July 2011

Wildflowers highlight of Colorado mountain hike

July 17, 2011 by emelynmorris-sayre · 3 Comments 

Yesterday, my husband and decided to take a hike with our dog, Jake, to one of the trails recommended in the book, “Best Hikes with Dogs Colorado” by A. Savage. We traveled Highway 70 west to Georgetown, then proceed up Guanella Pass to the trail leading to Silver Dollar Lake. I am glad we went early because we got the last space in the parking lot at the trailhead.

Our backpack was filled with water, a couple of apples and granola bars and raingear. As we hiked upwards towards the 12,000+ elevation, it quickly became apparent to me that I was going to be stopping frequently to photograph the numerous varieties of flowers. This year, we have had an abundance of snowfall and combined with the recent summer rains, the wildflowers were abundant. Botanists report over 100 species bloom along this trail.

As we traversed the south side of the narrow valley, we could see privately owned Lake Naylor at the bottom of the gulch.

Knowing that during the month of July there are several snowfields we would have to cross, I chose to take my pocket-sized Canon camera rather than my Nikon. I was really glad I did as it was very slippery and I lost my balance several times.

In addition to the following flowers, I identified elephant’s ear, shrubby cinquefoil, false solomonseal, American Bistort, sandwort, alpine buttercup, marshmarigold, bighead clover, fireweed, alpine aster, and yellow paintbrush.

The lovely Parry Primrose:

Columbine:

Bluebell: