oh well, but still interesting to encounter snow in late June!
This is Part 2 with the plant and flower pictures. For wildlife please see the Part 1 diary.
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The flowers sort of split onto two groups — what I saw growing in the relatively level meadows or wooded areas near the visitor center, and those that were growing along the ridge trail in crevices or whatever loose rock and soil there was in the talus slopes. The latter were often by themselves, while the others were mixed in with grasses and trees.
There were also signs along the short loop trail near the visitor center identifying a number of the wild flower species — including pictures. Very helpful!
(A special call-out to Milly Watt for seeing the draft and offering to ID a number of plants I did not have labels on. I really appreciate the offered help. It was also pointed out that late June was a good time to visit since there were both spring blooms and early summer blooms to see.)
More below the break.
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"Spotlight on Green News & Views" will be posted every Saturday at noon Pacific Time on the Daily Kos front page. Be sure to recommend and comment in the diary.
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Now It's Your Turn
What have you noted happening in your area or travels? As usual post your observations as well as their general location in the comments.